Imperial Gunpowder Leaf Tea
Green Tea
Loose Leaf
Available in:
125g
This traditional Chinese tea is named after its distinctive shape, said to resemble gunpowder. The fresh tea leaves are steamed, tightly rolled and dried in steel pans over a fire. Once infused in hot water, they unfurl and release their delicate flavour, creating a delightfully fresh-tasting green tea.
Flavour
How to brew
For the perfect cup, 90 degrees, 2-3 mins
This green tea is quite unlike anything else. Rather than large, loose leaves, it is rolled into tight little balls – or pellets – which loosen and unfurl as it brews. It’s beautiful to watch, and it makes Imperial Gunpowder a particularly compelling tea-making experience.
As is so often the case, that uniqueness was borne of the practicalities of trade. Rolling up the leaves has several key advantages: they take up less space and are more efficient to transport, they’re better protected and less likely to break, and they can keep their flavour for longer due to less of the leaf being exposed to the air. Of course, modern transporting methods mean these factors aren’t as much of a problem today as they once were, so now we enjoy this style of tea more for its unique appearance than its storage benefits.
We source ours from the Hunan Province in central China, where it’s still rolled tightly by hand (that tightness is a mark of quality, care and skill). It’s delicate, mild and smooth, with a little hint of dryness in the background. Ideal for brewing in glass, so you can enjoy watching the leaves do their thing.
