Méizǐ gòngchá (梅子贡茶) is a green tea of Zhuxi County (竹溪县), Shiyan prefecture-level city, in the northwest of Hubei Province. It takes its name from the Meiziya pass (梅子垭) in Huiwan, and the word gòngchá means “tribute tea”: local descriptions claim that under the Tang, Empress Wu Zetian made the local tea a court tea. Zhuxi lies in the Qinba mountains, at the junction of Hubei, Chongqing and Shaanxi. Since 2014 the tea has been protected as a geographical indication product, and the document specifies a great deal for it — from the cultivar and the altitude of the gardens to processing temperatures and the share of polyphenols.
1. Classification and Origin
- Type: Green tea (绿茶, lǜchá), unfermented. The class is confirmed by the technology in the geographical indication document — fixation, rolling, drying without oxidation — and by the appearance: an emerald leaf, a tender green liquor.
- Category: A mountain green tea of Hubei, a geographical indication product (2014).
- Origin: China, Hubei Province (湖北, Húběi), Shiyan prefecture-level city (十堰, Shíyàn), Zhuxi County (竹溪县, Zhúxī Xiàn). The protection zone comprises eight units of the county: the towns of Jiangjiayan (蒋家堰镇), Zhongfeng (中峰镇) and Quanxi (泉溪镇), the townships of Eping (鄂坪乡) and Huiwan (汇湾乡), the Meiziya tea farm (梅子垭茶场), the Yangjiaba integrated farm (杨家扒综合农场) and the Shuangzhu forestry farm (双竹林场).
- Geographic coordinates: Zhuxi County — about 32.3° N and 109.7° E.
2. History and Cultural Significance
- History:
- Antiquity. Reference descriptions trace tea growing in Zhuxi back to the Western Zhou era, and call the county itself “the home of tribute tea” (贡茶之乡).
- Tribute — according to legend. According to local descriptions, the tea of the Meiziya pass became a court offering as early as the end of the Spring and Autumn period, and under the Tang, Empress Wu Zetian confirmed it as a tea for the court — hence the name “Meizi gong”. Documents with these dates were not found in the sources consulted; this is legend.
- 2014. On 8 April the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), by announcement No. 39, took the tea under protection as a geographical indication product — one of the seventeen names in that announcement.
- 2016. According to reference data, the Meiziya tourist tea garden received the title of one of “China’s most beautiful tea gardens”.
- Name:
- “Meizi” (梅子) — “plum”; Meiziya (梅子垭) — “plum pass”.
- “Gongcha” (贡茶, gòngchá) — “tribute tea”, a memory of the legend.
- Cultural significance: Reference works call Méizǐ gòngchá one of the “three tributes of Zhuxi” (竹溪三贡) and cite the local saying “长江三峡水，楚地梅子茶” — “the water of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze, the Meizi tea of the land of Chu”. According to the same data, the county holds the titles “China’s home of organic green tea” and “China’s home of tea”.
3. Botanical Description and Raw Material
- Variety / Cultivar: According to the document — 福鼎大白茶 (Fúdǐng dàbáichá) and other cultivars of the zone suitable for this tea.
- Planting: According to the document — rooted cuttings in spring (early to mid-March) and autumn (mid- to late October), or sowing seeds from November to February; with double-row planting, 7500–8000 bushes per mu.
- Harvest: According to the document — from early April to early May, by hand only.
- Harvest standard: A single bud or a bud with one leaf.
4. Terroir and Cultivation Features
- Region: Zhuxi is a mountainous county in the Qinba area at the junction of Hubei, Chongqing and Shaanxi; reference works call it the boundary between the northern and southern climates.
- Growing altitude: According to the document — from 400 to 1200 m above sea level.
- Soils: According to the document — yellow-brown (黄棕壤), pH 4.5–6.5, organic matter not less than 1.5 %, layer thickness not less than 0.6 m.
- Climate: Precise meteorological data for the gardens not found in the sources consulted.
5. Production Technology
The geographical indication document sets six operations and their parameters.
- Spreading of fresh leaf (摊青 — tānqīng): 6–8 hours, in a layer no thicker than 3 cm.
- Fixation (杀青 — shāqīng): At 180–220 °C.
- Rolling (揉捻 — róuniǎn): Until at least 90 % of the leaf is rolled.
- Primary drying (初干 — chūgān): In a drying machine at 100–120 °C.
- Tightening of the strands (紧条 — jǐntiáo): By hand.
- Final drying (足干 — zúgān): At 80–90 °C.
6. Organoleptic Characteristics
According to the text of the announcement as reprinted by the Geographical Indications Association of China:
- Dry leaf appearance: Fine and graceful, with prominent down, even, emerald (细秀显毫，匀整，色泽翠绿).
- Dry leaf aroma: No separate description.
- Liquor aroma: Clean and high (香气清高).
- Taste: Fresh and mild (滋味鲜醇).
- Liquor color: Tender green, bright (汤色嫩绿明亮).
- Spent leaves (wet leaves): Tender, even, green and glossy (叶底嫩匀绿亮).
Another retelling of the document, which matches the reference descriptions, words the appearance differently: tight strands with down, emerald and glossy (条索紧结、显毫、秀美，色泽翠绿光润); a clean and lasting aroma (清香持久); a fresh, mild and full taste (滋味鲜爽醇厚); spent leaves green, bright and even (叶底绿亮匀齐). I have not established which version renders the original source more accurately.
7. Chemical Composition
According to the text of the announcement:
- Moisture: not more than 6.5 %.
- Water-soluble substances: not less than 36.0 %.
- Tea polyphenols: not less than 28.5 %.
- Free amino acids: in the text — “not more than 3.0 %”; an upper limit is unusual for a quality requirement, and it may be a misprint in the reprint.
The second retelling of the document gives, instead of polyphenols and amino acids, total ash not more than 6.0 % and broken pieces not more than 5.0 %; moisture and water-soluble substances match in both. A reference work, citing specialists of Huazhong Agricultural University, gives a measurement: amino acids 2.95 %, tea polyphenols 35.94 %. Caffeine data not found in the sources consulted.
8. Health Properties
There are no verified data on the effects of this particular tea. The document sets quality indicators, not health properties.
9. Brewing
Class practice for green tea. The document gives no separate recommendations; below are the usual parameters for tender green tea made from buds and buds with a leaf.
- Water temperature: 80–85 °C.
- Tea amount: 3 g per 150 ml.
- Teaware: A glass tumbler or a white gaiwan.
- Process:
- Warm the teaware.
- Put in the tea.
- Pour in a little water and let the leaf open for 20–30 seconds.
- Top up with water; first infusion — about a minute.
- Drink, leaving part of the liquor at the bottom.
- Two or three repeat infusions with a slight increase in time.
10. Storage
Class practice. In airtight packaging, in a refrigerator at 0–5 °C, away from light, moisture and odors. Green tea is drunk in season; it does not need aging. The document’s norm — moisture not above 6.5 % — is a reminder that tea that has absorbed moisture loses quality.
11. Price and Counterfeits
Price data not found in the sources consulted.
- How to avoid counterfeits:
- Look for the geographical indication mark on the packaging.
- Check that the producer is located in one of the eight units of the protected zone.
- The leaf is fine, graceful, with noticeable down, emerald in color; a dull or brownish leaf is a sign of old or overheated tea.
- The liquor is tender green and bright, the aroma clean.
12. Interesting Facts
- The document prescribes one of the operations to be done by hand — tightening of the strands (紧条).
- The protection zone includes not only towns and townships but also three farms — a tea farm, an integrated farm and a forestry farm.
- The cultivar named in the document, 福鼎大白茶, is of Fujian origin.
13. Comparison with Other Green Teas
- Zhuxi Maojian (竹溪毛尖): A green tea of the same county under the county name. Méizǐ gòngchá is the protected name of a zone of eight units of the county with its own quality requirements.
- Wufeng Maojian (五峰毛尖): A mountain green tea of western Hubei; a different county and its own history.
- Baokang Lücha (保康绿茶): A green tea of Baokang County in northwest Hubei; according to the mark description — a fine emerald leaf and a clean, high aroma.
- Enshi Yulu (恩施玉露): A Hubei green tea with straight needles, fixed with steam; Méizǐ gòngchá is fixed with dry heat at 180–220 °C.
In Conclusion:
Méizǐ gòngchá is a mountain green tea of Zhuxi with a court legend in its name and a detailed document. The legend of Tang tribute remains a legend, while the document speaks precisely: the 福鼎大白茶 cultivar, gardens at 400–1200 m, a spring hand harvest of buds and buds with a leaf, hand tightening of the strands. In the cup it is a fine emerald leaf with down, a tender green bright liquor and a clean, high aroma.
Sources
Geographical indication
Full list — on the Sources page