When the first wisp of spring breeze in Jiangnan kisses the tea gardens of Shifeng Mountain, and when the first drop of spring rain quietly moistens the tea shoots on Baihe Peak, a romantic encounter with spring tea slowly unfolds in Tongxin She Teahouse. As a senior teahouse with a deep understanding of the charm of tea, Tongxin She has always been committed to seeking the purest and most top-grade West Lake Longjing tea for tea enthusiasts. This year, with a deep respect for tea, we carefully launch a customized version of West Lake Longjing tea. We supervise the whole process, from the tea leaves to the production, just to present you with a cup of supreme tea full of the spring flavor of Jiangnan.
The Core within the Core: An Exploration of the Tea Gardens on Baihe Peak
The reputation of West Lake Longjing tea is well-known far and wide, and its core production area is a sacred place in the tea world. Among the five major brands—Shifeng, Longjing, Yunqi, Hupao, and Meijiawu—Shifeng stands out with its superior quality and high reputation. The tea garden of our customized West Lake Longjing tea is located on Baihe Peak on Manjuelong Tea Mountain in the Shifeng production area, which can be regarded as the core within the core.
Baihe Peak is like a fairyland hidden among the clouds and mists. Thanks to its unique geographical environment south of West Lake, it is shrouded in clouds and mists all year round, with abundant diffused light, creating an ideal growth environment for tea trees. In addition to the unique natural environment, the special white sandstone soil on Baihe Peak is like a precious treasure bestowed by nature. The loose and permeable soil not only ensures good water permeability but also is rich in minerals, allowing the tea trees to breathe smoothly and absorb sufficient nutrients, thus creating the unique flavor of the tea with high sweetness, obvious floral fragrance, and rich mellow taste.
The First Picking before the Qingming Festival: A Treasure among Spring Teas
In the world of spring teas, teas picked before the Qingming Festival have always been highly sought-after. And the first-picked tea is the top treasure among them. Our customized West Lake Longjing tea uses the first-picked tea leaves before the Qingming Festival in 2025, and the variety is Longjing 43. To ensure the quality of the tea leaves, the tea pickers strictly follow the picking standard of one bud and two initial unfolded leaves. The bud should be longer than the leaves, with a length of about 2.5 cm, and there should be no redundant leaves. The way of hand-picking not only maximally protects the integrity of the tea buds but also ensures the tenderness, uniformity, cleanliness, and freshness of the fresh tea leaves, making the nutrient content in the tea buds extremely sufficient.
Inheritance of Renowned Masters: The Ingenuity of Handmade Stir-frying
Good tea leaves also require exquisite tea-making techniques to reveal their most charming charm. This customized West Lake Longjing tea is made by Zhang Hailang, the eldest disciple of Teacher Tang Xiaojun, known as the "King of Stir-frying West Lake Tea". The fixing process is carried out by machinery, while the most critical step in the green tea-making process, "hui guo" (shaping and drying the tea leaves in a pan), is completely handmade by Master Zhang Hailang using the ten traditional stir-frying techniques of Longjing tea.
After Master Zhang's skillful stir-frying, this Longjing tea not only exudes the aroma of firing, the aroma of beans, and the freshness of new tea but also has a faint orchid fragrance, which is delicate and long-lasting. This is a unique charm that cannot be replicated by purely machine-made tea. The dry tea leaves are light green with a hint of yellow, flat and shapely, just like exquisite works of art.
When boiling water is poured into the cup, the aroma of chestnuts and bean curd flowers instantly fills the air. Then, the elegant and long-lasting orchid fragrance slowly emerges, blending with the water and leaving a long-lasting flavor. The tea soup is yellowish green and bright, with a touch of green. It tastes sweet, refreshing, smooth, and mellow when sipped, with a rapid aftertaste and a lingering fragrance in the mouth and cheeks, perfectly interpreting the unique qualities of West Lake Longjing tea, which is "green in color, fragrant in aroma, sweet in taste, and beautiful in shape".
The customized version of West Lake Longjing tea in Tongxin She Teahouse is not just a cup of tea. It is a deep exploration of traditional tea culture and a romantic dialogue with nature and ingenuity. The quantity is limited and the opportunity is rare. Hurry up and customize your own spring tea beauty, and savor the spring of Jiangnan in the overflowing fragrance of tea.