May 2025 Tea Subscription

Last month, we enjoyed the Dentou Hon Gyokuro from Hoshino Seicha En. This month, we enjoy the matching Chinese tea - Enshi Jade Dew. The story of Jade Dew is one of tea romance between China and Japan for a millennium. It started when Japanese Buddhist monks came to China to learn Buddhism during the Tang dynasty, and they took part in the daily monasterial routine of tea cultivation and making. The techniques and tea seeds were then introduced to Japan by Myoan Yosai (明菴栄西) who in 1202 (during the Chinese Song dynasty) founded Japan’s first Zen temple in Kyoto called Kennin-ji (建仁寺), in which he was buried. The technique of steaming tea leaves to make green tea has become the default method of tea making in Japan today whereas in the country of origin, it is used exclusively in Enshi to make Jade Dew. Tea making techniques remained much the same way from the Tang to the Yuan dynasties, with development only in form and style. Coarsely-made tea cakes of the Tang dynasty became neatly pressed with auspicious patterns of dragons and phoenixes during the Song dynasty and continued till the Yuan dynasty. Serving styles also became more refined during the Song dynasty with the whisking of tea powder in a small bowl to make a thick foamy beverage instead of directly boiling the tea powder in a pot with salt during Tang dynasty. This also gave rise to the development of paraphernalia for this style of tea whisking which was then exported again to Japan to subsequently become the standard tools for the Japanese tea ceremony.

During the Ming dynasty (since mid 14th century), the royal court outlawed tea cakes and favoured loose leaf tea. Tea steaming which caused tea leaves to stick together to make tea cakes was undesirable to the individual shaping of loose leaf tea. New methods and equipment which produce definitive shapes were needed, leading to pan-frying becoming the dominant method of tea processing. At this time, while Enshi as a tea region was affected by this new law, the inaccessibility of its mountainous area meant that new techniques and equipment had problems reaching the tribes which made the tea. As everyone advanced to the new style of tea making, Enshi continued their old ways which was frozen in time to become the living fossil of the ancient tea making world. In parallel, Japan was in the stage of refinement of their tea ceremony protocol, with the Cha-no-yu (茶の湯) steps developed by Sen no Rikyu (千利休) towards the end of the 16th century. This ceremony was developed for green tea powder. A softer tea was needed to achieve a good flavour, and the steaming method remained important in achieving this, whereas roasting or pan-frying the tea reduces theanine. Henceforth from the Ming dynasty, Chinese and Japanese teas parted ways in tea style. While China moved forward with loose tea leaves, Japan was frozen in tea time on green tea powder and steaming of tea leaves, just like in the Tang dynasty. It was much later that Japanese loose leaf teas became popular, but still using the steaming method.

Enshi located in the southwest of Hubei is home to lush terraced mountains and communities of Tujia and Miao ethnic minorities. This is also one of the few places in the world that is rich in selenium, a micro-nutrient that is a strong anti-oxidant and boosts thyroid health. The tea is harvested from high-altitude areas where the year-round average temperature is just 16.4°C and the humidity is very high at 82%. The leaves are fine-picked - one bud one leaf. Enshi Jade Dew was previously known as Jade Green (玉绿) and changed name to Jade Dew in 1939. Japan adopted the same name to refer to their highest grade of green tea (gyokuro) made with similar methods. The beauty of this tea is that it fulfills the standard of the 3 Greens in Chinese green teas - green dry leaves, green tea liquor and green wet leaves. Enshi Jade Dew is a China Geographical Indicator registered product.

We are brewing this tea in our Parchmen Glass Gaiwan, at 3g to 120 ml of 70°C water, for 30 sec. The dry leaves are dark green, finely tipped and slender like needles. The brewed leaves smell like a meaty broth,   seaweeds and miso soup. This means that it is laden with umaminess. The brew is sweet and syrupy, with floral and green notes that reminds one of the sea or forest after a rain. The smell is clean and fresh, translating perfectly into the brew. Small white flowers perfume the brew. The tea is smooth and sweet from hot to cold. The second brew can be done with the same brewing parameters.


In West Bengal in northeast India, the asphalt pathed Hill Cart Road, officially known as National Highway 110, meanders along the contours of the eastern spurs of the great Himalayas amidst natural reserves and tea gardens. Stretching north from the plains of Siligiri at the foothills around 200m right up to Darjeeling town at 2,045m, it passes by three towns, namely Kurseong at 1,500m (where Giddapahar, Goomtee, Jungpana, Margarat's Hope tea estates are located), then Sonada at 1,850m (where Ringtong Tea Estate is located), then Darjeeling at 2,045m which sits atop the hill settlements against the backdrop of the majestic Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. Parallel to this road on its west is the Mirik Road, which passes through the town of Mirik at 1,500m (where Okayti Tea Estate is located). After the small transit town of Mane Bhanjang, Mirik Road joins with Rishi Road pointing eastwards and crosses with north-south Hill Cart Road at the small neighbourhood of Ghoom just off the main town of Darjeeling. Historical tea gardens - 90 of them as counted in 2022 - scatter unevenly along these two roads since 1852 when the first tea gardens were officially established. Earlier dates were cited for other tea gardens when they were smaller scale, e.g. Bara Ringtong in 1830s, and now has taken the world famous name of Margarat’s Hope located at Kurseong.

Giddaphar Tea Estate is located at 1,500m on the gentle slopes of Kurseong Valley of the Darjeeling Hills. It was established in 1881 and has remained in the hands of the Shaw family till today. Covering a large area of over 100 ha of tea farms, the tea bushes are blanketed by the constant mist that gathers due to the low temperature of the high elevation. The name explains it, as Giddapahar translates to Eagle's Hill. Running it like a family business, it's currently in the capable hands of its 4th generation owner, Mr. Surendra Nath Singh and his brother. 

The tea estate is known for its century old tea bushes of the historical Chinese variety, known locally as the chinary tea plant. Our tea is made using exactly that, as designated by 'CH' which stands for China or chinary. How the China variety of tea became the mainstay of Darjeeling tea is intriguing. The current 'CH' stock in Darjeeling estates were seeded from earlier Chinese varieties smuggled out from China in 1849 and 1850 by Scottish Robert Fortune who managed to remain under cover and collect tea saplings from Zhejiang, Anhui and Fujian provinces - in no less unbelievable ways than in disguising his outlandish look and huge Scottish build in Qing dynasty attire complete with a pigtail. Beside smuggling teas - totalling about 10,000 stocks of saplings over the three years from their own records, Robert Fortune also smuggled out 18 tea farmers, some of whom were left behind in Sri Lanka on route to India, and the rest safely reached India and kickstarted the cultivation and processing of Chinese tea varieties in India. His years spent in the heartlands of China exposed the weak domestic situations of the Qing dynasty beyond its strong international image as a superpower. This rare insight offered by the letters sent by Robert Fortune out of China set the stage for the subsequent colonisation of China by the western powers.

In a bid to adapt tea making techniques to local conditions and equipment, the techniques of processing Indian tea evolved differently from the Chinese. In fact, even the nomenclatures are different, with the Indians calling it black teas and the Chinese revising that old name to call it a red tea.

In the Indian technique of making spring tea, the first flush fresh leaves are picked 1 bud 2 leaves, in a short picking season of about 4 weeks. They are left overnight to whither in the tea factory, where they are turned several times to allow even drying and to prevent heat accumulation from the accompanying natural reactions of withering. In the morning, the leaves are rolled and given their final shapes before an extremely short 5 to 10 mins of oxidation. Very little oxidation would take place in the leaves, given its tenderness and short period of growth. They are then dried in a mechanical dryer and packed for the market. Such a technique produces a tea of varying tones of colour - mix of green lightly oxidised smaller leaves and silver furry buds to heavily oxidised red and brown larger leaves. Its flavour reflects this spectrum of colours - fresh, light and bright like a green tea and yet with the aromas and sweetness of ripe fruits that come with heavier oxidation. 

We are brewing the Giddapahar tea in our Parchmen Glass Gaiwan, at 3.5g to 130ml of 80°C water for 45 - 75 sec, shortening the time as we continue to rebrew. First flush Giddapahar shines with its fresh flavours of spring - think fresh and sweet aromas of white flowers like jasmine and light fruits like pear and white grapes, accompanied with a smooth mouthfeel of low astringency. Colour is pale amber or maybe golden. We are gentle with the pouring of the brewing water to prevent over-extraction of bitter and astringent flavours. For the second or third brews, we used shorter times of 30 sec but at the same temperature.


Tie Guan Yin varietal originates from Xi Ping Township of Anxi County, Quanzhou City, Fujian province of China (泉州市安溪县西坪镇), on the west of the county. Tie Guan Yin is harvested a total of 5 times in Anxi but recent years see only 4 harvests - spring, summer, early autumn, autumn and missing the winter tea. The farms we work with only harvest Tie Guan Yin twice a year - the 2 more valued harvests of spring and autumn. The farmer's adage rings loud: Spring water (i.e. a rounder tea body) and autumn aroma (春水秋香). After a long winter, the bush would have accumulated substantial nutrients to brew a thick tea. Through summer till autumn, the bush would have bathed in enough sunlight to create aromatic compounds to brew a tea of higher aroma with a longer aftertaste. The abundance of sunlight in the middle two harvests usually produce teas of lesser elegance and coarser mouthfeel, and are usually sold in the mass market to Chinese restaurants. In Tie Guan Yin making techniques, there are three styles - lightly roasted (清香型), heavily roasted (浓香型) and aged (陈香型). Ultimately, the tea drinker decides his preference.

Our spring tea is from the tea fields northeast of Anxi county, on the tea mountains about 45 min's drive from Anxi urban centre. The tea farm is around 400m, located right on the ridgeline formed by Chinese eucalyptus trees (桉树) used for paper making. Growing amongst wild flora and fauna, osmanthus trees are planted with the tea shrubs to encourage cross-fertilisation between them for a more floral tea. The processing factory is right in the tea farm, allowing prompt processing and avoiding the uncontrolled oxidation experienced by leaves harvested a long distance away from factory. The farm does not use any chemical fertilizer but the tea shrubs benefit from the dung from cows which move through the farm. For speed to market, recent years see spring Tie Guan Yin being harvested before optimum maturity of the tea buds. Our tea avoids this commercial trend and is harvested on time. At the start of May when the best Tie Guan Yin leaves are harvested, noon temperature is high at about 27°C and night temperature drops to 17°C. The diurnal range is beneficial to the development of quality Tie Guan Yin.

2024 Spring tea was made by Parchmen & Co together with our tea master in the mountains of Anxi, Fujian. The leaves are harvested on 3rd May 2024 and roasted at 2 am on 4th May 2024. We have sold out this tea in four months mid September. In 2025, we once again made tea with our tea master in the same tea field as 2024. In 2025, we examined the weather pattern and carefully chose the date of arrival at Anxi. We were lucky to be able to meet good weather to harvest the day after we arrived, on 27th April 2025. Although the field has started harvesting less common varieties like Ben Shan (本山), it was its first harvest for Tie Guan Yin. Parchmen & Co had the first pick Tie Guan Yin from that field in spring 2025. In 2024, we made lighted roasted tea. In 2025, we made both light roasted and dark roasted. In this tea subscription, you are enjoying the light roasted tea， which took 36 hours from harvest to finish. Our journey is captured in our Instagram story here.

The tea master who led us to make the tea is Xu Liang Hu (许良虎), who is the Chinese government appointed custodian of the intangible heritage of Tie Guan Yin making techniques (非物质文化遗产铁观音制作传承人). In 22nd May 2023, Tie Guan Yin technique was recognised by United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) as a globally important agricultural heritage system.

We are brewing this tea in our gaiwan, using 3g of leaves to 150ml of 95°C water, for 45 sec. We can also use the gongfu tea method, by brewing 6g of leaves to 120ml of 95-100°C water, for 15 sec. Such a method will allow a changing profile for each brew. The good stamina of Tie Guan Yin allows it to be rebrewed multiple times, living up to another adage that there is residual aroma even after seven brews. For the light roasted tea, the dry leaves are in its classic dark green tone, signifying good harvest and good processing, and promising to offer an exciting sensory experience. One first recognises the smooth and soft body, and the magnolia and spinach aromas come after. Brew colour is cinnamon and it gets darker with more brews. Aftertaste is floral and sweet, turning sweeter as it cools. The heavy body gives the tea a juicy texture. A clean, sweet tea without astringency, its elegance leaves an impression. 

Enjoy your teas of May 2025!

Thank you for coming onboard Parchmen & Co and travel with us to savour our world in a cup!