Saturday, May 19, 2007

The 10 Famous Teas of China (all 20 of them)

One often encounters references to the "Ten Famous Teas of China." The list is somewhat problematic, however, because there is really no "official" list and it differs slightly from source to source, with the only constant being that my favorite, longjing (Dragonwell) tea always tops the list. One enterprising website, chinese-teas.net, has taken the bull by the horns, collecting 20 different lists and ranking the teas by the number of times they appear on the lists. Only two, longjing and biluochun, achieved a perfect score. Here is the list developed by chinese-teas.net.

Score Generic Name Chinese Name Province




20/20 Dragon Well XiHu LongJing Zhejiang
20/20 Green Snail Spring DongTing BiLuoChun Jiangsu
18/20 Iron Goddess AnXi TieGuanYin Fujian
17/20 Fur Peak HuangShan MaoFeng Anhui
14/20 Silver Needle JunShan YinZhen Hunan
12/20 Qi Men Red QiMen Hong Anhui
11/20 Big Red Robe Wu i Da HongPao Fujian
11/20 Melon Seed LiuAn GuaPian Anhui
10/20 White Fur Silver Needle BaiHao YinZhen Fujian
10/20 Pu'er YunNan Pu'er Yunnan
9/20 Oolong DongDing WuLong Taiwan
9/20 Cloud & Fog LuShan YunWu Jiangxi
7/20 Fur Tip XinYang MaoJian Hunan
5/20 Sweet Dew MengDing GanLu Sichuan
4/20 Fur Tip DouYun MaoJian Guizhou
3/20 Jasmine SuZhou MoLiHua Jiangsu
3/20 Jade Dew EnShi YuLu Hubei
2/20 Pearl Tea PingShui ZhuCha Zhejiang
2/20 Monkey King TaiPing HouKui Anhui