About Que She (Sparrow’s Tongue) 2024

Que She is named for its small and delicate shape which looks like the tongue of a sparrow tongue, originating from the Yibin City, Sichuan province.
Not all fresh tea leaves can be used as the raw material of making Que She, only the freshest tea leaves of the small-leaf tea species can do. Actually, any tea that has the shape of a sparrow’s tongue can be considered as Que She, no matter it is from the Zhe Jiang, Jiang Su, or Anhui province.
Our Yibin Que She is no doubt of very high quality and owns a very good reputation among green tea lovers. The history of it being paid tribute to the imperial palace can be traced back to the Tang dynasty. Que She is considered as one of the rarest Chinese green teas due to its unique flavour and its relatively higher prices when compared to other green teas in the Chinese tea market. The polyphenolic compounds and the content of amino acids inside Que She tea leaves are about 10% higher than other teas.

Appearance & Taste

The shape of Que She is small and delicate and looks like a ‘sparrow’s tongue’. When brewing, the tea leaves are in vivid yellowish green and float on the surface of the water. The tea soup tastes very smooth without bitterness, very fresh and tender, just like tasting the start of spring. It has a bit of young chestnut aroma and refreshing vegetal and bamboo fragrance with a sweet and endless aftertaste.

Taste: Floral, Fresh, Grassy, Sweet

Brewing Guide

Tea Cup

2 teaspoon(s)

80°C (125ml)

3-5 mins

Enjoy!

Glass

4 tsp

80°C (250ml)

3-5 mins

Enjoy!

Teapot

8 tsp

80°C (500ml)

3-5 mins

Enjoy!

Kongfu Style

Recommend using Bottom-Drop Method:

Warm the teaware with hot water. Discard the water afterward
Add 2 teaspoons of tea for teacup/gaiwan (125ML), 4 teaspoons for glass (250ML) and 8 teaspoons for teapot (500ML) or 4g for 200ml hot water.
Pour hot water (80°C-85°C) into the teaware until it is one-third full
Tilt the glass cup, slowly rotating it twice to ensure a better infusion
Pour more hot water (80°C-85°C) into the teaware until it is 70% full
Infuse the tea for around 3-5 minutes, (if using gaiwan gongfu style, the first brew can be around 30s, the second round is about 60s)
Drink until 1/3 of the tea is left before refilling
Can refill up to 3 times
Gradually increase steeping time for subsequent brews

Origin

Yibin City, located in the south-central part of Sichuan province, is the place where we start plucking the spring tea leaves at the earliest time each year, almost 10 days earlier than any Mingqian tea picking activities in other places.

Suitable temperature, fertile soil and sufficient rainfalls all together form the superior growing environment and geographical conditions for the growth of tea trees in Yibin. During the tea plantation, osmanthus and ginkgo trees are cultivated among the tea trees which not only diffuses the light of the tea garden but also enriches the ecological environment for better tea tree growth.

Origin: Sichuan

Picking & Production

Our Que She is ‘Mingqian’ tea. Mingqian tea refers to the tea plucked before The Pure Brightness (April 4th, 5th, or 6th). However, the picking time of such tea is much earlier than the others, normally around mid to late March.

Only the tea tree buds that have just emerged in spring were picked, as it has the most tender scent. As the growth of tea leaves is quite slow during the period, Mingqian tea has the most tender buds. However, also because of the low temperature before The Pure Brightness, the growth rate of tea buds is very limited, hence the yield of the tea under such a strict picking standard can be quite small. This is also why it has a saying that ‘Mingqian teas are as expensive as gold.

2 reviews for Que She (Sparrow’s Tongue) 2024

Rated 5 out of 5
James B. – 15/08/2024
Brewed bottom drop in Gaiwan. 2024 lot.
Very pure, and energetic. The first brew is quite grippy in the mouth, with lots of bamboo shoot and you could discard it if it is not to your taste, but I found it enjoyable. Subsequent brews were very sweet and invigorating, this is certainly mingqian, and very high quality que she by my reckoning.
Rated 4 out of 5
michaelcaruso91 – 08/03/2023
Very unique flavour to this one, I enjoyed it