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2023 Bai Rui Xiang Wuyi Black Tea

2023 Bai Rui Xiang Wuyi Black Tea

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Balanced, velvety,
floral black tea
The famously floral fruity Bai Rui Xiang varietal gets full oxidation finishing to bring out notes of fresh rye bread, pear, peony, nutmeg, and Wuyishan’s iconic minerality.
Spring 2023 ♦ Wuyishan, Fujian
Balanced, velvety,
floral black tea
The famously floral fruity Bai Rui Xiang varietal gets full oxidation finishing to bring out notes of fresh rye bread, pear, peony, nutmeg, and Wuyishan’s iconic minerality.
Spring 2023 ♦ Wuyishan, Fujian
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Crafted by the Li Family

Hand-picked and traditionally hand-finished within the true Wuyishan Ecological Preserve on forested biodiverse, rocky, mountainous land for distinct Wuyi minerality.
 
The Li Family is an award-winning, highly respected force for sustainability, hand-firing craft, rare varietal preservation, and tea education in Wuyishan
    • DATE OF PICKINGSpring 2023
    • Wuyishan Ecological PreserveWuyishan, Fujian
    • ELEVATION600 M
    • Bai Rui XiangTea Varietal

    Bai Rui Xiang varietal is named after the Winter Daphne, a heady aromatic flower native to China. Traditionally finished as an oolong, this tea always has a rich nuanced undercurrent of incense spice and cooling tingling minerality. This year, the Li Family saved a small portion of this reserve harvest Bai Rui Xiang to finish as a black tea using old-school sun-oxidation in bamboo baskets at the family workshop in Tongmu. The result is a beautifully complex black tea where the intense florals of the oolong finish take a back seat to the cooling tingling textural excitement this tea has to offer, along for a rich spiced brew full of Wuyi’s famous minerality.

  • true
    70
    pear
    true
    65
    rose, peony
    true
    65
    nutmeg
    true
    80
    fresh rye bread
    true
    crisp, sweet, vaporous

    Tasting Profile

    • fruit - pear
    • floral - rose, peony
    • spice - nutmeg
    • savory - fresh rye bread
    • texture - crisp, sweet, vaporous

the Li Family recommends

  1. Hua Xiang Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong
    Hua Xiang Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong
    While Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong is usually smoked, the same leaf material and finishing technique can be used without the final smoking step. Hua Xiang means floral fragrance, referring to the natural but subtle floral notes in Xingcun Xiaozhong varietal that are brought out through the Li Family’s expert hand-processing. When smaller leaf material mixed with delicate buds is used, rich vanilla undertones can develop, accenting the savory nutty flavors. The main difference between this tea and a classic Wuyi Gongfu Black is that Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong is not necessarily curled and twisted as thoroughly, giving it a more open structure suitable for incorporating that smaller bud and leaf mixture that wouldn’t work in the tight twists of Wuyi Gongfu Black, but both are very traditional calls back to the very earliest black teas in the world.
  2. Aged Old Tree Wuyi Gongfu Black
    Aged Old Tree Wuyi Gongfu Black

    Under careful airtight conditions, Wuyi teas that are particularly rich and packed with minerality can age into deeper, more complex teas. Li Xiangxi’s personal favorite is to use her old tree Wuyi Gongfu Black, picked from trees approaching one hundred years of age. The Old Tree Wuyi Black gains more foresty notes and deep cooling qualities on the palette that make it thrilling to sip. This is not a yearly release- this is a special must-try one-off from Li Xiangxi. Li Xiangxi has been aging this Old Tree Wuyi Black tea since 2015, and she kindly shared more than half of what is left of her personal reserve.
  3. 2023 Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong
    2023 Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong
    The earliest Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong, (or Lapsang Souchong as it is commonly referred to in the West) was never deep-smoked. The smokiness was a natural and subtle addition that came from drying the leaves in a wok heated by pine wood. The smoke from the pine wood naturally mixed with the tea, creating a deeper and more foresty flavor that accentuated the tea's minerality. The Li Family preserves this old-school aesthetic with careful application of smoke from local resinous pine. The sweet, roasted quality of the smoke processing blends with the rich flavor of the tea to yield a dark fruity flavor, and bring front and center the mineral texture of the soil of Wuyi.

  • 'Wuyi is legendary. Any great Chinese art collection will be full of inkbrush paintings of the misty mountain peaks that make up Wuyi. Visiting Wuyi evokes the feeling of finally meeting someone that you have read about for years. The rocks of Wuyi aren’t just famous for the inspiration they gave to great Song dynasty painters. The true legends involve magic, and of course, Wuyi tea.'

  • 4
    6
    208
    15 seconds
    10
    7
    6
    208
    5 seconds
    3
    4
    12
    room temp
    8 hours

    Steeping Instructions

    Western

    4 g.6
    oz.    use 208° watersteep 15 secondsresteep many times
    add 10 sec. each infusion

    Gongfu

    7 g.6 ozuse 208° watersteep 5 seconds
    add 3 sec. per steeping    enjoy many steepings

    Iced/Cold

    4 g.12
    oz.    use room temp. waterrefrigerate overnight
    8 hours    add ice & enjoy

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