Meng Ding Gan Lu
A Sichuan green tea from Mount Meng, the same mountain that produces the yellow tea Meng Ding Huang Ya, and made from the same early spring material without the yellowing step. Comparing the two is the cleanest available demonstration of what yellowing actually does.
Character
Sweet, soft and gently floral. Drunk beside Meng Ding Huang Ya it shows the yellowing step’s effect directly: the same material, minus the grain-sweet roundness and plus a fresher green edge.
- Flavour
- Sweet, Nutty, Floral, Umami
- Aroma
- Orchid, Fresh
- Mouthfeel
- Light, Silky
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Notes
- sweet corn, chestnut, orchid, fresh cream
- Aftertaste
- Sweet and soft, with a light floral return.
Moderate intensity: noticeable weight or grip, but neither dominates the cup.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- China
- Oxidation
- Unoxidised
- Harvest
- First flush
- Processing
- Withering → Pan-firing (Chinese fixation) → Rolling and shaping
History
Mengding Mountain carries one of the longest continuous cultivation records in China, with tea documented there from the Han dynasty. It supplied tribute tea from the Tang dynasty to the end of the Qing, an unbroken run unusual even among famous Chinese teas.
Brewing
Western brewing (teapot or mug)
1.5–2.5 g/100 ml · 75–85 °C · 1 authored infusion
Grandpa style
0.5–1 g/100 ml · 75–85 °C · 1 authored infusion
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
3–4 g/100 ml · 75–85 °C · 4 authored infusions
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Huangshan Maofeng
Two soft, orchid-scented Chinese greens with very low astringency.
- Zhu Ye Qing
Two Sichuan greens from mountains a short distance apart, both early-harvest and delicate. They are frequently confused by name and by appearance.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Bai Ji Guan
Shares 7 descriptors with Meng Ding Gan Lu: sweet, floral, nutty, light, silky, fresh and orchid.
- Ujeon
Shares 7 descriptors with Meng Ding Gan Lu: nutty, sweet, umami, floral, light, silky and fresh.
- Gou Gu Nao
Shares 6 descriptors with Meng Ding Gan Lu: floral, nutty, light, silky, orchid and fresh.
- Hou Kui supreme
Shares 6 descriptors with Meng Ding Gan Lu: floral, sweet, light, silky, orchid and fresh.
- Meng Ding Huang Ya
Shares 6 descriptors with Meng Ding Gan Lu: sweet, nutty, floral, light, silky and orchid.
- Taiping Houkui
Shares 6 descriptors with Meng Ding Gan Lu: floral, sweet, light, silky, orchid and fresh.