Shi Hua (Stone Flower)
Green Tea 2026
Made with tiny single tea buds that are fried three times, pressed open against the side of the wok to expose the immature leaves concealed inside. The final delicate, flower-like shape resembles moss growing on stone.
2026’s production of Stone Flower centers on cool and crisp flavors with an up-front richness of artichokes that gives way into bok choy, cucumbers, and sea air, and carnations.
$24.00
- Tea Origin
- Mengding Mountain, Ya'an City, Sichuan Province, China
- Tea Bush
- Chuancha #9 (Heirloom Sichuan Tea Bush #9)
- Tea Maker
- Luo Ping
- Harvest Time
- February 26th, 2026
- Plucking Standard
- One bud
Stone Flower begins as a single bud that has just sprouted from the tea bush after it has emerged from its winter dormancy. The bud has only just separated from the scale leaf enough for it to be plucked without it. The small buds and precision required make this tea is an extremely demanding plucking operation. 40,000-50,000 of these tiny buds must be hand-plucked to make just 500g of dried tea.
Although these buds are small, there are in fact four to five tender immature leaves within each one. Stone Flower’s unique pan firing, composed of three phases of heat and three phases of cooling, relies on the density of these tiny buds for its signature step: the buds are pressed open against the pan, giving them a shape that looks a bit like the top of a pineapple. Poetically, the tea’s shape and color is compared to green moss on a rock, thus giving it its name.
