An oolong tea from China that I haven't featured before. It is a tasty oolong with a great story. It is one of the four famous teas from Fujian province, along with Tie Guan Yin, Da Hong Pao and Shui Xian.
- harvest time: late April/early May
- origin: Zhangzhou, Fujian
- the plants grow at an altitude of 1,150 meters
- cultivar: Qi Lan
The tea comes from Pinghe County, the area where many of the beautiful tulou can be found, see photo. I was lucky enough to visit one such tulou ("earth building") in my 2017 trip to Fujian. I thought it was very cool to see that such a building is also the setting of the opening scene of Mulan (live action movie) by Disney.
The tea was discovered around 1750 by a farmer who found a distinct tea plant near the Pengxi River and Mount Daqinshan (highest mountain South Fujian). The plant grew well and had striking shiny gray/green leaves. The farmer picked some leaves from it, made tea from it the same way Tie Guan Yin was made and the result was a very nice oolong tea with the scent of orchid and a nice sweet aftertaste.
The tea was named "Qi Lan" which means "strange orchid" and was given the addition "Bai Ya which means "white offshoot. This is because of the offshoots which have a white/gray color.
One offshoot and up to 3 leaves are harvested when picking.
The production method is actually the same as that of Tie Guan Yin except that the Bai Ya Qi Lan is finally dried over charcoal. At Tie Guan Yin, electric baking has become the standard.
