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Posted by Thomas.
When I moved from Germany to London about 8 months ago I would have never guessed that I would be visiting China this year. At the end of April I had the chance to accompany Edward on his spring tea buying trip documenting the journey with my camera. During the course of one week we filmed about 7 hours of video footage which you will see on the website after editing during the next weeks.
As it was my first time in Asia there were so many new impressions and things to see and explore. I was hugely impressed by the gorgeous scenery of the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian where some of our fantastic Oolong teas are produced. We spent two whole days in a tea factory to produce our own very special Tie Guan Yin. We were involved in every step of the production process, from the picking through different steps of withering, firing and baking. Finally we had the chance to taste the tea we made. As we worked directly with the farmers it was stunning to listen to their experiences and feel their years of knowledge while producing the tea.
Wuyi Mountains
There was also a very warm connection with the farmers as we spent a lot of time together experiencing the chinese culture and hospitality. I really appreciated the chinese food. During this week I had some of the most delicious food I have ever tried. I was delighted by the homemade dishes and enjoyed having lunch and dinner with a whole group of people. For the Chinese people it was very important to sit down in company, enjoying food and chatting about tea and life in general.
Chinese homemade dishes
Though the farmers in the countryside live a quite simple life they seem very happy and satisfied. We received a warm welcome and a smile everywhere we went. I’ll definitely go back to China to explore more parts of the country and the people with the liveliest culture I have ever seen. Until then I’ll hang onto my memories of this fantastic experience and have a cup of Wuyi Oolong tea.
Today we look at the stories behind one of our Fujian Oolong teas, Yellow Gold Oolong Tea.
The Mandarin name for Yellow Gold Oolong is “Huang Jin Gui”. Huang Jin means Yellow Gold in Mandarin and Gui refers to the Osmanthus flower. The name originated from the appearance and the flavour of this tea, as it produces a golden infusion and the nose is similar to the smell of Osmanthus flowers.
Yellow Gold Oolong Tea
Huang Jin Gui is picked from Huang Dan, a specific species of oolong trees. There are two schools of thought on where this tea originated:
Some believe that this tea was originally invented around A.D. 1860 by a tea farmer who found the Huang Dan plant and took a branch back to his farm to plant. The unique flavour of the tea leaves that sprouted from this original tree attracted the attention ofthe farmers’ neighbours and the tea soon developed a wide following.
Others believe that the Huang Dan plant came to be cultivated in a slightly more romantic fashion. In the region where Huang Dan grew naturally, An Xi county in Fujian province, it is a traditional custom that a newly wed bride brings “green” to her husband’s house. The “green” which the bride brings to her new home is seen as a good omen for fertility, wealth and the future.
The “green” is usually brought in the form of sprouts or shoots of plants. So in a marriage in the spring of 1960, a young bride, Wang An Dan brought a wild young tree bush to her husband’s house and planted it on a hill nearby. She looked after the tea tree bush carefully day after day, until she had a farm of them. It is said that the tea tree was still alive until 1967, and produced 5 to 8 kilos of fresh tea leaves annually.
Today, the picking season for Huang Jin Gui is slightly earlier compared to other oolong teas’. Normally picking takes place in mid-April; 7 to 10 days earlier than , and 12 to 18 days earlier than the picking of Tieguanyin Oolong tea. When the tea leaves sprouts, tea farmers pick the shoots from the top leaves of the bush as they are just beginning to open. The timing of the picking is very important, as the youngest leaves tend to make bitter infusions and the older leaves produce a weaker flavour.
The picked leaves are then hand processed and rolled. The resulting tea combines the full-bodied flavour typical of oolongs with the wild mountain grass freshness and sweetness found in young green teas.
Posted by: Wendy
