Description
The famous Lion’s Peak (Shi Feng) pictured above.
Our Long Jing is fired by Master Luo, three time winner of the Long Jing Firing King (Chao Cha Wang) competition and the youngest of the 16 Grand Firing masters appointed by the government to pass on traditional methods to the next generation. Master Luo has five acres of land in Meijiawu and other sites in Xi Hu (West Lake) in total – four of them for the in-demand #43 cultivar which is picked early, and one acre reserved for his 150-200 year old Da Zhong Pin bushes. Only 15kg of this Old Tree Long Jing is handmade by Master Luo each year, of which we buy 3-4kg. In 2015 he won the Long Jing Firing King title for the third time and has had the honour of firing the famous 18 Imperial Long Jing bushes. The second time he won the Long Jing Firing King title his prize winning tea sold for around £12,000 for 100g.
The skill and technique of the firer is of the highest importance when it comes to making good quality Long Jing, and Master Luo uses a technique inherited from his grandfather Ying Zhi Sheng that makes him unique among his contemporaries. During the harvesting season Master Luo will fire all day in 100g batches, making up to 2-2.5 kilos in a day. In the 40 minutes it takes to fire a batch of tea Master Luo reckons the difference between making a great tea and an average tea is only around 30 seconds.
Click HERE to view Master Luo firing the early West Lake Long Jing.
