Wuyi Rock Tea (武夷岩茶, Wuyi yancha)

Wuyi rock tea comes from the Wuyi Mountains in northern Fujian, where the tea plant Camellia sinensis grows in the narrow soils of the rocky gorges and cliff ledges that give the tea its name, yan, meaning rock. It belongs to the oolong family, the partly oxidised teas of Fujian and Guangdong, and it is made and drunk within the tradition of gongfu cha, the small-pot brewing of southern China. The Wuyi teas have a long history in Fujian, and the mountain remains the centre of their making, carried today by the growers and the tea houses of the region and of the Fujian and Chaozhou-speaking south.

Wuyi rock tea is an oolong made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, plucked when mature rather than as tender buds, then withered, shaken in bamboo trays to bruise the leaf edges, partly oxidised, fixed in the pan, rolled and fired over a low heat. The finished leaf is dark, twisted and fairly large, the colour of brown-black iron, and the liquor is amber to deep orange. Named varieties include Da Hong Pao, Shui Xian and Rou Gui, each a distinct cultivar with its own character. The firing is the mark of the style: a roasted, mineral depth sits under the floral and fruit notes, and the tea is judged by that depth and by the lingering sweetness known as yunwei, the rock rhyme.

Wuyi rock tea is drunk with the small savoury dishes and dim sum of the southern table, and in the tea houses of Fujian and Chaozhou it follows or accompanies rich food. Its roasted, slightly astringent depth cuts through fat and cleans the palate, so that oily dishes such as roast meats, fried pastries and braised pork do not weigh on the mouth. Light, sweet food does not suit it, because the tea overpowers delicacy; it needs food with enough body to answer its roast.