Taiping Houkui

Brief

Taiping Houkui is a kind of green tea produced in Huangshan District of Anhui Province (called Taiping County in ancient times), and it ranks among the top ten green teas in China. Taiping Houkui is a Chinese geographical indication product. Taiping Houkui tastes fresh and mellow, with a sweet aftertaste. Even if you put too much tea, it will not be bitter or astringent.

Origin

Taiping Houkui was founded in 1900. It is produced Huangshan District (formerly Taiping County). There is a story that “Houkui” was originally a wild tea, which was growing in the foothills of Huang Mountain, however, The Huang Mountain is so steep that no one can climb it, so the people living there try to tame monkeys to pick the tea leaves, then the tea makers process those tea leaves in a special way, and it gradually becomes famous by the emergence of its amazing taste and the story behind it.

Culture

During the reign of the emperor Guangxu(A.D.1871-1908), there were hundreds of tea houses, tea shops and tea stores opened by Taiping people in Nanjing, and there’s a man(named Wang Kuicheng) who is an experienced tea-maker was particularly good at tea processing, he was also mentally alert when doing his tea business. Soon the tea which produced by was treated as the favorite tea by most people, it was been loved by all the locals at that time. Meanwhile this kind of tea only can grow in Hougang areas of Taiping County, so that’s why the tea is called Taiping Houkui.

Processing

Step one –frying
After picking the leaves .Stir-frying it for 2-3 minutes,(temperature is about 110℃).

Step two-drying
It needs to be dried in four ovens at 100 ℃, 90 ℃, 80 ℃, 70 ℃,afterwards, let  it cool.

Step three-baking
Bake it at the temperature of 70 ° C until the water content is about 10%.

Reward

Won the first-class gold medal at the Panama Universal Exposition in 1915.
Won the title of Green Tea King at the International Tea Exposition in 2004.