Reading the Tea Leaves

This might have served as a postscript to a couple of earlier posts, one about the names bestowed on teas (What’s in a Name) or one about Wuyi teas from Fujian (Wuyi Teas – Why All the Fuss?), because the interest for me lay in the inclusion of “Wuyi” in the tea’s name.

At a recent open-to-the-public tea tasting in Flushing (NY), one of my selections was a “High Mountain Wuyi Oolong.”  The tea shop that puts on these events sells Taiwan teas, and so I was intrigued to see a “Wuyi” tea.  Many teas from Taiwan bear the words “high mountain” in their names; it’s almost a given.  But I would not have expected to see “Wuyi” – a mountain/park reserve across the strait in Fujian – as part of a name for a Taiwan Oolong.

The tea was grown and produced solely in Taiwan, although the tea shop’s literature states that the tea was introduced to northern Taiwan in the 1970s.  (That should be an interesting story.)   Other teas, most notably Tung Ting, are credited to plants brought over to Taiwan from Fujian in the Qing dynasty, and by referencing this tea growing area in northern Fujian, the tea shop is paying deference to this district and is an acknowledgement of how widely and deeply Wuyi resonates in tea circles.

As for the tea itself, no matter what its name, the aroma was terrific and immediate.  I could sense it right from the moment the hot water touched the leaves.  Oxidized longer than a Tung Ting, this High Mountain Wuyi did not give the well-known and highly appreciated honey-floral notes of a Tung Ting.  Instead, the fragrance made me think of woods and high forested places.  If a tea could be said to be rich tasting, here was an excellent candidate.  The term used to describe this in Chinese translates as “thick,” but this refers not to mouthfeel or body but to substantial flavor.  The brew was a deep orange initially, gradually turning to a light amber in the later cups.  The server who poured for me described the aroma as one of “high mountains” and used the word for “cool” to describe the scent.

The light, sweet floral character of a Four Seasons Oolong from Taiwan, another lightly oxidized tea, makes it an accessible, winsome tea.  This is a tea one really can’t mess up.   The High Mountain Wuyi Oolong was more complex and shown to best effect when brewed in a gongfu pot and enjoyed in a succession of small cups.  In this respect, this Taiwan Wuyi Oolong shared something of the character of Wuyi’s Rock teas from Fujian.

But consider the leaves — and this is what first piqued my interest.

Taiwan's High Mountain Wuyi

The leaves of the Taiwan Wuyi were curled up rightly, whereas most Wuyi Rock Oolongs (from Fujian) do not have this characteristic.  Look at a Hundred Year Shui Hsien or a Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) – famous Rock teas – and you’ll see straight-ish, very dark leaves with perhaps a loose twist, not the rolled-up little nuggets of the Taiwan tea.

Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) from Wuyi, Fujian

Rou Gui, another Rock Oolong from Wuyi, Fujian

The tea masters who work on the very limited yield of the High Mountain wuyi in Taiwan have obviously chosen a processing method they have deemed best, from experience, to extract the most from the varietal that was introduced to its new environment.  The processing methods applied to tea plants growing in Wuyi, Fujian do not generally include the repeated tight rolling.  In fact, this is an easy way to tell northern Fujian Oolongs apart from southern Fujian Oolongs.

For me the allusion to all that “Wuyi” signifies wasn’t really necessary.  I would have been happy to taste and even buy the tea had it bore another tea.  Its fragrance – that carried over so well into flavor – would have sufficed.  This was a tea that could stand on its own merits without carrying the famed Fujian tea region’s name.  For those who know little about tea, the matter of appellation is a moot point.  For those who are more knowledgeable, there might be that slight pause, to mull over the connection between this Taiwan product and other teas from the origin gardens across the strait.

Price-wise, the Taiwan High Mountain Wuyi Oolong certainly belonged with the best of Fujian’s Rock teas; the tea I sampled retails for $266/lb.

At these prices, a little knowledge or great enthusiasm should be tempered with some caution, since there are unscrupulous marketers who have adopted “Wuyi” for their teas in order to drive up prices.

Note to self: send a sample of this tea to producers in Wuyi (Fujian.)