Nanjing has a long history of tea production. In 1959, it was created by the Nanjing Zhongshan Cemetery Management Office and developed into a “pine needles, emerald green and tall” Yuhua tea. Yuhua tea has been recognized by consumers for its peculiar and beautiful appearance and excellent internal quality and has developed rapidly.
The area of tea gardens has increased from over 130 hectares in 1960 to over 7,300 hectares in 2010. In 2006, the Chinese national standard “Geographical Indication Product Yuhua Tea” (GB/T20605-2006) was promulgated. The production area of Nanjing Yuhua tea is divided into the Zhongshan Cemetery, Yuhuatai Martyrs Cemetery, Jiangning District, Lishui County, Gaochun County, Pukou District in Nanjing City, Liuhe District, Yuhuatai District, Qixia District within the administrative area of the current jurisdiction.
Classification & Characteristics
According to the Chinese national standard “Geographical Indication Product Yuhua Tea”, Nanjing Yuhua Tea is made by picking young buds and leaves suitable for improved varieties of tea trees in the production area specified by the standard, and processed by a unique process. “Leaves is beautiful, green in color, delicate in internal quality, fresh and mellow” is a green tea with outstanding quality characteristics. Nanjing Yuhua tea belongs to the roasted and half roasted green tea. According to the quality level, it is divided into four grades: superior first-class, superior second-class, first-class, and second-class.
The general quality characteristics of Yuhua tea: the shape is tightly knotted, round, straight and pine needle-shaped, the front seedlings are pretty, the color is emerald green with pekoe; the brew is clear and bright, the taste is fresh and pure, the fragrance is high, and the bottom of the leaves is even and green.
Fresh Requirements
The fresh leaves of Yuhua tea are mainly collected from Castanopsis qimenensis, small-leaf species from Yixing, Jiukeng species and Longjing 43. Fresh leaves are picked finely, with uniform tenderness and uniform length, and no hollow buds, diseased and insect buds.
The specific standard for fresh leaves is that one bud and one leaf are used as raw materials. When the new shoots germinate to one bud, two and three leaves, one bud and one leaf are picked, and the length of the bud and leaf is 2 to 3 cm.
One bud and one leaf of superior grade tea account for more than 85% of the total. Frying 500g of super-grade Yuhua tea requires 50,000 buds and leaves.
Yuhua Tea
Process Flow
Nanjing Yuhua Tea is divided into manual processing and mechanical processing.
- Manual processing. Process flow:
- Fresh leaves➡️Spreading ➡️Fixation➡️Rolling➡️Rubbing strips➡️Shaping➡️Drying➡️The finished products.
- Mechanical processing Nanjing Yuhua tea is one of the varieties that implemented mechanical processing earlier in the production of famous tea in China. Currently has a number of mechanized production lines. The following is the production process of Yuhua tea in a medium-scale tea factory. Process flow:
- Fresh leaves➡️Spreading ➡️Fixation➡️Rolling ➡️ Roasting ➡️ Shaping ➡️ Re-drying ➡️Screening➡️The finished product.