What is West lake Longjing 43 (Dragonwell #43) and what is its features

What is Longjing 43?

According to GB/T 18650-2008: Product of geographical indication, Longjing 43 is a variety of West Lake Longjing tea.
It is an asexual national variety selected from the Longjing population by the Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and is a national variety of excellence, with a straight, flat, and smooth appearance, a tender green color, a rich and persistent fragrance, and a sweet and refreshing taste.
43 is a code name among tea farmers and tea drinkers, the full code number is 6043, this means its seed number is 43 during the Longjing seed selection in the 1960s by the Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

The promotion of Longjing 43 is also a series of twists and turns, the earliest one was planted in the experimental field of the China Tea Research Institute, and at the beginning of more than a decade, it was not promoted to the public, only as an internal supply planting, until 1973 there is only experimental trial planting in Meijiawu village, due to the yield quality found to be improved, the Longjing #43 finally started to get promoted to the West Lake Longjing tea area in 1975.
In the last 40 years, Longjing 43 is gradually covering the original West Lake Longjing tea plantation area, and it has now surpassed the Longjing Qunti(old tree) to become the main variety of West Lake Longjing tea

What are the features of Longjing 43?

As an outstanding variety selected from hundreds of its kind, it has the following features:

1. Early harvest time
   Comparing the Longjing Qunti, Longjing 43’s harvest date is around 5-10 days earlier
2. More mu yield
   Longjing 43 has around 20% more mu yield than Longjing Qunti, longjing 43 mu yield can be 20KG, while longjing qunti mu yield is around 17KG.
3. Stable quality
   Longjing 43 has a stable quality as it is an asexual national variety, tea produced from different farms normally tastes similar.
4. Slim and tender in appearance
   Compared to Longjing qunti, Longjing 43 tea leaves are slimmer, and the made tea color is also more unifying and tender than Qunti.