3505AAA- the highest grade of gunpowder Tea

Gunpowder Tea（珠茶）

Despite its explosive-sounding name,gunpowder tea is not actually made of gunpowder! The tea is so named because its rolled,pellet-like appearance is similar to gunpowder. It is one of the best known varieties of Chinese green tea. Gunpowder tea is rolled to preserve the freshness of the leaves. Gunpowder tea may also be referred to as pearl tea.

Properties of gunpowder tea

Gunpowder tea is one kind of green tea with a thick,strong taste that has been described as being like soft honey. It usually gives a smoke-like flavor and a slight copper aftertaste. Most gunpowder tea have a taste reminiscent of grass,although some may have a minty or pepper-like taste.

When brewed,gunpowder tea produces yellowish infusion.

	9375- the relatively lower grade of gunpowder tea

Origin and production of gunpowder tea

Gunpowder tea was first created in Pingshui,Zheijing Province,China.

As a main gunpowder tea producing area,Pingshui is a town located in the southeast of Shaoxing City,Zhejiang province. In the past,local factories in Pingshui town collected dried tea leaves which just went through preliminary processing from neighboring areas for refinement process before exporting finished tea to foreign countries. Pingshui gunpowder won popularity abroad and people call Pingshui "the hometown of gunpowder". According to historical records,between 1843 and 1894,its export reached a peak,hitting 200,000 dan (one dan being 50kg) and the gunpowder price on the London market was second only to Wu Yi Oolong tea,another kind of tea from China and also a favorite in Europe at that time.

Now,gunpowder's producing area has expanded to the majority of southeast China while Zhejiang province remains as the largest one which is a wide area surrounded by Kuiji Mountain,Siming Mountain and Tiantai Mountain mainly comprising Shaoxing,Zhuji,Shengzhou,Xinchang,Xiaoshan,Shangyu,Yuyao,Tiantai,Fenghua and Dongyang.

To create the distinctive appearance of gunpowder,the leaves are withered,then steamed and rolled into small pellets. The pellets are rolled tightly and carefully to prevent breaking the veins in the leaves. The pellets are then dried.

Most gunpowder tea pellets are now rolled by machine,but the highest grades are still hand-rolled. A general rule is - the larger the pellets,the lower the quality. High grade gunpowder tea features very small,tightly-rolled pellets.

Preparation Methods of gunpowder tea

The best water temperature is between 70°c to 80°c. For the first and second brewing,the leaves should be steeped for one minute. The time should be gradually extended with subsequent brewing.

Gunpowder tea is usually drunk straight without adding milk. There are,however,other ways of drinking the tea as well.

Moroccan mint tea is a variant of gunpowder tea,and is made from a mixture of gunpowder tea,sugar and mint. The sugar and mint are added after brewing to create a refreshing,light taste.

Gunpowder tea is recommended as a complement to strong-tasting food.