Dinggu Dafang, Oldest Flat-style Green Tea

Dinggu Dafang: Possibly the first flat-style wok-roasted green tea

dĭng•gŭ dà•fāng 頂谷大方
other names: Ding Gu Da Fang, Laozhu Dafang, Dafang Cha, Huangshan Longjing
origin: Huangshan, Anhui

orientation

Dinggu Dafang may look like just another imitation Longjing, but this is deceptive of a much undervalued different taste character. It has an arguably longer history than Longjing; and may very well be some of the Songlo (aka Suonglo, Singlo, Songluo) varieties first exported to Europe in the 17th century.

The dry leaves have a darker, browner colour than other similar wok roasted flat green teas, because of a long tradition of using higher firing temperature in the region. It has a warm, malty aroma with a distinctive floral note; full, savoury body accentuated with just enough astringency.

A scene in Huangshan, photo by Arne Hückelheim

origin

Huangshan (literally translated as Yellow Mountains) is one of the most scenic, mystic and adored mountains in China for millennia. South of the Yangtze River and west to the provinces of the prosperous East Coast, it maintains much of the natural lushness and the misty steep apexes that had impressed mandarins, scholars and monks when tea was first made there.

A monk by the name of Dafang roasted tea in Mount Lao Zhu (in Huangshan) in the 14th century by pressing a local first flush flat against the wok. Temperature not only cured the downy buds but also turned the green colour into yellow and some of the leaves slightly brown. Visitors to his temple, having traveled quite a distance, were served with this tea. His tea soon got more famous than his temple.

Lao Zhu Da-fang is still being made today, in a much wider area. Finer ones are still done manually, with the bare hand pressing the leaves against the wok, not unlike the way they still do it in Zhejiang with Longjing tea. Top quality productions, now called Ding-gu (top valley) Da-fang, have always been done this way not only for achieving the flat look typical of this yellow looking green tea, but also for the taste that would otherwise be inadequate in automated productions.

production notes

Although the processing is somewhat similar to Longjing, there are a couple of steps additional in between. The plucks go through sha qing, twisting, shaping, and then two sessions of flattening during wok-roasting. The equipment for roasting is basically the same as Longjing, but the temperature higher, therefore the golden-brown colour in some of the leaves.

The raw material is also different. There are a few local cultivars and some hybrids, but not Longjing varieties. The key difference is the pluck time. Finer Dafangs are generally harvested in mid-April, as different from the late March as in similar quality Longjing. I guess that is due to the generally higher altitude of the farms in Huangshan than in Hangzhou. Note that the leaves of genuine Dafangs are larger than those of Longjing. However, first-flushes are still smaller than latter ones and are much finer in taste. There are poor tasting imitations and machine-made ones that are the leaf size of later plucked Longjing, demanding the same price.

tasting notes

A distinctive floral note differentiates this somewhat lesser known, but as highly regarded tea. The same warm, malty aroma as in most finer wok-roasted flattened teas, balanced with higher, crisper herbaceous accents. I highly recommend the premium grades where there is a fuller body and a good savour, accentuated with just enough astringency. Regular ones are usually coarser, more tannic and some even grassy.

Best when infused in small pot at 150 ml to 4 gm, at 75°C for 4 minutes. May need to adjust this setting according to the quality you have. Use a good porcelain or fine, high density Yixing clay. <Read more about infusion>