About Premium Ban Tian Yao Oolong

Ban Tian Yao is one of the very rare Wuyi rocky oolong teas, belonging to the famous Wuyi ‘Cong’ family. It is native to a narrow passage between the cliffs on the hillside of the Sanhua Peak in Jiulongfeng. Our Bian Tiao Yao origins from an ecological tea garden located in the northwest of Lian Hua Peak inside Wuyi scenic area It is a high-quality and premium ‘Zheng Yan’ tea. Because of the precipitous geography, picking its tea leaves becomes quite difficult. This particular tea garden is suspended in the air, not touching the sky or the ground. This is why it is named ‘Ban Tian Yao’, which, in Chinese, means ‘halfway to the sky waist’.

Appearance & Taste

The tea leaves of Ban Tian Yao are long, tight and slightly twisted. The colour is dark but glossy. The tea soup is between bright apricot yellow and orange.

When brewing, the strong aroma invades your nose. The taste of the first brewing is full of rocky, smoky and woody fragrance, which take up your throat. The taste of the second brewing is mellow but more gentle, with a hint of floral, honey, fruity aroma and a sweet long-lasting aftertaste. The taste of the third brewing is very smooth, with a sense of mineral and tobacco. The taste of this tea is ever-changing, with a very rustic, comfortable and pleasant woody fragrance all around.

The taste of this tea heavily depends on personal taste, if you can catch its ‘ever-changing’ character, that is the real joy!

Taste: Caramel, Chestnut, Floral, Fruity, Honey, Orchid, Rocky

Brewing Guide

Tea Cup

4 teaspoon(s)

100°C (125ml)

1-2 mins

Enjoy!

Glass

8 tsp

100°C (250ml)

1-2 mins

Enjoy!

Teapot

16 tsp

100°C (500ml)

1-2 mins

Enjoy!

Kongfu Style

We recommend you use (Yixing) Clay Teapot or Gaiwan to brew this gorgeous oolong tea, with a tiny water volume of around 100ml – 200ml. Or you can also brew it with a normal size teapot with more tea leaves.

For simple glass vessel/teapot style:

Use 100°C hot water to infuse tea leaves for around 1-2 minutes. Re-steep for around 2-3 further infusions. (Adjustable by personal taste).

For Gongfu Style:

This tea can brew for around 6 times.

Warm the Gaiwan/tiny teapot with hot water; discard the water afterward.
Add 1g Oolong tea for every 20ml – 30ml of water (recommend 8g of tea leaves for a Gongfu brew, adjustable by personal taste).
Pour hot water (100 °C) into the clay teapot / Gaiwan, tilt it, slowly rotating it twice and quickly discard the water (this step is for waking up tea leaves and stimulating the special aroma of the oolong tea).
Refill the clay teapot/Gaiwan with hot water.
Infuse the tea for around 5s for the first 5 brews. Please allow 5 more seconds’ infusion time for the following brews.
Pour the steeped tea into a serving cup (also called a fair cup) and divided it into small teacups before serving.
Rebrew-able around 6 times.

Origin

Our Wuyi Ban Tiao Yao was produced from the Wuyi Mountain scenic area, Fujian province. The tea is originally native to a narrow passage between the cliffs on the hillside of the Sanhua Peak in Jiulongfeng. Our Bian Tiao Yao origins from the ecological tea garden located in the northwest of Lian Hua Peak which is one of the thirty-six famous peaks inside the Wuyi scenic area.

The gravel soil there with the weathered rocky surface is rich in minerals & microelements and also has very good air permeability which is good for drainage. The rock wall there can keep out the light and heat radiation. The sunshine duration of the tea garden is short, and it’s full of fogs all year round, hence the humidity is high there. This natural environment leads to the slow growth of tea trees which also means they can absorb the nutrient substance inside rocky soil adequately.