BA YA QI LAN
-OOLONG-

China, Fujian
Spring Harvest 2024
Tea Master: Zhou family
Altitude 800 m

Ba Ya Qi Lan is a little-known oolong, it's a small treasure that we discovered during our trip to China in the fall of 2024.

China is a very large place, the Fujian region produces incredible and famous teas, its oolongs are renowned worldwide (Tie Kuan Yin, Wuyi oolongs, etc.), so it often happens that many other teas are overlooked because the market demands the more well-known ones. But this doesn't mean that the lesser-known ones are any less good. And then there's the issue of price: the more famous a tea is, the more it costs.
 

This is exactly the case with this fantastic oolong from ZhangZhou county, lovingly produced by the Zhou family, who have been awarded various provincial awards for their Ba Ya Qi Lan. We traveled several kilometers and navigated difficult roads to spend a day with them, chatting about their life and the production of this tea. 
 

PROCESSING

Like all oolongs, Ba Ya Qi Lan goes through a very lengthy process. The Zhou family told us that for the autumn harvest, they stay in the mountains for 2 weeks to complete everything from leaf picking to the final product. One of the things that impressed us the most is that they are among the few who use wood-fired ovens (a practice now rare) fueled with lychee trees to give the leaves their final "roast".

TASTING NOTES

Ba Ya Qi Lan is certainly a tea with numerous layers of flavor if prepared well, transitioning from slightly roasted, caramel notes to floral hints of peach, lychee, and orchid—a true sensory journey through the different infusions that can be made with its leaves.
 

PREPARATION

We recommend preparing it with the gong fu cha method:

A gaiwan of about 120-140 ml in which you place 6 g of leaves with very short infusions starting from 20''.
Multiple infusions up to about 8 

For Western-style infusions, we recommend 3-4g per cup (200ml) and 2 minutes of infusion