2023 Spring Four Seasons [Si Ji Chun]

£3.50

Simply put...

A beautifully light, floral uplifting Spring tea from the Si Ji Chun cultivar [literally Four Season Spring. The intended meaning is: the tea that tastes like spring tea all year round]

In more depth

Tea Maker : Mr. Yu

Leaf Origin : Mr Yu, 1/3 hectare, Baguashan, Mingjian Township, Nantou, Taiwan

Harvest Time : Spring

Cultivar : Si Ji Chun

Plucking standard : 4 or 5 leaves

Experience : Beautifully light, floral & uplifting

Last visited by Comins : Summer 2023, Michelle Comins, 2017 Rob Comins

How to prepare tea [Gong Fu Style]

Amount of tea per cup (200 ml): 5g (1/3 of a pot)

Temperature of water: 90℃

Infusion time: 45 seconds then 20 seconds as desired

Number of infusions: 5 +

How to enjoy: No milk, no sugar

How to prepare tea [Western Style]

Amount of tea per cup (200 ml): 5g (one tea caddy spoon)

Temperature of water: 90℃ / 195℉ (boil kettle, cool for 20 seconds)

Infusion time: 2 minutes (or as desired). Add 1 minute for each further infusion.

Number of infusions: 3 to 4

How to enjoy: No milk, no sugar

Tales of the Tea Trade : Mr Yu

Rob : Extract from our our book Tales of the tea trade : Mr Yu : ‘I have been in the tea business 35 years. I never wanted to be in tea, but I had to return to look after my parents [....] My father talked to me about rice, but I had realized tea was easier and would make more money [...] Mr Yu is perhaps best known for his GABA tea

Mr Yu started making GABA tea around 10 years ago after a seminar by the Tea Research and Extension Station. [He] was told he would not be able to do it himself, so of course he did. The key piece of equipment for this is a metal tank which has the air pumped out of it, creating a vacuum. Mr Yu made the tank he currently uses, which is his second. His first one imploded because it wasn’t strong enough [.....]

[....] Mr Yu is positive about the future. ‘When Chiang Kai-shek came over in 1949 with the military there was a very short-term perspective on agriculture, and in the 1950s and 60s there was heavy use of chemicals in farming. Today some of the most wealthy people are the pesticide and fertilizer sellers. However, we have no GMO crops, no massive corporations and we have small stakeholders. This model means that if we want it and if we make it, change can happen.’ If anyone disagrees, this will simply spur Mr Yu on...read the full story in our book Tales of the tea trade