Yunnan Mo Zhen Black Needle

I haven't tried this tea, but are you sure about the black appearance? Admittedly, Ink Needle is a suggestive name, but It certainly doesn't look that way here:

in the page

/Lew

1. Lew is right, the tea is not roasted till black and which turn back to green in the pot. The tea is air-dried after being pressed, rolled and shaped in the pan.

1. At times Chinese characters are not what they appear to be, I think I have addressed this several times already... :") Mo Zhen does not mean Ink Needle, though it conveniently appears to fit the description. Mo Zhen is a short form of "Mo Jiang Yun Zhen" - literal translation will give you "Ink Lake Cloud Needle", close but still not fitting; it means "Yunnan Needle tea from Mo Lake".

2. Created in 1945 in Mo Lake using local Yunnan tea leaves, with the techniques borrowed from the Japanese processing method of Gyokuro. Its original name was - what else can it be? - Gyokuro.

1. The fixating process changed from steam to pan-fry, and still it was called Gyokuro.

2. Finally in 1975 it was renamed "Mo Jiang Yun Zhen", commonly called "Mo Zhen".

1. It entered the Provincial Tea Hall of Fame in 1984 as one of the six best provincial teas in Yunnan.

2. I shan't bore you with its processing methods.

1. Enjoy the tea, remember it is not a blackish looking tea...merely dark green... :"P

Danny

samarkand43a1abd5$ snipped-for-privacy@news.starhub.net.sg12/15/05 12: snipped-for-privacy@uk2.net

Danny, bore away. We're relying on you. Michael

Yiiiips! I didn't mean the tea liquor is blackish...I mean the leaves...drak green...the tea liquor is a nice pale green gold...

Bore away then...

1. The entire process from fixation to dessication takes about 6 hours to complete.

1. The leaves are plucked and fixated through pan-frying process, just enough to stop the chlorophyll and enzymes from working on the chemical structure of the leaf.

2. It is then lightly rolled by machine to make it pliable, and then sent back to the pan again, where the curled leaf is tightened by rolling, the straightened leaf is further tightened and straightened through press-and-roll method, and to create the sharpish looking needle the leaf is finally subjected to rub-and-roll method.

1. The leaf is by now about 90% straight, it is taken out of the pan and laid on large bambo sieves to be air-dried to about 7% moisture content in leaf before sorting, grading, and packing.

2. The standard ratio of contents for this tea is 60% one bud and leaf, 40% one bud and 2 -3 leaves.

Danny

James's listing on ebay (item 4420283350) says it uses "purple buds". Do you know if that's correct? I'm curious.

~j

The term "purple buds" may be drawn from the vendor's own interpretation of the flush and the end product.

Technically the buds used are no where near purple. If it is the "Zi Juan" purple buds - if I remember the name correctly - for that amount of tea it has to be charged far more than what it is being charged for currently. The purple buds are not widely produced, BTW.

Danny

Is it possible you mean "Zi Ya"?

/Lew

Zi Ya & Zi Juan...

Are both different products

Zi Ya are common, Zi Juan is rarer to find, and usually used as medicine

Danny

Juan as in *unopened* bud, right? The character also pronounced Rui sometimes? And Ya isn't necessarily unopened, right?

/Lew

Hi Danny,

I am quite amazed by your knowledge!!! Since that we acquired the exclusive right to market Zi Juan (we give it the English name - Purple Lady), here are my two cents on this topic:

Here are pictures of Zi Juan (紫娟 Purple Lady) green tea:

. Its leaves are in purple color. Annual production of Purple Lady is still quite low.

We call tea buds of Zi Juan - Zi Ya ( 紫芽 buds of Zi Juan). We give it the English name - Purple Bud. Only very few amount if Zi Ya are produced each year. Here are pictures of Zi Ya (Purple Bud) green tea:

.

Saying that, there is a version of Pu-erh made of a type of tea leaves named Zi Ya (Purple Bud). It is completed different from our Zi Ya, and is much cheaper.

Linda

Hi Linda, thank you... :")

Yes, as you have pointed out too, Zi Juan and Zi Ya are two different plants, and although using the same term Zi Ya, the Zi Ya product from you are the buds of Zi Juan plant, while the other Zi Ya, which is more easily available, is the result of excessive sunlight on young flush, causing an increase in production of Leucoanthocyanidin, which resulted in red, purplish leaves.

In many green tea producing areas in China Zi Ya is not a good sign, as it compromises the quality of green tea. However in Yunnan, I suspect this might work in reverse, though how I am not sure. There are several pu'er bingchas made from Zi Ya, and they are not bad, and fetch rather high price too.

I think Menghai Tea Factory has a production using the Zi Ya...

Danny

Danny/Linda

I am following this thread eagerly. I have tried several puerhs made from Zi Ya and have found them to be quite tasty. Can either of you tell me more about the history of this particular variety?

I asked this question of Zhu Ping (a teamaster residing in the US) and she consulted with Mr. Hu of Yunnan. They say that this is a new sub-species that has not been around very long and the long term value is still unknown.

I am interested in knowing more about the horticulture of this variety as well as the aging potential of cakes made from it. Or anything else you can tell us about Zi Ya.

Thanks,

Mike Petro

TH> Here are pictures of Zi Juan (紫娟 Purple Lady) green tea: TH>

. Its leaves are in purple color. TH> Annual production of Purple Lady is still quite low.

Hello. Maybe you can help me with a puzzle. A Chinese colleague gave me a can of tea which he said is from Pu Erh County in Yunnan. He said the name translates to "purple noble lady". It is definitely an oolong (not very oxidized, but an oolong) and is very sweet with a stickiness around the rolled up leaves. They are mostly one or two leaf ensembles, not buds.

Does this tea sound familiar to you? Is your Zi Juan from Yunnan?

Thanks,

Rick.

To stimulate the discussion here is a link I found on a BBS talking about the Purple Bud for Puerh. The tea tree variety has existed since the mid eighties. The last two years have produced quality leaf. Another poster said it is not the 'so called purple bud' . Maybe he meant the medicinal plant.

If you plow through the jpgs of this link you'll see a picture of purple buds from the late 90's.

Maybe somebody can help with the Chinese in either case.

Jim

Mike Petro wrote:

Hi Rick,

No, that is not our Zi Juan. Leaves (both dry and wet leaves) of our Zi Juan are in dark purple color. This also differentiates it from other similar named teas.

Linda