Shou Mei
寿眉
White
The story credits two lazy brothers. In their Fujian garden they picked whatever came to hand, skipped the rolling, skipped the roasting, and dried the leaves in the sun. Neighbours who spied on them looking for the secret found there was nothing to steal.
Officials later saw an old man's eyebrow in the curved leaf and named it longevity, which is a generous reading of laziness.
Time does the work the brothers refused to do. Young, it tastes of hay and honey. Left alone for years it turns dark and deep, tasting of dates and old wood, and it becomes worth far more than it started.
- hay
- honey
- date
- Origin
- Fuding and Zhenghe, Fujian
- Water
- 90°C / 194°F
- Ratio
- 5 g / 100 ml
- Caffeine
- Low
- Rinse
- Not needed
Standard fourth grade of Fujian white tea; Hong Kong teahouse staple pre-1970s
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
5 infusions, about 2m 50s of total contact time.
- Steep 115sDry hay, sweetness implied.
- Steep 220sHoney thickens, autumn-warm.
- Steep 330sJujube fruit rises from the leaf.
- Steep 445sWoody depth, smooth and slow.
- Steep 51mMellow to the end, faintly date-sweet.
Also sold as
Shoumei, Sow Mee, Noble Eyebrow, Longevity Eyebrow, Obočí dlouhého věku, Obočí dlouhověkosti, Starcovo obočí
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.