Jiukeng Maojian Tea

Jiukeng Maojian Tea

　　    Jiukeng Maojian Tea is a specialty of Jiukeng Township, Chun'an County, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. Jiukeng Maojian is a historically renowned tea in Chun'an. It has a robust and tightly rolled shape that stands upright; its color is emerald green with visible silver tips; the aroma is high, refined, and long-lasting; the taste is rich, fresh, and refreshing with good infusibility; the liquor is tender yellow, clear, and bright; and the leaves at the bottom are yellowish-green.

　　    Jiukeng Maojian Tea is produced in areas such as Sijiping and Wansuiling in Jiukeng Township, Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province. It borders the Huizhou tea region of Anhui Province. The area features continuous mountain ridges and towering peaks, with the highest peak reaching an altitude of about 1,500 meters. The terrain is higher in the northwest and lower in the southeast. The famous tourist destination, Qiandao Lake, is located here.

　　    Jiukeng Maojian is harvested around the Qingming Festival. The fresh leaves must be tender, uniform, and clean. For Special Grade First Class Maojian, the fresh leaf standard is one bud with one leaf just beginning to unfold, referred to as “brush tip.” For Special Grade Second Class, the fresh leaf standard is one bud with one leaf to one bud with two leaves just beginning to unfold. After picking, the fresh leaves are spread out for 6–12 hours before being processed.

　　    The processing involves six steps: fixation, rolling, drying the second green, shaping and forming strips, tipping (raising the fuzz), and baking to dry. The tightly rolled, upright shape and the visible white fuzz of Jiukeng Maojian are primarily formed during the “shaping and forming strips” and “tipping” stages. Shaping and forming strips is done in a wok at a temperature of about 60°C. The initial method involves mainly shaking and grasping the leaves. As the leaf temperature rises, the process transitions to forming strips using a combination of dragging, pulling, blocking, flipping, and releasing techniques to make the tea strips tight and straight. Then, the wok temperature is lowered to around 40°C for tipping. This is done by grasping most of the tea leaves with both hands and rubbing them with the palms until the white fuzz becomes visible. The leaves are then removed from the wok and sieved to remove broken pieces, and finally baked to dry and stored in a drying basket.

　　    The finished tea has a verdant green color with visible silver fuzz. Its shape is tightly rolled, fine, straight, even, and elegant, with robust, plump “sparrow tongue” buds. The taste is mellow and refreshing, with a rich and fragrant aroma that is refreshing to the nose. The liquor is tender green and bright, and the leaves at the bottom are tender yellow and bud-shaped, full of fruity fragrance and rich in internal substances.

　　    “Jiukeng Maojian” has frequently appeared at various expos and won numerous awards: In 2008, it won the Gold Award (first place) in the “China Green Cup” National Famous and High-Quality Green Tea Competition; in 2010, it stood out among over 800 tea samples at the “8th International Famous Tea Competition” in Taiwan and won two Gold Awards; this year, it has again won Gold Awards at the Harbin Zhejiang Green Tea Expo, the Hangzhou China Green Tea Expo, the Zhejiang Provincial Agricultural Expo, and the China Tea Cup Competition.