Honey Jialong, a unique GABA oolong invented by Mr. Chen. Beyond merely organic. No fertilizers or any-cide: pesticide? Herbicide? None whatsoever, since 17 years ago when he planted this field.
Those who have tasted this tea knows how fantastic it is. Papaya peel, ripe apple fragrance, deep honeyed notes. We got a slightly aged one this time. Fans of this tea, get ready!
It’s a beautiful day at Pingling, Wenshan, Baochong farm of Mr. Lee. The typhoon did not make its way here. Aside from some stunning clouds, most of the harvest had been done the day before and we got to taste a very deeply floral and satisfying batch of Baochong today. Still, one of my favorite teas of all time.
One of the production secrets of Wuyi Oolongs, and more particularly, Mr. Zhang’s method, is to blow bamboo charcoal heat into a fan that sucks the hot air and circulate into the tumbler of raw leaves, to dry, stimulate oxidation, and force the water ducts in the leaves to push the aromatic oils to the edges. I have never seen this method used in any other oolong production. This low level heat requires a lot of labor still- a dedicated worker to continuously toss the leaves to prevent scorching and combustion. Green apple fragrances fill the space.
Early morning hike to one of the peaks of Mr. Zhang’s farms. They were machine cutting the fall/winter crop today, the last day of tea production. 100% hand harvesting is rare nowadays at Wuyi, with not enough hands and very short harvest schedule. These ‘machines’ were just really a big motorized clipper with a large sack in the back, and the longer extra leaves are simply sorted out later. The climb was steep through the forest, and the harvested leaves must be ran down the mountain by foot, and fast, to prevent wilting. The air today was crisp and clear and scenery beautiful and the creek water sweet and clean. Wuyishan is a paradise for tea, after all.
The oxidation of Wuyi Rock teas reach about 80%，but the raw leaves, even after tumbling, remain relatively green. A crisp green apple aroma permeate the facility, as batches go from the 12 hour tumbling process to firing in the rotating hot ‘wok’- at nearly 200 C, this firing can only take place for 10 minutes to 殺青 ‘kill the green’, to fix the leaves. Then a rolling process and then drying through a couple more rounds, and one whole production sequence ends by the next day. Charcoal fire baking will take place sequentially for another 2 months. Wuyi Rocks teas have many production quirks all earned by experience, explained Mr. Zhang, our Wuyi tea master. That’s why few people in the world can make Oolongs, despite delegations coming from other countries to check out the machines and try to learn the process. Everything is done by smell, touch, decades of experience, and built on the backs of thousands of years of tradition.