Laoshan Green Tea (2 oz loose leaf)
Laoshan Green was the first tea produced at Taiqing temple by the Taoist monks of Laoshan. The plants were originally brought to the region from Dragonwell, and slowly allowed to adapt to the unique cold ocean climate of the area. This season’s bitter cold winter and sudden summer heat drastically shortened the harvest season and brought about the lowest yield in a generation, but the result is one of the sweetest, richest pickings ever. The He Family’s Laoshan Green is fed by mountain spring water, picked by hand, and cultivated sustainably using traditional chemical-free farming techniques. The result is rich, fresh flavor full of Laoshan's famous sweet vegetal-savory soy bean flavor aroma.
After another historically cold winter, the short spring picking window in 2018 was cut off in May by sudden, unexpected extreme heat and intense rains followed right after by alternating unseasonably cold weather.
This unprecedented short window to harvest and finish tea after a bitter winter has meant the smallest yield in a generation for the He Family, and for the entire small village of Laoshan.
The He Family has been working to manage their tea through the late spring and early summer by looking for picking windows after cold spots to put together a larger harvest.
But as it stands, the whole region faces a crisis.
While one or two years of difficult harvesting can be absorbed through the fortitude and determination for which Shandong Province is famous, the fear is that this may be the turning point for a long term trend of more extreme weather in the area and across all tea growing regions.
Shandong Province is especially vulnerable. Unlike Fujian, the province is not heavily wooded, mountainous or rich in lakes, rivers and springs. Much of inland Shandong is dedicated to staple crop farming and faces yearly water shortages. Laoshan is uniquely lucky to be fed by mountain springs. Daily mist from the ocean rolls in each morning, and the protected national parkland in the Laoshan mountain acts as a barrier to protect Laoshan’s tea fields. However, the influence of the surrounding area just outside the mountains means more potential for erosion, more winter wind, and more summer heat.
2 oz in a resealable stand up pouch
Ingredients: Hand Processed Green Tea
