Our Longjing Spring Equinox has a warm, buttery aroma on an undertone of lightly toasted fresh cereal and peas, accented with sea salt and a light woody spice. There is a distinct, but pleasant gentle floral aroma of a blooming orchard with an undertone of caramel. The lively body has good weight and a silky to velvety tactility, dependent on your water quality and infusion strength. There is a malty savoriness with hints of salt, chocolate and cinnamon, changing to sweet and refreshing. 

The characteristic bite of this selection is part of the traditional quality of genuine Hangzhou Longjing which is highly sought out by connoisseurs. Mr. Wu, our Longjing Master, employs an indigenous traditional cultivar for the production to ensure this result. There are selections out there that are much softer that are also from the Hangzhou region. They use cultivars developed only a couple of decades ago, such as Longjing 43.  

Longjing originated in the West Lake region of Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, China, which is one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. Once a pristine area it has suffered significantly from modern day pollution, an unfortunate result of said tourism and 20th -- 21st century progress in China. As a result, in this day and age one has to venture away from densely populated and tourist infested areas to acquire a really fine Longjing while remaining true to the origin of Hangzhou. One such area is a small farm owned by Mr. Wu, our Longjing master, where the underground water is crisp and the air sweet. Mr. Wu realizes that the environment is more important than the convenience and that there would be no quality without the traditional respect for Nature. Mr. Wu processes our Longjing Spring Equinox entirely by hand from start to finish, sparing no attention to detail. Our Longjing Spring Equinox might well have been used by nobles and mandarins in their tea competitions when Emperor Qianlong was still young and flamboyant, and crazy about the tea.