hyson
(ˈhaɪsən)
[ad. Chinese hsi-ch‘un, in Cantonese hei-ch‘un, ‘bright spring’, the name of coarse green tea. young hyson is Yü-ch‘ien = ‘before the rains’ (so called from the early picking of the leaf), whence a former trade-name uchain.]
A species of green tea from China. young hyson, a fine green tea (see above).
| 1740 R. Graves Euphrosyne (1776) I. 123 Nor Hyson yet, nor Gallic wines were known. 1756 Nugent Gr. Tour IV. 34 He will also buy you..good hyson tea for about 17 livres a pound. 1780 Sheridan Camp i. i, I'll give you a pound of smuggled hyson. 1832 Veg. Subst. Food 379 There are three kinds of green tea..one called hyson, hayssuen, is composed of leaves..carefully picked. 1852 C. Morfit Tanning & Currying (1853) 77 Schulong tea is the hyson aromatised with the leaves of the olea fragrans (fragrant olive). |