• Tea
    • White Tea
    • Green Tea
    • Oolong Tea
    • Black Tea
    • Herbal Infusions
    • Tea Sampler Sets
  • Teaware
    • British Teaware
    • Japanese
    • Gong Fu Cha
    • Storage
    • Tools
  • Accessories
    • Ulster Weavers
    • William Morris
  • Food Hall
    • Biscuits
    • Chocolate & Confectionary
    • Jams & Preserves
    • Olive Oil
  • Gifts
  • Tea School
  • My Account
Menu
  • Tea
    • White Tea
    • Green Tea
    • Oolong Tea
    • Black Tea
    • Herbal Infusions
    • Tea Sampler Sets
  • Teaware
    • British Teaware
    • Japanese
    • Gong Fu Cha
    • Storage
    • Tools
  • Accessories
    • Ulster Weavers
    • William Morris
  • Food Hall
    • Biscuits
    • Chocolate & Confectionary
    • Jams & Preserves
    • Olive Oil
  • Gifts
  • Tea School
  • My Account
  • German
  • German
0,00 € 0 Basket
Search
Close this search box.
Home / Tea / Green Tea / China

Melon Seed (Liu An Gua Pian)

We’ve been searching for this famous and unusual Chinese green tea for years, and finally, we have found a batch in a quality that we are proud of and are happy to share with our customers. Full bodied compared to most Chinese green teas, sweet and slightly nutty, if you are a fan of our China Emeralds we are sure you will love this new tea. Try it and let us know what you think! *Lowest price for this item in the last 30 days was 198,00 €/kg.

SALE!*
Green Tea Lu'an Melon-Seed

From 1,90 € *

incl. VAT

plus Shipping Costs

190,00 € – 130,00 € / kg

Clear

— OR —

  • Description
  • Ingredients

Description

There are three important tea growing areas in Anhui Province. Perhaps the most famous is the UNESCO World Heritage site south of the Yangtze river “Huangshan” (Yellow Mountain).  Here heavily forested slopes and 99 peaks attract tourists from all over the world. Lu An Gua Pian comes from the Dabie mountain range, north of the Yangtze river. Here the tea plants for the Green Tea Lu’an Melon-Seed grow at altitudes of between 100 – 500 metres and the growing conditions are perfect.

Back in the Tang dynasty, in the first book to be written about tea, Lu Yu referred to the green tea Lu’An Melon Seed Gua Pian as a superior tea, called “Sunflower Seed Slice”. Since then it has been known as Watermelon slice, and today is referred to as Melon Seed, which is most understandable when you look at the used, brewed leaves. Made from the cultivar “Da Guazi”, this tea is unusual in two respects. For one thing the plucking method is different to that of other green teas. Typically, a good Chinese green tea would come from the early Spring and would contain one or two leaves and a bud. For this tea, the tea pluckers wait until the second harvest of the year and take just two leaves, and no bud. The two leaves are plucked separately, and either the stalk stays on the bush or it is removed after plucking.

The production of the tea is also slightly different to that of other Chinese green teas. After a short withering period in the shade, the tea makers work in pairs to carry out the  panning step of production. Working between two woks at different temperatures, and switching between the hotter and cooler wok up to 60 times, the tea makers use long brushes to move the leaves around, so that they twist and curl over upon themselves resulting in their beautiful long, slightly twisted shape.

After the panning stage the leaves are transferred to bamboo baskets that are placed over charcoal fires for a few seconds at time. Each time the baskets are lifted from the fire the leaves are shaken and turned before being placed back on the heat. The skill of the tea-makers who carry out this step up to 100 times is critical, as any hint of smoke would destroy the complex flavour of the tea.

This is a charming tea to brew (seeing how the leaves, shorn of any stem, plump up to reveal the melon seed shape is quite delightful) and a delicious tea to drink.

 

Harvested

May 2020

Origin

Lu An prefecture, Jiangbei County, Anhui Province, China

Body

Medium

Flavours

Sweet, vegetal, nutty, hints of toasted pumpkin

Temperature

80 °C

Time

2 Min

Infusions

1 - 3

Ingredients

Green tea

Green Tea Lu'an Melon-Seed

hover to zoom, click on magnifier for full view

You might also like...

Organic Qingshan Green Buds
Organic Qingshan Green Buds

From 5,50 € *

550,00 € – 476,00 € / kg

Anxi Yinhao Green Tea
Organic Anxi Yinhao Green Tea

From 3,50 € *

350,00 € – 279,60 € / kg

Chinese Green Tea Organic Tonglu Dragon Well (Tonglu Long Jing)
Organic Tonglu Dragon Well (Tonglu Long Jing)

From 2,90 € *

290,00 € – 239,60 € / kg

China Emeralds Green Tea
China Emeralds

From 1,90 € *

190,00 € – 155,00 € / kg

  • 0049 (0)711 518 74 006
  • Contact Us
  • Weißenburgstraße 29
  • 70180 Stuttgart
  • Tuesday - Saturday 11.00 - 18.00
  • Shop online 24/7

* Prices inclusive of VAT. Prices do not include shipping costs 

EU Organic Certification through ABCert (DE-ÖKO-006)

Tea

  • White Tea
  • Green Tea
  • Oolong Tea
  • Black Tea
  • Herbal Tea
  • Tea Sampler Sets
  • White Tea
  • Green Tea
  • Oolong Tea
  • Black Tea
  • Herbal Tea
  • Tea Sampler Sets

Teaware

  • British Teaware
  • Japanese
  • Gong Fu Cha
  • Storage
  • Tools
  • British Teaware
  • Japanese
  • Gong Fu Cha
  • Storage
  • Tools

Accessories

  • Ulster Weavers
  • William Morris
  • Ulster Weavers
  • William Morris

Food Hall

  • Biscuits
  • Chocolate & Confectionary
  • Jams & Preserves
  • Olive Oil
  • Biscuits
  • Chocolate & Confectionary
  • Jams & Preserves
  • Olive Oil

Gifts

  • Gift Cards
  • Greeting Cards
  • Gift Cards
  • Greeting Cards

Tea School

  • Tea Seminars
  • Tea Workshops
  • Tea Seminars
  • Tea Workshops

Support

  • Contact
  • Our Values
  • Shopping With Us
  • Shipping
  • Payment & Returns
  • Gift Card Balance
  • Our Values
  • Shopping With Us
  • Shipping
  • Payment & Returns
  • Gift Card Balance

Legal

  • Imprint
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Data Security Statement
  • Imprint
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Data Security Statement

© 2023 – The English Tearoom



We use optional cookies to improve your experience on our website. If you reject optional cookies, only cookies necessary to provide you the services will be used. You may change your selection or find more information about the cookies used by clicking “Cookie Settings”. Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Imprint


Cookie SettingsAccept All Reject All

Cookie Settings

We use optional cookies to improve your experience on our website. If you reject optional cookies, only cookies necessary to provide you the services will be used. You may change your selection or find more information about the cookies in this window.

<a href="https://www.the-english-tearoom.de/data-security-statement/">Privacy Policy</a> <a href="https://www.the-english-tearoom.de/terms-conditions/">Terms & Conditions</a> <a href="https://www.the-english-tearoom.de/imprint/">Imprint</a>

 
Necessary
Always Enabled
These cookies allow for the core functionalities of this website and cannot be disabled.
CookieDurationDescription
__stripe_mid1 yearThis cookie is used by our payment provider Stripe to process payments.
__stripe_sid30 minutesThis cookie is used by our payment provider Stripe to process payments.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics1 yearThe cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category “Analytics”.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary1 yearThe cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category “Necessary“.
CookieLawInfoConsent1 yearThis cookie is used to record the default button state of the corresponding category.
viewed_cookie_policy1 yearThe cookie is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies.
woocommerce_cart_hashsessionThis cookies is used to determine when cart contents/data changes.
woocommerce_items_in_cartsessionThis cookie is used to determine when cart contents/data changes.
wp_woocommerce_session_*2 daysThis cookie is used to find the cart data in the database for each customer.
Analytics
These cookies help to statistically evaluate the website usage.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThis cookie is used by Google Analytics to calculate visitor, session and campaign data for the sites analytics reports.
_ga_*2 yearsThis cookie is used by Google Analytics to calculate visitor, session and campaign data for the sites analytics reports.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo

Get in Touch

Call us during opening hours on + 49 (0) 711 518 74 006 or email us using the form below. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

Privacy Policy