Basic Introduction to Naxi Super-Early Tea
Naxi Super-Early Tea is a specialty of the Naxi District, Luzhou City, Sichuan Province.
Naxi is located between the southern edge of the Sichuan Basin and low mountain areas, characterized by a subtropical humid monsoon climate with an average annual temperature of 18.3°C, annual rainfall of 1184 millimeters, and annual sunshine hours totaling 1172, making it very suitable for tea cultivation.
The main brands of Naxi Super-Early Tea include “Early Spring in February,” “Phoenix Feather,” “Hanyuan,” and more than 20 others. The excellent natural environment gives it the advantage of being the earliest tea at its latitude globally. Spring tea shoots can emerge early, with new tea available as early as Chinese New Year's Eve, earning it the reputation of “New Year's Eve Tea.” Naxi Super-Early Tea is made from high-quality clonal varieties like Fuding Dahao, Pingyang Super-Early, Wuniu Early, and Bayu Super-Early, processed using flat-leaf tea techniques.
Nutritional Value
Modern scientific separation and identification have found over four hundred organic chemical components and more than forty inorganic mineral elements in tea. Many of these organic chemical components and inorganic mineral elements are nutritional and pharmacologically active. Organic chemical components primarily include: polyphenols, plant alkaloids, proteins, amino acids, vitamins, pectins, organic acids, lipopolysaccharides, sugars, enzymes, pigments, etc.
Product Characteristics
(1) Sensory Characteristics:
Naxi Super-Early Tea has a flat, straight shape, yellowish-green with silvery tips, and is evenly clean. Its infusion is a bright yellowish-green, with a rich chestnut aroma that is long-lasting. It has a fresh, pure, and refreshing taste, and the infused leaves are uniformly yellowish-green and bright.
(2) Quality Indicators:
Water-soluble extract content ≥42%, polyphenols ≥16%, along with abundant amino acids.
Historical and Cultural Background
Naxi has a long history of tea production and a rich tea culture, with a unique geographical location that makes it one of the earliest regions for tea growth at its latitude globally.
In his book “The Classic of Tea,” Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty wrote about “Naxi and Meiling producing tea.” On the rock walls of the Qingxi River in the Naxi District, there is a stone carving of the words “February Tea” written by Huang Tingjian, a famous poet and calligrapher of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Cultivation began during the Han dynasty and became widespread by the Wei and Jin dynasties. In “The Book of Famous Teas of China,” the tea of Luzhou (also known as Naxi tea) is listed among the famous teas of the Tang Dynasty, while “Naxi Meiling tea” is listed among those of the Song Dynasty.
The “History of Huayang Kingdom” by Chang Qiu of the Jin Dynasty records: “When King Wu of Zhou fought against King Zhou of Shang, he received the support of armies from Ba and Shu, and both tea and honey were offered as tributes.”
In 2011, the protected area for Naxi Super-Early Tea covered 20,000 hectares, with an annual output of 25,000 tons.
In 2012, the total area of tea gardens in Naxi reached 150,000 mu, with a total tea production of 4,188 tons and a comprehensive value of the tea industry reaching 450 million RMB. About 100,000 people in the Naxi District engaged in the tea industry, contributing to a revenue increase of 250 million RMB for farmers.
In 2018, the modern standardized tea base in Naxi District expanded to 312,000 mu, with an annual production of 20,000 tons of Naxi Super-Early Tea.
As of February 2023, the regional public brand value of Naxi Super-Early Tea had reached 4.522 billion RMB, increasing the income of tea farmers by 3,000 RMB per capita.
Awards and Honors of Naxi Super-Early Tea
On December 20, 2011, the Ministry of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China approved the registration and protection of the agricultural geographical indication for “Naxi Super-Early Tea.”
In 2014, Naxi Super-Early Tea became one of the first products recognized under the China-European Union Geographical Indication Mutual Recognition Program.
On March 21, 2014, Naxi Super-Early Tea successfully registered as a Chinese National Geographical Indication Trademark.
On July 20, 2020, Naxi Super-Early Tea was included in the first batch of protected products on the China-European Union Geographical Indications List.