Taste of Spring 饮春之味 First Harvest 2022

First Harvest Green Tea, called 明前绿茶 in Chinese, is the most prestigious and precious harvest of green tea each year. Each year, tea connoisseurs eagerly anticipate the arrival of these teas that signals the hopefulness of Spring.

With the arrival of First Harvest Teas, we celebrate the season of enlivenment and excitement. The taste of First Harvest teas draws us out of Winter, and refreshes us to Spring. They help clarify us toward this season of hope and renewal.

Click here to read our blog post on the significance of First Harvest teas!

We have created this tasting set to honour First Harvest 2022.

It is the ultimate experience of these very special, seasonal, and rare teas. The box contains 6 extraordinary teas, with 2 servings of each individually packaged. Included in this Tasting Set is a booklet with brewing instructions and descriptions of each tea and the region it comes from.

I am very excited to celebrate Spring with you this way.

Anji Baicha 明前安吉白茶

A highly anticipated, highly appreciated Spring tea. It was the favourite tea of a legendary ruler of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Huizong. In 1107, Huizong authored a highly respected treatise on tea called Daguan Chalun. In it, he describes Baicha tea at length; he believed it to be very special amongst teas for its pale, delicate appearance, and noted that it grew sporadically on cliffs, and therefore resisted being domesticated by man.

Wild Purple Shoots 明前顾渚紫笋

From the remote jungles of the Guzhu Mountain in Changxing, Huzhou. This area is so remote that it is said that this ancient varietal of wild tea “comes down from the clouds”. Wild Purple Shoots was a favourite of Lu Yu, the highly-respected poet and self-taught scholar who authored what remains one of the most important texts on tea ever written, The Classic of Tea, around 780 AD. It remains a highly regarded, however somewhat forgotten, green tea.

Mengding Sweet Dew 明前蒙顶甘露, Mengding Shi Hua 明前蒙顶石花

From the ancient Mengding Mountain situated in the remote city of Ya’an in the Sichuan Province, a significant site in regards to the history of tea culture in China. The cultivation of tea on Mengding dates back more than 2000 years. The teas collected from this mountain have served as Tribute Teas to Emperors for over 1000 years, spanning five Dynasties: Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing.

Mengding Yellow Tips 明前蒙顶黄芽

The Mengding Yellow Tips is an extremely rare yellow tea from Mengding Mountain. It was prized as a tribute tea for the Emperor and Imperial Palace in the Tang Dynasty. The craftsmanship of yellow tea requires decades of experience and extremely focused handwork, and by the end of the the 20th century, there were only a few artisans left who were making yellow tea.

E’Mei High Mountain Green 明前峨眉山炒青

There is a mythical mountain in Sichuan province. For many people, it is a household name that, when spoken, evokes an air of the otherworldly. This place is called E’Mei 峨眉. One of the four sacred buddhist mountains, it is home to more than seventy ancient temples and is regarded by Buddhists as the place of enlightenment.