A GIFT FROM THE MOUNTAIN

Yun Feng is produced from the Switzerland IMO certified organic tea garden located at Guangxi, China (広西壮族自治区). One of the sweet taste of green tea is originated from the amino acid called theanine. Young buds contain high level of theanine, but it is converted to polyphenol such as catechins when tea leaves receive sun light. On the other hand, less sunshine will preserve high level of theanine in leaf as bio-conversion is not effectively taking place. One of the reasons why Yun Feng is sweet is that the tea garden of Yun Feng is always covered by fog and thick forest which blocks the direct sunlight on the leaves.

The name of Yun Feng derives from the location of tea garden. The peak of mountain where tea garden is located is higher than cloud. At high elevation, there is a huge temperature gap between day time and night time. In a day time, there is sufficient sun light and tea leaves vigorously produce plentiful of substances such as amino acid and carbohydrate, which are essential for the exclusive quality of tea as well as the growth of tea leaves. At night, if the temperature is high, the metabolism is continuingly taking place, and tea leaves will consume the substances that were produced during the day time. However, at the high elevation at mountain area, the lower atmospheric temperature at night caused tea leaves became less active and therefore those substances are remained in the leaves. With these factors, tea leaves are very rich in substances that contribute to the good quality of tea.

Tea is made of big leaf cultivar. This tea contains methylated catechin and therefore it is usually giving astringent taste. However, Yun Feng is not astringent at all as its process involves long-hour withering. Beside, methylated catechins which gives astringent taste is also known as effective in getting rid of allergy in human body.

Plucking of tea leaves begin in early March in order to select young and tender leaf. All the processes are carried out by hands. Only one bud and 2 leaves is carefully plucked, while insect attacked leaves and damaged leaves are avoided during plucking.

The identical character of Yun Feng is strong flowery flavor with mellow and sweet taste. Usually the tea made from big leaf cultivars tends to be astringent, for an example, the Pu-Erh raw tea. The secret in making the taste of Yun Feng so sweet and flowery is laid on withering process. After harvesting, tea leaves are spread into a thin later inside the factory. Withering means dehydration of leaf. When tea becomes dehydrated, tea leaf feels stress and it triggers moderate fermentation. The cell of tea leaf is still alive, yet tea leaf is getting fermented. As a result, most of the astringent substances such as methylated catechin become partially oxidized and instead it generates flowery aroma and flavor.

When tea leaf is well withered and start producing flowery aroma, tea leaf is fried in order to inactivate the enzyme. Tea leaves are then cooled down and transferred to rolling process. If rolling is too strong, tea leaf is compressed and taste is not refreshing. If rolling is insufficient, tea is giving less taste. Therefore, adjusting the pressure during rolling process is a very important factor. After rolling process, tea is sent for drying.

This tea is process in a similar style as Darjeeling First Flush in terms of conducting long withering process. In fact, withering is one kind of minor fermentation. In this regards, Yun Feng may have a slight similarity with White Tea and Oolong Tea.

There are many methods to brew this tea. Using a tea pot, we can get the most stable and nice taste. However we would like to introduce conventional brewing method using the long glass. Regardless of the method, the key point is managing the brewing temperature. The higher the temperature is the bitter the taste becomes. The optimum temperature is about 85 Degree Celsius.