Yushan Gui Fei Oolong

Description

Yushan Gui Fei Oolong (玉山貴妃烏龍茶) is a fine oolong grown around Yushan (Jade Mountain) in Xinyi Township of Nantou Province. Grown at an altitude of 1,200-1,300 metres, this tea is crafted from ‘bug bitten’ leaves of the Qing Xin ‘Green Heart’ (青心) cultivar plants. The garden is surrounded by a forest and pristine vegetation and is often shrouded in cloud. The remote nature of the garden means that it is difficult to get to, but that contributes to making this tea very natural and clean. Lower oxidation of the leaves, combined with a minimal level of baking results in a delicate liquor with a captivating mi xian beauty flavour. This tea was hand harvested and processed in September 2024.

Gui Fei (貴妃) Oolong is classed as a ‘beauty tea’, which is an unusual class of tea that is affected by the presence of little green leaf hoppers. The leaf hoppers (Jacobiasca formosana) nibble the tea leaves during growth causing the tea plants to react to this attack by producing more polyphenols. During tea processing this produces the unique ‘beauty tea’ flavour (known as mi xian) that is usually described as having a honey-like taste and aroma. These teas also go by the Chinese name Dong Fang Mei Ren (東方美人), Eastern Beauty and Oriental Beauty, although the Gui Fei name is reserved exclusively for a rolled style of oolong.

Gui Fei Oolong itself is named after Yang Guifei, an Imperial Consort during the Tang Dynasty who is celebrated for her legendary beauty. Indeed, she is considered one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. When this new style of rolled beauty oolong was created around the Dong Ding area, the growers thought the Gui Fei name to be an apt description for this new tea style. And the new name still paid homage to the original Dong Fang Mei Ren name of beauty teas produced in northern Taiwan.

Our Yushan Gui Fei Oolong consists of large hand picked and processed leaves that are tightly rolled. The lower oxidation means that the leaves are dark green in colour with some darker brown colours from areas of higher oxidation. Compared to our Award-Winning Gui Fei, or our Competition Grade Gui Fei, it is less oxidised, which leads to interesting results. Often Gui Fei has higher oxidation in order to bring out more sweetness in the tea, however this comes at the expense of the lighter floral flavours. We think this particular tea has a very fine balance. There are good floral notes that are characteristic of the Qing Xin cultivar. Nevertheless the bug-bitten beauty flavour also comes through with lovely sweet and honey notes. In this aspect it is rather similar to our popular Shan Lin Xi Gui Fei Oolong, albeit delivering a more delicate and more floral flavour in our opinion.

This Yushan Gui Fei Oolong delivers a floral aromatic liquor with a honey aroma. The beauty mi xian taste is quite light but pronounced. The overall flavour is definitely that of floral honey, a soft taste that is very refined. The aftertaste is clean with a lasting honeysuckle flavour. Overall this is a very finely balanced tea that strikes a delicate combination of floral and wild honey flavours.

It is best brewed at 90°C for 2-3 minutes according to your taste and should be brewed multiple times, increasing steeping time with each brew if desired. To get the most out this tea, consider using a gaiwan or a traditional clay pot to benefit from the complexity of flavours from repeated multiple infusions. For gong fu brewing we suggest using 6g per 100ml at 95c. Optional 2-3 second rinse, 1st infusion 25s, adding 5s to each further infusion. Gong fu style brewing should get many, many infusions from this lovely tea!

This Yushan Gui Fei Oolong tea was first featured in our February 2025 Curious Tea Subscription Boxes.