Anji Baicha

Anji Baicha (安吉白茶) is a green tea from Zhejiang province that is made with a popular white tea cultivar. It was only recently (while researching my post about Emperor Huizong) that this type of tea first made a blip on my "tea radar."

The more I researched Anji Baicha the more my curiosity was piqued. I even read many websites that claimed it has much higher amounts of L-theanine than most other types of green tea. I have yet to find any evidence for this claim, though I think it may exist in Chinese.

I finally got my first chance to try Anji Baicha at this year's Northwest Tea Festival. My friends at Silk Road Teas gave me an ounce after I helped them out in the tea tasting booths.

Silk Road's specimen is made up of beautiful jade-green leaf and bud sets. They have a clean nutty aroma.

I brewed the tea in a medium gaiwan about 1/3 full of dry leaf. My water temperature was quite low at 155° F. I was surprised by how quickly the tea infused. Less than a minute of gentle "lid-kneading" produced a very fragrant cup of yellow tea soup.

The brothy, buttery flavor of this tea is soothing and well balanced by a refreshing grassy peak. I can (and do) drink many luscious infusions.

While I sip, I wonder what (if anything) this tea has in common with the Anji Baicha that Emperor Huizong had wrote about in his tea book some 900 years ago. My new mission is to learn more about Tang and Song dynasty tea preparation. Anybody have any resources or recipes?

Emperor Huizong, Artist and Tea Lover

Today the Association of Tea Bloggers is pleased to present a new tea blog carnival. The theme is "Tea Person" and participants may choose any historical, fictional or contemporary tea person to write about. This carnival is being hosted by the honorable Jason Walker, a founding member of the Association.

I chose the Song Dynasty (宋朝) Emperor Huizong (徽宗), who reigned from 1100 to 1126. My research revealed him to be an artist, calligrapher, musician, scholar, and devoted tea connoisseur (1).

Before I delve into Huizong's many connections to tea, I want to briefly mention his love for the guqin (古琴), an instrument I also adore. In addition to playing the instrument himself, Huizong searched China for famous specimens to keep in his "Ten Thousand Qin Pavilion (萬琴堂)." This painting entitled "Listening to the Qin (聽琴圖)" is a self portrait of the Emperor jamming in the garden (2).

In regards to tea culture, Huizong is most famous for writing Daguan Chalun (大觀茶論), or Treatise on Tea. This 900-year-old work is considered an important tea book, perhaps on par with Luyu's (陆羽) beloved Tea Classic (茶經). Unfortunately, I have thus far been unable to find a good translation of Daguan Chalun from the original Ancient Chinese. If I do, I will post a link.

In Daguan Chalun, Huizong describes a favorite tea called Anji Baicha (安吉白茶). The name translates as "Anji White Tea," but should not be confused with what we think of as white tea today. It is actually a very delicate green tea named after the soft "white jade" color of its tea soup (3) after being whisked.

One of the Emperor's favorite types of tea bowls were the black glazed bowls of the Jian Yang Kiln (建阳窑) located in Fujian Province. These bowls were popular during the Song dynasty because their black interior better displayed the frothy white soup of whisked tea (4).

Example of Jian Yang Kiln tea bowl from Song dynasty:

In the end, Huizong's deep love of art and tea may have been his (and the entire Northern Song Dynasty's) ultimate undoing. He was said to have been a very laissez-faire leader in regards to politics and military strategy (1). While the powerful Jurchen armies of Manchuria were organizing their might against him... Huizong was probably kicking back with his guqin, painting a beautiful picture of a "pigeon sitting on a peach branch" and whisking up a fresh bowl of tea!

1.) Huizong Wikipedia entry
2.) Silkqin.com
3.) History of White tea on Seven Cup's Website
4.) The AMICA library