Méixiàn lǜchá (梅县绿茶) is a green tea from Meixian District (梅县区) of Meizhou prefecture-level city in the east of Guangdong Province. Its main distinctive feature lies in the technology: after drying, the tea rests for a month, then it is heated once more at 130–180 °C until a “millet aroma” appears and again left to rest for a month. The raw material is a local small-leaf variety, popularly called “bird’s tongue”, as well as the varieties the document names as 金宣 and méizhàn (梅占); in neighboring Dabu, oolong is made from méizhàn. The name is protected as an agricultural product geographical indication and, since 2025, also as a geographical indication product.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá) — unfermented. The class is stated in the name, and the technology in the document is green: fixation, rolling, drying in a pan, repeated heating.
- Category: Pan-fired green tea of Hakka Meizhou; geographical indication product (2025) and agricultural product geographical indication.
- Origin: China, Guangdong Province (广东, Guǎngdōng), Meizhou prefecture-level city (梅州, Méizhōu), Meixian District (梅县, Méixiàn).
- Protection zone: According to the 2025 document — 17 towns: Chengjiang (程江), Nankou (南口), Shejiang (畲江), Shuiche (水车), Meinan (梅南), Meixi (梅西), Shikeng (石坑), Daping (大坪), Chengdong (城东), Shishan (石扇), Baidu (白渡), Bingcun (丙村), Yanyang (雁洋), Songkou (松口), Longwen (隆文), Taoyao (桃尧) and Songyuan (松源). They contain 355 village committees and 33 residents’ committees.
- Geographic coordinates: 115°47′–116°33′ E, 23°55′–24°48′ N.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Early evidence. A feature in Nanfang+ (2025) writes that glazed tea ware from a Tang burial excavated in 1974 in Shejiang points to tea drinking in Meizhou at least since the late Tang, the Five Dynasties and the early Northern Song, and that the monks of Lingguang Temple (灵光寺) on Mount Yinna (阴那山) have long grown tea and made it themselves. The publication gives no dates or details about Méixiàn lǜchá itself.
- Agricultural indication. The name was registered by the Ministry of Agriculture under the number AGI02982; the year of registration is not named in the sources consulted.
- 2025. The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), by Announcement No. 632 of 9 June, recognized Méixiàn lǜchá as a geographical indication product. The applicant is the tea association of Meixian District (梅州市梅县区茶叶协会).
- Scale: According to Nanfang+ (2025), the district has 23,000 mu of tea gardens, an annual output of more than 1674 t and a product value of 500 million yuan. The publication divides the district into three tea zones: eastern (Yanyang, Bingcun), western (Shikeng, Meixi, Daping, Nankou) and southern (Meinan, Shuiche).
- Titles: According to the same publication, Meixian is a demonstration county of an experimental station of the national tea industry technology system, one of the “ten ecological tea counties of the country” and a county of Guangdong’s regional brand of ecological tea gardens.
- Name: “Meixian” (梅县) is the name of the district, literally “Mei County”; “lǜchá” (绿茶) means “green tea”.
- Cultural significance: Méixiàn lǜchá is a district name for the green tea of Hakka Meizhou, with its own zone and its own document; other green teas are also protected in the same prefecture (section 13).
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Varieties / Cultivars: According to the document — a local small-leaf variety (本地小叶种), popularly “bird’s tongue” (鸟舌茶, niǎoshé chá), as well as 金宣 and 梅占 (méizhàn). The document writes the second variety as 金宣; the Nanfang+ feature mentions the variety 金萱 (jīnxuān) in the district — with the same reading. The sources do not explain whether this is a misprint.
- Harvest: Spring — from March to May, autumn — from September to November.
- Harvest standard: The document does not set one; no data in the sources consulted.
- Raw material requirements: Apart from the variety and the harvest timing, no data in the sources consulted.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Soils: According to the document — fertile red and yellow soils (红、黄壤土) at least 1 m deep, with no less than 2% organic matter and pH 4.5–6.5.
- Planting: Very dense — about 22,500 bushes per hectare. For shade, 270–300 camphor trees (樟树) are planted per hectare.
- Fertilizers: The base application — from late October to early November, 1500–2500 kg of manure per hectare. After the spring harvest — one top dressing; in total 300–750 kg of special tea fertilizer per hectare a year.
- Altitude and climate: The document does not set them. According to the Nanfang+ feature (2025), the district’s gardens lie mainly in the Lianhua Mountains (莲花山脉) at an altitude of 400–800 m, where there is much fog all year round, high humidity and a large daily temperature range.
5. Production Technology
The 2025 document sets the chain “spreading → fixation → rolling → drying (first aroma raising) → second aroma raising → finished tea”. Below are its requirements.
- Spreading (摊青, tānqīng): Fresh leaf is spread on bamboo mats in a layer thinner than 10 cm in a clean, cool, ventilated place for 4–8 hours. The moisture content of the leaf falls to about 70%: the color changes from emerald to dark green, the luster goes, the grassy smell almost disappears, a floral-fruity aroma appears, and the leaf is soft in the hand.
- Fixation (杀青, shāqīng): In a machine, at 260–280 °C, for 2–4 minutes.
- Rolling (揉捻, róuniǎn): In a machine, in stages: without pressure, then with light, medium and heavy pressure; about 10 minutes in total.
- Drying, first aroma raising (干燥, gānzào): In a curled-tea pan machine (曲毫炒茶机) at 250 °C, until dry. The tea takes on a tight curled shape resembling a snail’s spiral (螺形).
- Second aroma raising (二次提香, èrcì tíxiāng): About 30 days after the first drying — in a gas-fired fixation machine at 130–180 °C, for about 30 minutes, until the surface of the leaf turns slightly white and a “millet aroma” appears.
- Finished tea (成品, chéngpǐn): After the second heating the tea rests for about another 30 days, then it is sorted and packed.
The path from picking to packing thus takes about two months.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
The description below is taken from the 2025 document.
- Dry leaf appearance: Tightly rolled and curled, green with an oily luster (条索紧结卷曲，色泽绿润).
- Dry leaf aroma: Not described separately; no data in the sources consulted.
- Liquor aroma: “Millet aroma” — high, sharp and lasting (粟香高锐持久).
- Taste: Fresh and brisk, full-bodied, with a sweet return (鲜爽、醇厚回甘).
- Liquor color: Yellow-green, bright (黄绿、明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Tender green, soft, even (嫩绿、柔软、匀整).
The character 粟 means “millet”. It resembles 栗, “chestnut”, and the Nanfang+ feature describes the district’s tea as having a “chestnut aroma” (栗香). The document writes 粟 both times; the sources do not explain whether this is an error or a deliberate choice of word.
7. Chemical Composition
Norms of the 2025 document:
| Indicator | Norm |
|---|---|
| Moisture | not more than 6.5% |
| Total ash (on dry matter) | not more than 6.5% |
| Water-soluble extractives | not less than 36% |
| Free amino acids | not less than 2.0% |
| Tea polyphenols | not less than 14% |
Data on caffeine are not found in the sources consulted.
8. Brewing
Class practice for green tea. The document gives no separate recommendations.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: A glass tumbler or a white gaiwan.
- Process:
- Warm the vessel.
- Put in the tea and pour the water along the side.
- First infusion — after 40–60 seconds.
- Drink, leaving part of the liquor.
- Top up with water.
- Two or three more infusions.
9. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. Best drunk within a year.
10. Price and Counterfeits
Price data are not found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication product mark; the right to use it is approved by CNIPA.
- Check that the producer is located in one of the 17 towns of Meixian District.
- Dry leaf — tight curls, green with an oily luster; liquor — yellow-green and bright.
11. Interesting Facts
- Méixiàn lǜchá has its “aroma raised” twice and is twice left to rest for a month: first drying at 250 °C, then heating at 130–180 °C.
- The coordinate rectangles of the zones of Méixiàn lǜchá and Dabu Wulong Cha overlap, but no town appears in both lists: two different products of two different classes are protected on neighboring lands.
12. Comparison with Other Meizhou Teas
- Dabu Wulong Cha (大埔乌龙茶): An oolong of a neighboring county of the same prefecture; the documents of both teas name the méizhàn variety, but different classes are made from it.
- Jiaoling Lücha (蕉岭绿茶): A green tea of Jiaoling County of the same prefecture — from the Shuixian and Xiaoye Wulong varieties, customary for oolong.
- Qingliangshan Cha (清凉山茶): A green tea of the Qingliang Mountains in Meijiang District of the same prefecture.
- Matu Lücha (马图绿茶): A pan-fired green tea of Fengshun County of the same prefecture.
In Conclusion:
Méixiàn lǜchá is a pan-fired green tea of Hakka Meizhou made from the local “bird’s tongue”, méizhàn and a variety that the document writes as 金宣. Its document stands out for two aroma raisings with month-long pauses: first drying in a pan at 250 °C to tight curls, then a second heating to a “millet aroma”. In the cup — a yellow-green liquor, a fresh, full-bodied taste and a sweet return.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page