The photo of small-leaf Kuding tea, also known as Green Mountains and Green Waters tea, is one type of Kuding tea – small-leaf Kuding. It is distributed in the high mountain forests of Yulin County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province, and has a significant cooling effect. It does not have the obvious astringent taste of sharp-leaf Kuding, and it also has the sweet taste of green tea. After brewing, the color is emerald green. Small-leaf Kuding tea is also known as ‘Green Waters and Green Mountains’, and it is a shrub green plant in the genus Ligustrum. It has a green and lustrous appearance, emerald green tea soup, tender green leaf base, belongs to natural wild animals and plants, has a slightly bitter aroma, is bitter first and sweet later, can clear heat and remove fire, clear eyes and liver fire, benefit throat and relieve cough, and is a natural healthy beverage.

The small-leaf Kuding tea known as ‘Green Gold’ belongs to the genus Ligustrum. Its color is lush green, the tea soup is emerald green, the buds and leaves are green, the shape is tight and uniform, the leaf base is tender green, and it is fragrant. It is a bit bitter to drink, and the aftertaste is endless sweetness, and it is resistant to brewing.

There are mainly two types of Kuding tea, one is the large-leaf Kuding tea produced in Hainan and Guangxi provinces, and the other is the Green Mountains and Green Waters tea produced in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Zhejiang provinces, also known as small-leaf Kuding tea. This tea is a slightly bitter and slightly sweet清热解毒下火 tea that ordinary people in southern China have been consuming for a long time.

In small-leaf Kuding tea, the zinc content is more than twice that of green tea (zinc is the active center of thousands of enzymes, and is also a component of甘精 insulin, one of the essential nutrients for the body, which can enhance the immune function of humans), and the selenium content is 20 or more times that of green tea (selenium is a key constituent of brain nerves, and regular selenium supplementation can alleviate brain fatigue). According to the research of the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, small-leaf Kuding tea contains 8 essential amino acids for the body, among which the flavonoid content is 1.37%~2.63%, which is 0.38%~1.74% higher than that of green tea (flavonoids have the functions of maintaining normal plasma osmotic pressure in blood vessels, reducing the plasticity of blood vessels, and inhibiting the growth of tumor cells, etc.).

The caffeine content in small-leaf Kuding tea is much less than that in green tea, and long-term consumption does not lead to addiction or insomnia. Lu Xun once said, ‘What is good tea? It is good tea that is slightly bitter and slightly sweet!’

According to the ‘Compendium of Materia Medica’, it is described as ‘leaf is bitter, taste is neutral, non-toxic, cold in nature, boiling and drinking can quench thirst and clear the eyes, and has the effects of clearing heat and removing fire, and lowering fire and relieving inflammation’. Kuding tea also has the effects of anti-inflammatory and antibacterial, cough-suppressing and expectorant, promoting digestion and removing food stagnation, relieving fatigue, weight loss, cancer prevention and radiation protection, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood lipids, and lowering cholesterol, etc.