Píngshuǐ Zhūchá

Classification and Origin

Category: 圆炒青 (yuán chǎoqīng) — "round-fired" green, as opposed to 长炒青 (cháng chǎoqīng), "long-fired" green, from which 眉茶 (méichá, Chunmee) with its "eyebrow-like" leaf is made. If méichá is twisted into thin, curved strips, then zhūchá is rolled into dense spheres — 珠 (zhū) means "pearl."

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Historically, Píngshuǐ was not so much a single plantation as a major trading and processing hub — here, green maocha flowed in from the hilly counties of the province, where it was brought to export condition and shaped into the characteristic "pearl." This is precisely why the commodity name became attached to the entire category — 平水珠茶, named after the market centre, not an individual garden.

Origin: the Píngshuǐ (平水) locality in the vicinity of Shaoxing city (绍兴) in northern Zhejiang province (浙江).

Type: green tea (炒青绿茶 — pan-fired green tea).

Brewing

it is enough to use less leaf than the volume suggests — the pellets are heavy and will unfurl — and to brew with hot, but not furiously boiling water, increasing the steeping time as the "pearls" open.

use more tea, boiling water, and sugar, and the first short infusion is often discarded.