Zhu Ye Qing

zhúyèqīng

竹叶青

The bamboo-leaf green of Mount Emei — straight, flat single buds the colour of fresh bamboo, grown high on a sacred mountain. Clean and elegant, with chestnut and a faint orchid lift.

Region: Mount Emei, Sichuan — 800–1200 m
Harvest: Earliest spring — uniform single buds
Oxidation: Unoxidised
Cultivar: High-mountain Emei bushes

In the cup

Tender chestnut and a fresh, vegetal sweetness, with a delicate orchid note and a clean, lingering finish.

What it gives

A bright, gentle lift — high-mountain freshness, low astringency and the antioxidant character of an early-bud green.

Zhu Ye Qing — bamboo-leaf green — grows high on Mount Emei, one of China’s four sacred Buddhist mountains, in Sichuan. The name comes from the leaf itself: straight, flat single buds, uniform and pointed, the fresh green of new bamboo. It is a younger famous name than most, but the mountain’s tea tradition is ancient.

The altitude, between roughly 800 and 1200 metres, slows the leaf and concentrates its sweetness. Only the most uniform early buds are taken, then pan-fired into their tidy spear shape — a tea as prized for its neat, elegant appearance as for its cup.

In the cup

Brew cool, around 75–85 °C, in a tall glass so the buds can stand on end and slowly sink. The liquor is pale and clean, with tender chestnut, a fresh vegetal sweetness and a delicate orchid lift over a long finish. It is a quiet, refined green — best drunk young and unhurried.

How to brew