Wu yi Mountain Rock tea (fujian)

[Damage_c]

Hi all
I have a question or maybe it's a poll... but anyway, personally I believe and it seems most websites agree that rock wu yi Mountain rock tea is normally designated as an oolong. However a Chinese friend of mine who owns a tea shop who's family has been in the tea business in Fujian for decades says she thinks that all rock teas are black teas. I normally trust her advice and have never found her wrong before but I cant quite see it. Is one of us wrong or is it that she is not aware of the oolong varieties or maybe it's a east/west clarification thing. What are your thoughts?

[Frisbeehead]

The Chinese use of the term "black tea" usually refers to pu'erh or other dark, fermented teas like pu'erh.

Wuyi yancha is definitely an oolong, not a black tea. Maybe they are referring to the color of the liquor? Yancha does indeed come out looking similar to black tea in some cases, but the taste is worlds apart.

EDIT: I was just thinking actually, and I remember watching a documentary that talked about black tea being grown in the Wuyi area. So maybe she was talking about black tea? It's certainly not as common or well-known as Wuyi yancha oolong, but it's a possibility.

[BW85]

I would say oolong.

Maybe this person has come to associate oolongs with the modern green AnXi and Taiwanese versions.

[the_economist]

She is almost certainly aware of what Oolong is (乌龙). It is absolutely not a new Western categorization but a relatively old Chinese one. Could this be a case of 'lost-in-translation'? Oolong can be translated as "black dragon".

[BioHorn]

I wonder if she is using Wuyi and it's origin for western black tea as refrence?
Yaya Tea House (a very nice store) has written a nice post on WuYi and black tea:
http://blog.yayateahouse.co.nz/2013/04/ ... -confused/

I have really enjoyed Zheng Shan Xiao Shan from Wuyi. It is like Lapsang with no smoke. The black tea is clear but not ovewhelming and it may have a bit of that rock tea taste. It is my go to tea to gift to friends.

[.m.]

Check also this article:
http://www.teaguardian.com/what-is-tea/ ... roduction/
it seems that the tea that was originally imported to europe as a "black tea"
was indeed wu-yi rock tea.
not sure if that has to do anything with what your friend means. maybe she's simply referring to the fact that it is roasted.
as long as her tea tastes good....

[theredbaron]

Yancha and Oolong are both semi-fermented teas. Oolong is a particular kind of Anxi (and Taiwan) semi-fermented tea. Red (or black), meaning fully fermented, teas are also grown and made in the Wu Yi mountains.

[Frisbeehead]

Check also this article:
http://www.teaguardian.com/what-is-tea/ ... roduction/
it seems that the tea that was originally imported to europe as a "black tea"
was indeed wu-yi rock tea.
not sure if that has to do anything with what your friend means. maybe she's simply referring to the fact that it is roasted.
as long as her tea tastes good....

This is actually mentioned in the book "For All the Tea in China". In the book it says Robert Fortune traveled to the Wuyi area of Fujian and brought back "black tea". It talks about how the "black tea" produced there is famous for being some of the best, which leads me to assume that they are indeed talking about oolong. They even specifically mention Da Hong Pao as one of the "black" teas, so it's definitely just a language misunderstanding.

When I read this, I was intrigued because he brought his samples of the Wuyi "black tea" (yancha) to India to grow there and sell it as actual black tea to Britain. It's interesting because that means the DHP plants that he brought back would have then mingled with the black tea already in India (Darjeeling) at the time. So maybe the DHP cultivar Robert Fortune brought to Darjeeling in the late 1800s still exists in some small amount inside some of the tea plants grown for black tea in Darjeeling?

[jayinhk]

I've read that the sinensis did so poorly in India that they switched to the local assamica, once they realized that it grew wild in the jungles and forests of East India. Perhaps some crossbreeding did take place, but due to genetic drift, unsuitable growth characteristics would have been selected against, and the remaining influence on the local tea might only be minor. Interesting though to ponder though!

[wyardley]

This is actually mentioned in the book "For All the Tea in China". In the book it says Robert Fortune traveled to the Wuyi area of Fujian and brought back "black tea". It talks about how the "black tea" produced there is famous for being some of the best, which leads me to assume that they are indeed talking about oolong. They even specifically mention Da Hong Pao as one of the "black" teas, so it's definitely just a language misunderstanding.

The red (black) teas of that area are and were also very famous though (zhengshan xiaozhong). So I'm not sure whether the teas produced at that time and sold as "Bohea" tea were red tea or oolong. I would suggest Erling Hoh / Victor Mair's book about this subject; this section of the Wikipedia entry on Wuyi teas footnotes that book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuyi_tea# ... o_the_West

Keep in mind that tea being exported from China to Britain dates back to pretty close to the first references to oolong. So if you add that to the fact to the difficulties of language and transportation at the time, and it's not surprising that the difference was not well understood.

I'm really not sure what terms are used locally; I've been to that area once, and don't recall hearing oolongs referred to as black tea, but it was a long time ago, and my language listening skills were not great at the time. Ultimately, I guess I'd say it doesn't really matter that much.

[Chargerucd]

Hello,

I searched for this wuyi mountain rock tea and couldn't find it!
Which would it be from dragon tea house??
Or which store is it available from?
Thanks for the help.

[CWarren]

EDITED

[BioHorn]

Hello,

I searched for this wuyi mountain rock tea and couldn't find it!
Which would it be from dragon tea house??
Or which store is it available from?
Thanks for the help.

http://chaceremony.com/2015/07/04/xiao-zhong/

[MarcusReed]

Personally I would say that rock tea is most commonly referring to oolong but a Black tea such as JinJunMei in my eyes is also a Wuyi Tea.