Price range: $50.00 through $115.00
A curated assortment of Rock Oolong from the Wuyi Mountains. These boxes are briefly before individual product pages are assembled. An ideal exploration for those looking to figure out which tea to buy more in bulk of on down the line, those wanting a nice Chinese New Year gift, and newcomers to R&L curated box sets.
Let's get into what's inside:
THEA BOHEA (12 teas + scissors)
A general and well-rounded overview of the different cultivars and production styles of Wuyi Rock Oolong. An earlier iteration premiered about a year ago for the 2024 holidays and was well received. This year builds on that with similar teas with a few exception + a nice faux wooden box. The teas are:
DA HONG PAO LIGHT FIRE | TIE LUO HAN | SHUI JIN GUI | BAI JI GUAN | DA HONG PAO MEDIUM FIRE | HIGH BUSH SHUI XIAN | QI LAN | SHI RU STONE MILK | BULAO DAN | GUAN YIN YAN ROUGUI | MIAO LIAN SHUI XIAN | MA TOU YAN HIGH ROAST TIE LUO HAN
(the last three are "zhengyan" true cliff teas from the prestigious Wuyi Mountain core)
Old Thicket 2.0 (4 teas, 2 of each, 8 total)
This box features all Shui Xian teas that are processed using a medium roast by my favorite tea producers / roasters. A comparison of these teas aim to shed light on the difficult to grasp characteristics 岩韵 yan yun ("rock charm" exclusive to Zhengyan true cliff teas) and 枞味 congwei (mossy "thicket taste" exclusive to mature, older bushes) by offering teas with and without each. Read more below:
FIRE SET (3 teas, 2 of each, 6 teas total)
This box focuses on the "true" Da Hong Pao cultivars (Qidan + Beidou) and offers three of them at various roast levels. There's the hip lighter roast style derived from an orchid aroma'd Qidan sub-cultivar, the medium roast Qidan DHP from Wusandi returning from last year, and an incredibly rich and layered true cliff heavy roast Beidou Da Hong Pao from Huiyuankeng.
WUYI CLIFF: ZHENGYAN SERIES (10 teas)
It took many years of hunting and relationship cultivating to find core cliff teas worthy of the high prices these micro-terroirs demand. I'll say no more... other than you won't regret it. Here's the lineup:
MA TOU YAN TIE LUO HAN | DAO SHUI KENG ROUGUI | GUAN YIN YAN ROUGUI | HUI YUAN KENG ROUGUI | MIAO LIAN SHUI XIAN | HUI YUAN KENG DA HONG PAO | DA KENG KOU OLD BUSH SHUI XIAN | HUI YUAN KENG 100 YEAR SHUI XIAN | ZHU KE "DWARF LEGGED WULONG" | SHI JIAO OLD BUSH MEIZHAN
If you're curious to learn more about the deep world of Rock Oolong, Tea With Neldon just released an amazing Yancha-pedia that's 100% worth checking out.
the old trees at Wusandi
the crew at Wusandi
filming in Dao Shui Keng
If you can afford it, the Thea Bohea is worth it. It gave me a chance to try a variety of the most popular rock oolongs - experiencing the different cultivars and levels of roast. Im still going thru the box, but already reordered more Da Hong Pao (Qi Dan).
The Zhengyan box is a phenomenal set of Wuyi that I would recommend to any tea lover! My favorites are the Dao Shui Keng Rou Gui and the Da Hong Pao.
Wow! Now I understand why they call it Rock Oolong. The "rockiness" was quite pronounced in the first infusion, but also grew and grew on me until I was really able to savor it. By the 3rd infusion (I did 6), I was smitten. A completely new and delightful oolong experience.
It would be nice to have a brief blurb about each firing to go with the set. something to read along as you are brewing your way through the set.