Mengding Ganlu
蒙顶甘露 · Sweet Dew
Green
The story starts before tea gardens existed. Around 53 BCE a Taoist named Wu Lizhen planted seven bushes on Mengding mountain in Sichuan. It is the first tea any record describes as cultivated rather than found growing wild.
A Song emperor later gave him the title Master of Sweet Dew, and the mountain's tea took the name from the man.
It is still finished by hand, kneaded warm into small curls while the leaf is still soft enough to take the shape. Sweet dew is not a metaphor here and never was. It is a tasting note, and the tea delivers it plainly.
- sweet
- orchid
- tender
- Origin
- Mengding Mountain, Ya'an, Sichuan
- Water
- 80°C / 176°F
- Ratio
- 5 g / 100 ml
- Caffeine
- Medium
- Rinse
- Not needed
Historic Meng Shan tribute lineage (Tang–Qing)
How much leaf
Gong fu brewing is leaf-heavy and short. Set your gaiwan or pot size and this is what to weigh out.
Vessel volume
100 ml
Recommended dose
Use ~5.0g of tea
The session
6 infusions, about 2m 45s of total contact time.
- Steep 115sDew first, name later.
- Steep 220sOrchid rises through the down.
- Steep 325sFruit sweetness, ripe and close.
- Steep 430sThe curl relaxes into grass.
- Steep 535sSweetness thins but will not leave.
- Steep 640sLast dew, almost only water.
Also sold as
Meng Ding Gan Lu
Steaper times this session for you
A countdown per infusion, a gong when each one is up, and the whole library in your pocket. Coming to iPhone.
Get notified at launchThese numbers are a median of independent gong fu sources, not a law. Leaf age, vessel and water all move them. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.