Tea Adventures

Water is everything. It is extremely rare to see the bottom of a…

Water is everything. It is extremely rare to see the bottom of a body of water in China nowadays, and without any traces of trash. Wuyi mountain has been designated as a protected site, so the environment is so clean, you think you weren’t in China. That, and a population in the village of only 1700 or so makes Cao Dun Village, the epicenter of Wuyi Rock tea, a rare treasure. Although making the entire site a park was not to my liking, but still, the benefits obviously outweigh the idea of a tea theme park. Besides, it was a relief to find nothing much theme-parkish about it. Tea producers producing tea, families eating dinner together, the trees are old and the tea is dark. Nothing noticeable has compromised the tea.
The water is clear, cool, and sweet. They fetch water from these waterfalls and streams to brew their tea. Life is idyllic, and ideal, for Mr. Zhang, whose family has been here making tea for a good 300 plus years, if not more.

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Tea Adventures

烏龍Wulong or Oolong means black dragon. ‘Doesn’t it look like a…

烏龍Wulong or Oolong means black dragon. ‘Doesn’t it look like a black dragon?’ Said the locals. It was named this because of the way it’s made: twist leaf, charcoal baked very dark. It had nothing to do with a legend involving a black dragon encircling the tea field, nor the Cantonese version where wulong means ‘confusion’. As most farm names go, the most simple and direct is the fact.
As far as Wuyi Yancha or Cliff Rock teas go, there are about 700-800 old and new varietals. Outside the area, it was all called ‘Big Red Robe’. It gave outsiders a headache to even attempt to understand all the different varietals. Could you tell the difference in those cups of teas above? Drinking each, one can tell a distinct difference. Looking at the leaves, even the tea master himself can’t tell the difference!
I said that’s ok, my customers still ask us ‘So is oolong a green tea or a black tea?’ Never mind there are dozens of major types of Oolongs, parsing down to 800 varietals of just Wuyi Rock oolong!

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Tea Adventures

On the one hand,it’s not what I am used to, usually staying at…

On the one hand,it’s not what I am used to, usually staying at farms with no plumping or bathrooms. On the other hand, now that Wuyi is made into a tourist attraction, these hotels are quite comfortable. For China standards, this is a 8 star hotel, since some of the 5 star ones are horrific. Definitely can take some of you on the next trip if all we do is Wuyi and Hangzhou. The remote farms I go are not for the faint of hearted or anyone who is slightly used to modern comforts. No, it’s not like camping. It’s like living in 12th century China.
But here at Wuyi this morning, few tourists, clear skies, crisp air, clean hotel, decor not gaudy, no one spitting, no trash in sight, nothing broken and scotch-taped up…I give myself permission to be comfortable for a few minutes.

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Tea Adventures

The key to preserving Dragonwell- here is the true, thousand year…

The key to preserving Dragonwell- here is the true, thousand year old secret technique： giant pieces of limestone, or smaller pieces in our case ( since we only get to have 2#s of this Handmade Pre-Rain Longjing) are used in the final process to absorb the remaining 1% moisture from the finished leaves. Our tea is ready to be shipped! We will taste some at the Harvest Party on May 2, but otherwise, order it at the store now. We are likely sold out of it by then.

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Tea Adventures

After a long long trip in the 19th century train getting here,…

After a long long trip in the 19th century train getting here, Wuyi area is now a resort. I brace myself, but no need. No people, clean air, and the Wuyi beer made with the local water quite good. It’s less about the beer and more about how the water tastes made into beer- a convoluted way to test the water, but maybe I just needed to have a beer after the traveling ordeal.

As for the beer- it’s very good sparkling water.

We call these, ‘beer water’.
The shopkeeper exclaimed ‘you can really drink!’ What, the two bottles of beer sparkling water? I guess there are no women like me in China. I am most definitely not a standard Chinese woman.

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