A Brief Introduction of Wuyi Rock Tea + Jan 2020 promotion: 20% OFF Fengyang Qi Level 1 Tea
The Wuyi Rock Tea is one of the six major teas in China (black tea, green tea, oolong tea, yellow tea, white tea, dark tea) commonly known as "oolong tea”. It is a semi fermented tea, which at the beginning of the production process, when the leaves are rubbed together, show a "three red, seven green" feature, which means 30% of the leaf is red along the side, and 70% is green. However, after baking, this characteristic of "green leaf with red edge" is no longer obvious. Oolong tea has an oxidation time between that of black and green tea. It has mild properties, with neither bitter or green tastes like green tea, nor the heat that black tea, which is fully fermented, has.
Some of the health benefits related to drinking Oolong tea are: it helps produce saliva and quenche thirst, it can refresh us from a hangover, and it be used as a diuretic for detoxification. It also can be used as an anti-inflammatory agent, improve eyesight, prevent tooth decay, help with digestion, lower blood pressure, enhance the flexibility of capillaries, combat aging and prevent cancer, as well as help clear skin problems.
Wuyi Rock Tea is grown and produced in the area of Mount Wuyi, in the northern part of the Fujian Province in southeast China. This area is famous for its beautiful scenery, and the tea plants grown in the rock seam. Wuyi Rock Tea has the fragrance of green tea, the sweet and mellow taste of black tea, and is the highest grade of the Chinese oolong Teas. Wuyi Rock Tea is a semi fermented tea, whose production process is between green tea and black tea. The most famous Wuyi Rock Tea is Da Hong Pao.
The Protection of Geographical Origin Declaration Committee proposed the protection of geographical origin for Wuyi Rock Tea. In Wuyishan, the areas partitioned for Wuyi Rock Tea were the "Ming Yan" region and "Dan Yan" region.
Wuyi Rock Tea is divided into four categories according to grade. Starting with the highest quality they are as follows: Zheng Yan Cha, BanYan Cha, Zhou Cha, Wai Shang Cha. The best is Zheng Yan Cha, which grows in the 60 square kilometers of the scenic area of Mount Wuyi. Because Wuyishan is a natural and cultural heritage, protected by China, it is free from the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. This kind of tea is completely natural, with no harm to the human body but only benefits.
The characteristics of Wuyi Rock Tea: twisted leaf, like a dragonfly head; rustic green color with brown tinge; lively, sweet, clear, and fragrant. Chinese call this “rock bone and fragment of flowers”.
The primary processing technology of Wuyi Rock Tea is 1. picking; 2. withering; 3. fine manipulation of tea leaves; 4. Water removal; 5. rolling; and 6.drying.
The refining process of Wuyi Rock Tea is 1. picking out the big stem and yellow leaves ; 2. screening; 3. picking out the small stem and yellow leaves; 4. grouping; and then 5. low temperature long baking.
The best finished product is Da Hong Pao（大红袍）, strip form, black color, deep baked with fire, deep and strong smell, comforting, with smell of scorching, orangey yellow to orangey red liquor, can be brewed more than 9 times, a sweet after taste that lasts long, and significant rock rhyme(岩韵).
The second one is Mingcong（名枞）, strong smell, orangey yellow liquor, can be brewed more than 7 times, sweet after taste lasts long, rock rhyme(岩韵) is obvious.
The next one is Rougui(肉桂): tight strip form, black color, mid level baking, smell obvious but not deep, orangey yellow liquor, some sweet after taste.
The History of Wuyi Rock Tea
Wuyi Rock Tea is very important and glorious in the history of Chinese tea. Wuyi tea was known to the world as "Wan Gan Hou" (晚甘侯) in the northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589AD), and it became the best of gifts for literati and aristocrats in the Tang Dynasty. People used it for tribute to the imperial court in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. In 1302 AD, an Imperial tea garden was established by the Jiuqu Xi river. During the Ming Dynasty, the making of the “dragon pie”（tribute tea，龙团，贡茶名), which uses steamed green tea, was replaced by roasting loose green tea, which was in turn replaced by the“ three red seven green” method, which is now called Rock Tea. Therefore, Wuyi rock tea started in the Ming Dynasty, became popular in the Qing Dynasty, and then in the seventeenth Century was exported to Western Europe, and became famous worldwide.