Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/694455
54 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 3, 2016 (June/July) range in southeastern Anhui. Fuzz refers to tiny hairs on the surface of leaf bud and leaf. Tea bud and young leaf usually are fuzzier than grown-up leaf. Top grades Huangshan Maofeng are picked in early spring. The tip of tea resembles tiny sparrow tongue, and has a pale yellowish hue. It is tastes refreshingly brisk with a lingering sweet aftertaste. *Chinese gourmet green tea name usually starts with the specific geographical origin that contributes to the distinctive character of the tea. Liuan Guapian (Liuan Sunflower Seed) This is the only one of Anhui's gourmet green teas that does not contain tea buds, only individu- al-pieces of young leaf. It was created in the begin- ning of the 20th century in southwest Anhui's Li- uan area. Spring tea picked from local mountains was not processed right away but meticulously torn down into the individual bud and single piec- es of young leaf. The buds were processed into Yinzhen tea (Sliver Needle), and the young leaves were processed into Guanpian tea. The latter was unexpectedly more welcomed than the former, and is now recognized by gourmet tea lovers as a specialty origin tea. The dry tea is dark olive green with soft white sheen. The shape is narrower than a sunflower seed. Harvests of Guapian tea usually started in mid-April as the young leaves has the best flavor for this tea. The tea is a full-bodied gourmet green tea with a dry nutty sweetness and a mellow and refreshing aftertaste. Yongxi Huoqing (Yongxi Fired Green) Yongxi Huoquing is a gourmet version of gunpowder tea. It was a historical gour- met tea created in Yongxi Village in Jingxian County at southeast Anhui. The tea is picked in prime spring month April, and rolled into an oily glossy dark-green pellet flecked with yellow. The full-bodied tea is strong and rich with subtle astringency and has a lovely floral aroma and sweet aftertaste. Keemun remains the most famous Chinese black tea in international market and has gained support in domestic market. Keemun Congou is a broken leaf tea, supreme grades are short and wiry, containing many tea tips (leaf buds). As the grades descend, the tea leaves became coarser and less tightly rolled and the tips disappeared. Premium Keemun Congou has a smooth and round-bodied mouthfeel, tastes richly mellow with a unique fruity floral flavor somehow resembling honey, apple and Chinese orchid flower. In recent decades, whole-leaf gourmet Keemun has been created to woo more do- mestic consumers. Keemun Maofeng tea (Fuzz Tip) and Keemun Xiangluo tea (Fragrant Curl) are two major categories of those whole-leaf Keemun. The former is slender and wiry, while the latter is much curlier in shape. Runsi Ningxiang (Solidified Fragrance) is a superb Keemun Xiangluo produced by Anhui Guorun Tea Industrial Co. Ltd, China's biggest manufacturer of Keemun tea. The curly tea has lovely golden fuzz and a refreshing flowery fragrance. Anhui Guorun started as an export Keemun tea manufacturer in 1951. Since that time the company has expanded to become a grower, manufacturer, trader and ma- jor exporter of Keemun, Anhui common green and gourmet green tea. Guorun runs large-scale tea plantations in Qimen, Huangshan, and several more gourmet tea origins in Anhui, it also organizes smallholders near Guorun tea plantation bases to form co- operatives that work under the company's uniformed safety and sustainability rules. It has organic tea certification from IMO certification (Switzerland), and 2,500 hectares of its Keemun tea plantation are designated by the central government as Demonstra- tion Park for Safety Plantation and Production of Keemun Tea. For those who do not have time to travel around mountainous southern Anhui, Guorun is an ideal stop to come across a large variety of Anhui-origin gourmet tea. Some of the gourmet green teas are less well-known or sourced from remote places that are yet to be aware by general drinkers outside Anhui. Huangshan Maofeng (Yellow Mountain Fuzz Tip) Runsi Xianzhen Keemun (Runsi Divine Needle) Runsi Ningxiang Keemun (Runsi Solidified Fragrance)