Huangshan Maofeng

huángshān máofēng

黄山毛峰

“Fur peak of the Yellow Mountain” — a downy green from the famous misty peaks of Huangshan in Anhui. Slender bud-and-leaf with a fine white down, brewing soft, sweet and gently floral.

Region: Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), Anhui — 600 m and up
Harvest: Early spring — bud and a first leaf
Oxidation: Unoxidised
Cultivar: Local Huangshan bushes

In the cup

Sweet orchid and fresh chestnut over a clean, mellow body — soft and floral, with a smooth finish and little astringency.

What it gives

A gentle high-mountain green — slow-grown leaf rich in amino acids gives a smooth, clear lift with the antioxidant freshness of a young green.

Huangshan Maofeng — fur peak of the Yellow Mountain — is one of the most famous greens of Anhui, grown on the celebrated misty slopes of Huangshan. The name catches two things: the máo, the fine white down on the slender leaf, and the fēng, the pointed bud-and-leaf shape that comes to a peak. It is a high-mountain tea, and the cloud, cool and altitude show in the cup.

The leaf is a tender early-spring pluck — a bud and a single first leaf — fixed and gently dried so the down survives and the colour stays a soft jade. Slow growth at altitude builds the amino acids that make a green sweet and smooth, and Huangshan Maofeng leans floral and mellow rather than brisk.

In the cup

Brew it around 80–85 °C, in glass or a gaiwan, and the downy leaf opens to a pale, bright liquor. The aroma is sweet orchid; the body is clean and mellow with a fresh-chestnut note and a soft finish. Like all fine greens it is best drunk young, in the season after its spring harvest.

How to brew