Zi Sun Cha Steamed Green Pancake
Encounter a heart-warming tea container, taking a sip or two of light and elegant tea in the middle of a busy schedule; between touch and vision, clearly comprehend heaven, earth and people of nature and ingenuity.
Frequently Bought Together
- Chinese: Táng Dài Gòng Chá Gù Zhǔ Zǐ Sǔn Chá Gǔ Fǎ Chá Bǐng
- Translation: Tang Dynasty Tribute Tea Guzhu Zi Sun Cha Ancient Techniques Tea Cake
- Type: Green Tea Cake
- Cultivar: Zi Sun Cha
- Weight: 7g±3 each
- Age of tea trees: 70 to 300 years
- Origin: Guzhu, Huzhou, Zhejiang
- Harvest Date: 2026/03/23
- Storage Methods: Refrigeration, Sealing, Moistureproof, Avoid light.
- Shelf Life: 18 months
-
Some teas refresh. And then there are teas that transport.
This is the latter. The 2026 Gu Zhu Zi Sun Tea is not merely a green tea—it is a fragment of the Chinese imperial table, reawakened after centuries of silence. Forged from the very terroir that once sent messengers galloping from Changxing to the Tang court with the cry, “牡丹花笑金钿动，传奏吴兴紫笋来” (“Peonies bloom, gold hairpins sway—Wu Xing’s Purple Bamboo Shoots have arrived”), this tea carries the weight of dynasties in every leaf.
-
History of Zi Sun Cha
Production of this tea dates back at least to the 8th Century CE, when Lu Yu, China's Sage of Tea and author of "Cha Jing", set up a tea factory here dedicated to producing Zi Sun Cha as the first tribute tea for the Tang Dynasty Emperor. Lu Yu, the famous tea master, was instrumental in promoting tea and tea culture during the Tang Dynasty (619-907AD). In addition to writing the first book about tea, he built the first Tribute Tea factory for the emperor in Gu Zhu Mountain in Zhejiang Province in 846 AD. It was his belief that Gu Zhu Zi Sun was the very best tea, and it became a Tribute Tea for over a thousand years. Initially, this tea was steamed into cakes and then ground into a powder to drink. -
The Mother Grove of Guzhu Mountain
True Guzhu Zisun does not come from plantations. It is found only within the protected mother‑tree reserve of Guzhu Mountain—a place where ancient Camellia sinensis trees have stood for seventy to three hundred years. Their roots plunge deep into the region’s famous “rotten‑rock” soil (烂石), a geological rarity described by Lu Yu as the highest grade for tea. These roots draw up mineral complexity that young bushes cannot replicate: a subtle umami, a spine‑tingling clarity, and a texture that coats the mouth like old silk.
Each tree yields only a handful of the earliest spring buds, harvested strictly on clear mornings, following the Tang canon: “凡采茶，在二月，三月，四月之间。茶之笋者，生于烂石沃土，长四、五寸，若薇、蕨始抽，凌露采焉。” (The finest tea sprouts, growing among rocky, fertile soil, are plucked in the dew, before the sun touches them.)
- Gu Zhu Zi Sun Cha, or Purple Bamboo Shoot green tea, mentioned lovingly in The Classic of Tea (also known as Ch'a Ching) by the famous tea master Lu Yu, was a tribute tea to the Tang dynasty. Grown in the lush green hills of the Zhejiang Province, it is named for the way the soft leaf buds appear when first plucked, with a light purplish hue and the shape of young bamboo sprouts. The leaf is a long, stalky style that yields a medium-light yellow cup with much complexity. We delighted at the notes of lychee, apricot, sweet pea floral, and sugar snap pea crispness in this early spring harvest. A treasure not to be missed, enjoy this tea fit for an emperor.
- It was picked entirely by hand using the standard of primarily two tiny leaves and one bud, and the processing was also carefully done by hand to preserve the integrity of these beautiful little leaf sets. As with most Chinese green tea, this tea was picked, withered in the sun and/or indoors, and heated in a low-temperature wok to kill the enzymes in the leaves that would otherwise cause them to oxidize and turn brown.
- Zisun Tea Cake is a steamed green tea cake made from carefully pressed green tea. It is easy to carry and has a unique taste. This tea cake is not only easy to carry, but also carries the historical memory of "Zisun Tea".
-
The Art of Making – A Lost Technique Revived
To press a tea cake today is rare. To press one using the Tang dynasty method—picking, steam‑fixing, pounding, molding, slow‑baking, threading, and sealing—is almost extinct. Each process is refined by hand.
Our tea master follows this ancient sequence without compromise. The 2026 Ming‑Qian (pre‑Qingming) leaves are first steamed to arrest oxidation while preserving the leaf’s tender spirit—a method that predates pan‑firing by centuries. They are then gently pounded into a pliable mass, hand‑pressed into the signature 5–7g cake, and dried over charcoal embers over several days. The result is a cake that is neither brittle nor compressed to hardness; it is supple, resilient, and designed for a singular purpose: slow release.
This is the antithesis of modern convenience. It is tea made for those who understand that patience is not a virtue—it is the method.
- The tea soup is clear, without any astringency of green tea. The fragrance of spring and fresh sweetness slowly spread from the tip of the tongue. The tea-cooking method is especially recommended. The tea soup brewed over a low fire is golden and translucent, and is filled with the fragrance of tea. Even the inner wall of the fairness cup that holds the tea soup has a rich nectar aroma that will make you intoxicated.
- Features: Retains the essence of green tea and is super resistant to soaking. You can drink it for a day; the cake shape is always intact, and the tea soup is slowly released every time you brew it. It can also be ground into powder to cook and drink like people in the Tang Dynasty, which has a long-lasting ancient charm. The peonies laugh, and the gold sparkles, and the purple bamboo shoots of Wuxing are heard. The Tang Dynasty's cake tea and the Ming Dynasty's steamed green tea are wonderful when prepared using the Tang Dynasty Sencha method.
-
Sencha Method in the Tang Dynasty - "Three-boil Tea" Method of Making Zi Sun Cha(Purple Bamboo Shoot Tea) Tea Cakes:
1. Roasted Tea. When roasting tea, make sure that the "hot and cold" are evenly distributed, and keep the fire strong until the tea cakes are in the shape of "toads", have tea fragrance, and feel soft.
2. After roasting the tea, wrap it tightly with clean paper while it is still hot to preserve its fragrance.
3. After the roasted tea cakes have cooled, break them into small pieces.
4. Place the tea leaves in a tea grinder and, after they have been ground, pass them through a sieve to make them resemble fine rice and store them in a box.
5. Boil the water until it boils once: When the water bubbles up to the size of fish eyes, add an appropriate amount of salt for seasoning
6. When it is boiled twice, scoop out a spoonful of water for later use, stir it with chopsticks in the same direction to form a vortex, and pour the tea into the vortex
7. When the soup is boiled three times, pour in the ladleful of water scooped out when it was boiled twice to nurture the flowers. The flowers appear on the surface of the soup after the boiling is stopped and the flowers are nurtured.
8. Divide the tea soup into tea bowls. -
Lu Yu’s Tea Cooking Method:
Prepare the salt and grind the cake tea into tea powder. Lu Yu thinks it does not need to be too fine or ground into powder; just grind it into "fine rice-like".
Bring the water to a boil and season with the appropriate amount of salt. It is more suitable to put 1.5 grams into 1000 ml of water, and the tea soup produced is suitable for saltiness. (Everyone has a different taste so you can add or subtract based on your taste.)
After adding the salt, scoop out a ladle of water and set it aside.
When it boils for the second time, stir the water into a vortex, and then add an appropriate amount of tea powder from the center of the soup. Add 5-6 grams of tea to 1000 ml of water. The "Tea Classic" states that if you like to drink a stronger tea, you can add more tea, and if you like to drink a lighter tea, you can add less tea. You can control it flexibly.
When the soup reaches the third boiling point, pour the ladle of water scooped out in advance into the pot to stop the boiling. At this time, you can see a lot of soup foam formed on the surface of the soup.
You can divide the tea soup into tea bowls and serve it. It should be noted that when leaving the tea soup, you can only gently scoop out the upper layer of the tea soup with foam and drink it. Be careful not to scoop out the tea residue.