Once a group of peasants saw a flock of jade butterflies descend from the heavens. The emerald butterflies circled over the trees for a long time and, eventually, landed on a single tea bush, standing alone. Without thinking twice, the peasants tried to catch precious insects, but the butterflies became frightened and turned into tea leaves. Then, realizing their mistake, the peasants decided to make tea from unusual leaves, while giving them the shape of butterflies – in memory of heavenly messengers.
The high cost of this tea is due entirely to its manual production. After the stage of warming up, the experienced tea masters painstakingly twist the fragile leaves, giving them the form of butterflies. The knowledge of folding the tea leaves just right, has been passed down from generation to generation. The Jade Butterfly is produced from the buds and the three upper leaves. An extra-high grade of Yu De is produced only from the tea buds harvested from Mount Taimu, before the Qingming holiday. The aromatization of this tea is a delicate process, it aims to emphasize the tea's own flavor, not to hide it behind the floral fragrance.