Xinyang Mao Jian

xìnyáng máojiān

信阳毛尖

The great green of the north — slim, downy tips from the cool hills of Xinyang in Henan. Mao Jian means "downy tips", and the cup is famous for a bright chestnut aroma and a fresh, sweet snap.

Region: Xinyang, Dabie mountains, Henan
Harvest: Early spring — slender downy buds and tips
Oxidation: Unoxidised
Cultivar: Local cold-hardy small-leaf bushes

In the cup

Bright chestnut and a fresh, vegetal sweetness, with a clean, brisk finish and a faint pleasant bitterness.

What it gives

A clear, fresh lift — the brisk character of a high-latitude green, rich in the antioxidants the class is loved for.

Xinyang Mao Jian is China’s most famous northern green, grown high in the Dabie mountains around Xinyang in southern Henan — about as far north as fine green tea reliably grows. The cool climate and short season give the leaf a brisk, bright character that distinguishes it from the softer greens of the south.

The name, máojiān, means downy tips, and the best grades are made almost entirely of slender, white-furred buds and first leaves, rolled tight and thin. The signature is aroma: a clear, almost roasted chestnut fragrance over a fresh vegetal sweetness.

In the cup

Brew around 80–85 °C from a tall glass and watch the fine tips stand and sink. The cup is bright and brisk with that chestnut nose, a clean sweetness and just a hint of pleasant bitterness that lifts the whole thing. Like all greens, it is at its best young and freshly opened.

How to brew