Yunnan Green Tea

Yunnan Green tea is less well known outside of China but has been a staple of Yunnan and Chinese life for decades. The warm tropical and sub-tropical climates that support tea cultivation in Yunnan are numerous and Yunnan produces as much tea as the entirety of the rest of China. Tea can be grown year round but is typically un-plucked during the winter months from the middle of October to late February. The first flush Yunnan green teas are typically harvested in the last week of February just after Chinese New Year. Yunnan green tea varietals are numerous but the vast majority are hybrids based on the "large-leaf" Assamica which is native to Yunnan. The assamica strain lends a great deal of taste, astringency to Yunnan green teas and allows them to be infused several more times than their comparable north-eastern cousin (Dragon Well, Tai Ping Hou Kui or Huang Shan Mao Jian).