Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue

Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue

Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue is a geographical indication protected product.

Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue is a geographical indication certification trademark.

　　Distinctive Quality

　　　　Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue: Produced at Fanglu Tea Farm in Jintan City, Jiangsu Province. It gets its name from its shape resembling a sparrow’s tongue and is a type of flat pan-fired green tea. It is one of the newly developed famous teas in Jiangsu Province. The finished Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue features uniformly shaped leaves resembling sparrow tongues, with dry tea that is glossy green, flat, and straight; after brewing, it has a high and clear aroma, glossy green color, fresh and brisk taste, bright liquor, and tender, even, bud-filled leaves. It is rich in internal components, with high levels of water extract, tea polyphenols, amino acids, and caffeine.

　　 Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue tea gets its name from its shape resembling a sparrow’s tongue and is a type of flat pan-fired green tea.

　　 　　“Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue” is produced at Fanglu Tea Farm in Jintan City, Jiangsu Province. Jintan lies close to Shanghai to the east and nestles near Nanjing to the west. The area enjoys distinct seasons and a pleasant climate, and is home to Maoshan, a sacred site of Taoism in China.

　　 　　Maoshan features undulating mountains and continuous stretches of lush pines and bamboo, covered in shade year-round with clouds and mist swirling above. Ancient people praised it, saying: “Peaks emerge from between the clouds, and mist rises from the quiet valleys.”

　　 　　The area is dotted with reservoirs and dams, boasts beautiful mountains and clear waters, and blends Taoist palaces and temples along with natural landscapes such as caves, springs, and pools—creating an atmosphere that evokes the feeling of “flowers flying over a sacred land for three thousand miles, as if one stands on the twelfth level of a jade mountain.”

　　 　　The finished Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue features uniformly shaped leaves resembling sparrow tongues, with dry tea that is glossy green, flat, and straight; after brewing, it emits a high and clear aroma, offers a fresh and brisk taste, has a bright liquor, and presents tender, even, bud-filled leaves.

　　 Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue tea is one of the newly developed famous teas in Jiangsu Province, named for its resemblance to a sparrow’s tongue. The tea-growing areas are mainly distributed in the hilly regions at the western part of Jintan City, on the eastern foothills of Fangshan Mountain and Maoshan, where the terrain is undulating with continuous pine and bamboo forests, and the forest coverage rate reaches 30%. Reservoirs and ponds are abundant, the scenery is picturesque with green mountains and clear waters. The tea plantation soil is deep, fertile, rich in organic matter, with a pH value of 5–6, offering a favorable ecological environment suitable for tea tree growth.

　　 　　Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue tea has repeatedly received praise for its delicate sparrow-tongue shape, emerald green color, and fresh, brisk young aroma. To meet market demand and support development, Jintan introduced machinery for producing high-quality teas and conducted trials on mechanized production of Jintan Sparrow’s Tongue tea, overcoming issues associated with manual frying such as high labor intensity, high cost, and unstable quality. Through these trials, suitable tea varieties for mechanized production and optimal temperatures for each frying stage were also identified.