En Shi Yu Lu恩施玉露

En Shi Yu Lu is a green tea from Enshi, Hubei, China. Brew it at 80°C with 3.5g of leaf per 100ml of water; expect up to 5 short infusions in a small gaiwan or teapot. No rinse needed.

Tasting notes

Steamed, not fired — and the difference is the whole point of En Shi Yu Lu. The liquor comes out so green it looks synthetic, almost spinach-water green, and the first sip reads more like a Japanese sencha than anything you'd expect from China: marine, savoury, a clean seaweed note under the sweetness. It shares DNA with gyokuro but goes its own direction — there's a rounded mineral sweetness from the selenium soil that Japanese greens don't have. Brew it cooler than you think. Eighty is the baseline, but drop to seventy for the first steep and you'll pull more umami at the cost of body; it's a real tradeoff to experiment with. Short steeps. Hot water and long steeps turn the marine note into cooked spinach, and that's not a flavor you want back. The needle-shaped leaves move gracefully in a gaiwan. Four infusions is the honest number; anything past that is increasingly pale.

Flavor profile

China's most famous steamed green tea and one of very few surviving examples of the Tang-dynasty steaming method. The steaming preserves more chlorophyll and amino acids than pan-firing, producing a vivid emerald liquor with a mellow, full-bodied umami character. The flavor is smoother and more marine-vegetal than pan-fired greens — closer in spirit to Japanese gyokuro, though with its own distinct sweetness and mineral depth from Enshi's selenium-rich terroir.

Terroir

Selenium-rich soil in the Wuling Mountains, ~800-1200m, subtropical monsoon climate with heavy fog

Cultivar: Local Enshi cultivar

Brewing

1. Steep 1: 20 seconds
2. Steep 2: 20 seconds
3. Steep 3: 30 seconds
4. Steep 4: 45 seconds
5. Steep 5: 60 seconds

As a steamed green, it's more temperature-sensitive than pan-fired teas. Start at 80°C; going lower (even 70°C) brings out more umami at the cost of body.

Aroma & taste

Processing

• steamed
• needle-rolled

Sources

• https://easternleaves.com/products/enshi-yulu-steamed-chinese-green-tea
• https://onerivertea.com/products/enshi-yulu
• https://tea.fandom.com/wiki/En_Shi_Yu_Lu_Tea
• https://www.teavivre.com/en-shi-yu-lu-green-tea.html