Mr Wus 2015 Tie Luo Han (Zheng Yan : Hui Yan) Oolong Tea

Simply put...

From the Wuyi Mountains in Northwest Fujian this 2015 Hui Yan Rock Oolong tea is strong, rich & full bodied. small leaf, Tie Luo Han varietal. This rock tea will warm and energise.

In more depth...

Tea Name : 2015 Tie Luo Han, Hui Yan

Tea Maker : Mr Wu

Origin : Hui Yuan, Wuyi Mountains, China
At the heart of the Zhengyan reserve is the three pits and two gullies [Huiyuan Pit, Niulan Pit, Daoshui Pit, Liuxiang Gully, and Wuyuan Gully] Huiyuan famously associated with Tie Luo Han

Size : 

Harvest Time : Late April

Cultivar : Tie Luo Han

Plucking standard : Three to four leaves with stalk

Processing : Outdoor withering [15 minutes] if the weather is good and permits.  Processing then takes takes 8–10 hours and will involve indoor withering, bruising, wok frying and shaping, followed by a light initial bake. The tea is then dried to get the mao cha (crude tea), which is then sorted.

Roasting : Mr Wu describes 'Once the picking season is over we enter a 5-month period of roasting. Throughout the season I spend every morning and afternoon tasting teas from the previous day. I am a professionally trained tea taster, and I’m looking to pick up deficiencies so that I can advise my team on what needs to change. It is a team effort: attention must be paid at every part of the process. We keep a record of the teas: when they are picked, what time, which area, what the weather was like, the weight, type of tea and the grade, and so on. We refer to this when we begin the baking later in the season. This starts with what I call a “foundation” baking from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. From then onwards I taste the tea every hour. The appearance of the tea is a critical component, as is the “feel” and the smell; if you over-bake the tea you can lose the fragrance'

Experience : Strong, rich, full-bodied, warming and energizing

Last visited by Comins : Summer 2017, Michelle Comins

How to prepare [Gong Fu Preparation]

Amount of tea per cup (200ml): 5g (one tea caddy spoon) or (2 tsp) of leaf

Temperature of water: Infuse at 100 C (212F)*

Infusion time: 1st infusion 2 minutes*

Number of infusions: Leaves can be re-infused up to 8 times. Further infusions +15 seconds

How to enjoy: No milk, no sugar

*Once brewed remove leaves

How to prepare [Western Preparation]

Amount of tea per cup (200ml): 5g (one tea caddy spoon) or (2 tsp) of leaf

Temperature of water: Infuse at 100 C (212F)*

Infusion time: 1-3 minutes as desired

Number of infusions: 1

How to enjoy: No milk, no sugar

*Once brewed remove leaves

Tales of the Tea Trade : Mr Wu's Tie Luo Han

Our Rock teas are from the Zhengyan region of the Wuyi Mountains - an area with high biodiversity and a dedicated World Heritage Reserve.

This area is known as the original home to many tea cultivars and the name literally translates as Original [Zheng] Rock [Yan].  Teas grown in this region are of an exceptionally high quality. The mountains create a humid microclimate with year round rain, the soil is rich in minerals and no pesticides are allowed on the natural reserve. This tea was hand selected by Michelle on her 2015 trip to Wuyi.

Michelle : Extract from our our book Tales of the tea trade : 

Mr Wu has the most spectacular office overlooking the reserve in which I have spent many hours tasting tea [...] 

Mr Wu: ‘In my first career I was a teacher, but tea was my hobby and around 2005 – a time when the tea industry was going through a bad patch, with areas being left to go wild – I decided it was time for a change. At this, tea’s lowest point, I rented a 100-mu [7-hectare] plot [...] In the first year I sold no tea, and in the second I sold only half of my output. Only in the third year did I get lucky and find a big customer [...]

In 2010 I decided to rent some more land in a cooler valley location (Wuyishan is on the golden latitude and the east–west valleys are the best) [...] As in so many places, the quality comes back to the soil. The high mineral content in the soil is excellent, and there is no clay so the tea trees have good drainage and the roots can breathe [...] ‘I also set up my own small processing unit in my building, which I still use today. That building is where my daily life in tea begins [...]  I help get the workers to the mountains – I drop them off [...] and they walk for an hour up into the fields [...] The best part of my job comes from feeling I have made a great tea. Done well, the tea gives back to me. The camaraderie of sharing a good tea with other producers is special’

You can read more from Mr Wu in our book Tales of the tea trade