Fujian Province in eastern China is a treasure trove of spectacular teas – traditional jasmine tea, traditional and modern-style white tea, smoky Lapsang Souchong tea, and the historic but little known Panyang Congou (Golden Monkey) black tea. Despite this bounty of tea, the most fascinating and notable teas in Fujian Province are its glorious oolong teas.

In the north, the rocky cliffs of the Wuyi Shan are home to the rare and revered ‘rock oolong’ teas, which are made from sub-varieties of Camellia sinensis unique not only in China but in all the world. These teas are very dark in color, and the leaf style is bold and broad, flat and somewhat twisted. Traditionally-made teas in this region are dried over a charcoal fire, which delicately imparts an additional but subtle nuance of flavor to them.

In southern Fujian, in the vicinity of Anxi, the ball-rolled style of oolong tea is king, especially the famous Tieguanyin oolong tea. The teas in this region of Fujian tend to be not as darkly oxidized as the oolong teas in the north, and producers are finding that the greener, less highly-oxidized, crisp-tasting style of ball-rolled oolong is gaining in popularity in the West.

In the Tea Trekker oolong selection, you will find a diverse collection of oolong teas, all sourced by us from artisans whose passion for this difficult-to-make tea ensures that when you steep your oolong at home it will taste as great as it does when we sample it.
 

Fenghuang Dan Cong (Phoenix Mountain single-trunk tea) is a specialty of a protected enclave in northern Guangdong Province, not too distant from the region in southern Fujian Province where the famous ball-rolled oolong teas are made.

The Fenghuang (Phoenix Mountain) region yields a legendary tea of extraordinary flavor and style that can be coaxed only from the cultivars of Camellia sinensis that are indigenous to this mountain, and nowhere else in China. Here, high in the mountains, the ancient tea bushes have grown over the centuries into stately trees, and they yield leaf of an extraordinarily large size. Pruned into what is called a single-trunk formation, these ancient trees produce teas of great depth with somewhat austere, well-defined stone and mineral flavors and aroma.

Mary Lou’s photograph here captures a late spring morning on Phoenix Mountain perfectly; the clouds-and-mist lifts to reveal a perfectly-formed Dan Cong bush almost ready to be plucked.

The best Dan Cong teas are charcoal-fired and like a fine burgundy wine, require patience and diligent brewing to coax the best flavor from the leaf.