Hánméi lǜchá (含眉绿茶) is a green tea of Hanshan County (含山县) in the prefecture-level city of Ma’anshan in eastern Anhui Province. The name combines the first character of the county’s name with the word “eyebrow”: reference descriptions call the leaf slightly flat and eyebrow-like (微扁似眉). The main features of its appearance are a straight, smooth, tender-green leaf and a lasting orchid or chestnut aroma. The tea is protected as a geographical indication product, and in 2023 the province approved a local standard for it.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá). The class is stated in the protected name itself and in the title of the standard.
- Category: Regional green tea of Anhui; geographical indication product.
- Origin: China, Anhui Province (安徽, Ānhuī), Ma’anshan prefecture-level city (马鞍山, Mǎ’ānshān), Hanshan County (含山, Hánshān).
- Protection zone: Defined by the protection act and the standard; I have not seen their texts, so I do not give the boundaries. A popular reference places the gardens near Qingxi Town (清溪镇), in the Changshan Dalong area (长山大垄); this has not been checked against the zone document.
- Geographic coordinates: Hanshan County — about 31.7° N and 118.1° E.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- The county’s tea. According to a publication of Chaohu University (巢湖学院), the county has the Changshan (长山) and Fushan (福山) mountains, suitable for the tea bush; the county is named one of Anhui’s well-known tea areas with a long history of tea growing. The publication gives no dates or written evidence, and I do not add them.
- 2018. According to a report on a Chinese geographical indications portal (2023) and to reference descriptions, in March 2018 Hánméi lǜchá received the status of a geographical indication product. I have not seen the number or the exact date of the act.
- 2023. The Anhui Provincial Administration for Market Regulation approved the local standard DB34/T 4529-2023 “地理标志产品 含眉绿茶”. It was published on 31 July and came into force on 31 August 2023. The drafters were the company “Anhui Hanmei Shengtai Chaye” (安徽含眉生态茶叶有限公司) and the market regulation administration of Hanshan County. The standard covers the protection zone, cultivation, technology, product grades, quality requirements, test methods, acceptance rules, labeling, packaging, transport and storage.
- 2024. The name was included in the third 2024 list of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) on producers’ right to use the special geographical indication mark.
- Name: “Han” (含) is the first character of the name of Hanshan County; “mei” (眉) means “eyebrow”, after the shape of the leaf; “lǜchá” (绿茶) means “green tea”.
- Cultural significance: The Chaohu University publication puts Hánméi lǜchá first in the list of tea brands the county has been developing in recent years, alongside “昭关翠须”, “长相思” and “刘武梅山翠须”.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Variety / Cultivar: Varieties are not named in the sources consulted.
- Bush characteristics: According to the university publication, the conditions of the area give early and even bud break, and the fresh leaf stays tender for a long time and is well suited to processing (发芽早、发芽齐，鲜叶持嫩性好、适制性好).
- Harvest standard and timing: Data not found in the sources consulted. The standard divides the product into grades, but I have not seen its text.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: Eastern Anhui, Ma’anshan prefecture-level city.
- Topography: According to the university’s description, the tea area is surrounded by mountains on three sides and open to water on one (三面环山一面迎水). This position, according to the same publication, protects the bushes from cold winds and frosts.
- Mountains: Changshan and Fushan.
- Altitude, climate, soils: Data not found in the sources consulted.
5. Production Technology
The standard DB34/T 4529-2023 sets the technology, but I have not seen its text, so I do not give the stages and parameters of this particular tea. How the slightly flat, straight leaf shape is obtained is not described in the sources consulted.
Below is the general scheme for green tea, not a description of Hánméi lǜchá:
- Spreading the fresh leaf (摊放, tānfàng): The leaf is spread in a thin layer so that it gives off part of its moisture.
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): Heat stops oxidation and preserves the green color.
- Shaping and rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn): The leaf is given the shape characteristic of the tea.
- Drying (干燥, gānzào): Brings the moisture down to the storage level.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The description is compiled from a product card, a report on the geographical indications portal and reference descriptions; I have not seen the standard’s requirements for appearance.
- Dry leaf appearance: Slightly flat, eyebrow-like, tight, graceful and straight (微扁似眉、紧秀挺直), with a smooth surface, tender green and fresh (嫩绿鲜润); according to the report on the geographical indications portal — emerald green and even (色泽绿翠匀整).
- Dry leaf aroma: Not described separately in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: References name an orchid or chestnut aroma, lasting (兰花香或栗香持久), without specifying whether it is the aroma of the dry leaf or of the liquor. The university publication: high and long (香气高长).
- Taste: Fresh, mellow and refreshing (鲜醇爽口); in another wording — sweetish-mellow and refreshing (甘醇爽口).
- Liquor color: Tender green, bright (嫩绿明亮) — according to the portal report; emerald and clear (碧绿清澈) — according to the university publication.
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Data not found in the sources consulted.
7. Chemical Composition
Reference descriptions attribute to the tea the combination “high amino acids, low polyphenols” (高氨低酚), but give no figures. Physicochemical requirements are set by the standard DB34/T 4529-2023; I have not seen its text, so I do not give figures.
8. Health Properties
There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea. References write of a “health-promoting effect” without evidence; I do not repeat it.
9. Brewing
Class practice for green tea.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: A glass tumbler, in which the straight leaf is visible, or a white gaiwan.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Add the tea and pour the water down the side.
- First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
- Drink, leaving part of the infusion.
- Top up with water.
- Two or three further infusions.
10. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and foreign odors. The fresh aroma fades first, so the tea is best drunk within a year.
11. Price and Counterfeits
Price data are not found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the special geographical indication mark on the packaging.
- Check that the producer is from Hanshan County.
- The leaf is slightly flat, straight, smooth and tender green.
- The aroma is orchid or chestnut; the liquor is tender green and clear.
- Do not confuse it with other brands of the county: “昭关翠须”, “长相思” and others are separate names.
12. Interesting Facts
- One of the two organizations that drafted the standard is a company whose name contains the same “Hanmei”: the name of the product and the name of the firm coincide.
- The aroma is described as twofold — orchid or chestnut. What determines which of them comes through, the references do not explain.
- Among the county’s “tea” brands the university publication also names “龙须绞股蓝” — a drink made from gynostemma (绞股蓝, jiǎogǔlán), a plant that has nothing to do with the tea bush.
- Five years passed from geographical indication product status (2018, according to a reference) to its own provincial standard (2023).
13. Comparison with Other Anhui Green Teas
- Lu’an Gua Pian (六安瓜片): Also a flat leaf, but made from single leaf blades, without buds; Hánméi lǜchá is described as slightly flat, straight and smooth.
- Shucheng Xiao Lan Hua (舒城小兰花): An Anhui green tea famous for its orchid aroma — the same note that is named first for Hánméi lǜchá.
- Tongcheng Xiao Hua (桐城小花): Another Anhui “orchid” tea from the “lanhua cha” (兰花茶) family.
In Conclusion:
Hánméi lǜchá is a green tea of Hanshan County whose name joins the name of the county and the shape of a leaf resembling an eyebrow. The documents on it are few, but they are consistent: a protected name, a 2023 provincial standard and the admission of producers to the special mark in 2024. Descriptions agree on a straight, smooth, tender-green leaf, a lasting orchid or chestnut aroma and a mellow, refreshing taste; the rest — varieties, altitudes, technology — remains to be read in the text of the standard.
Sources
Standards
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page