Luotian Fragrant Dew Tea

Around 780 AD, the first book on tea, The Classic of Tea, was written. Since then, the Chinese have delved deeper into the study of tea, producing a wide variety of teas with distinct styles. Different processing methods and growing regions have given rise to numerous tea varieties.

Although Longjing tea from West Lake in Hangzhou has enjoyed great fame for many years in the world of green tea, Hubei — the hometown of the Sage of Tea — also produces high-quality teas, one of which is Luotian Fragrant Dew Tea from Hubei.

In May 2020, the first batch of agricultural products in Hubei Province to be awarded national geographical indication status was announced, and Luotian Fragrant Dew Tea was among the few tea varieties listed at the provincial level.

Qiu Hua, person in charge of the Xianglu Guan Tea Plantation in Luotian County, said that Fragrant Dew Tea, as a tea brand renowned across Huanggang and even the whole province, has long been famous for its green tea with an orchid-like fragrance. Legend has it that during the Northern Song Dynasty, an exceptionally talented imperial concubine, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and passionate about the tea ceremony, grew tired of the intrigue and competition within the palace. She fled with a few palace maids, eventually choosing Xianglu Guan as her sanctuary. There, she built a Taoist temple and planted the tea seeds she had brought from the palace all around it, subsequently leading a reclusive life devoted to self-cultivation and the art of tea. The temple faces east and is surrounded by mountains, with a small stream in front where clear spring water flows all year round. Beside the stream lies a round pond nearly three meters deep and crystal clear. The Xianglu Guan Tea Plantation derives its name from this site.

The Luotian Gazetteer of Products records that during Su Dongpo’s exile in Huangzhou, the magistrate of Luotian County sent him a package of Luotian Fragrant Dew Tea. In response, he happily composed a poem of thanks: “A wondrous offering, this Fragrant Dew tea fine, / A precious brew fit for the nobles’ shrine. / Selecting young buds, tender as sparrows’ tongues, / Imperial tea gifted — from Dragon Cake it comes. / Morning sun warms the clouds in soft embrace, / Spring breeze cools the palace halls’ chill space. / Let me test with the eye of the Way profound, / And not see these two as separate, unbound.”

Since even the legendary foodie Su Dongpo, renowned through the ages, gave his praise to Luotian Fragrant Dew Tea, it is certainly a fine tea worth trying.