Verdant Tea

Rare Varietal Wuyi Oolong Kit

Rare Varietal Wuyi Oolong Kit

Regular Price $80.75 $64.60
Loading...

This bundle includes five 25g bags of Wuyi tea for 125g total (25 sessions).

This bundle includes four 25g bags of Wuyi tea for 100g total (20 sessions).

Wuyishan is perhaps the most famous tea growing region in the world, and our partner Li Xiangxi and her family cultivate their award-winning oolongs in a perfectly-situated gorge along the Longchuan river within the Wuyishan Ecological Preserve, a pristine environmentally-protected region where biodiversity is key, and tea grows alongside wild bamboo, evergreens, and flowers.

Part of that biodiversity is about encouraging not just the widely known varietals like Rou Gui or Qilan to grow, but also making space for rare and difficult to find varietals not often seen or known outside of Wuyishan. Li Xiangxi believes that each varietal bring its own unique style to the pure expression of Wuyi minerality, and this sampler is a testament to those unique perspectives. Taste through five lesser varietals and discover a hidden side to Wuyishan.

This bundle includes 25g each of five different Wuyi teas for 125g total (25 sessions).

Wuyishan is perhaps the most famous tea growing region in the world, and our partner Li Xiangxi and her family cultivate their award-winning oolongs in a perfectly-situated gorge along the Longchuan river within the Wuyishan Ecological Preserve, a pristine environmentally-protected region where biodiversity is key, and tea grows alongside wild bamboo, evergreens, and flowers.

Part of that biodiversity is about encouraging not just the widely known varietals like Rou Gui or Qilan to grow, but also making space for more difficult to find varietals not often seen or known outside of Wuyishan. Li Xiangxi believes that each varietal bring its own unique style to the pure expression of Wuyi minerality, and this sampler is a testament to those unique perspectives. Taste through five Wuyi oolong teas - including famous cultivars and less-well-known varietals.

This bundle includes 25g each of six different Wuyi teas for 150g total (30 sessions).

Wuyishan is perhaps the most famous tea growing region in the world, and our partner Li Xiangxi and her family cultivate their award-winning oolongs in a perfectly-situated gorge along the Longchuan river within the Wuyishan Ecological Preserve, a pristine environmentally-protected region where biodiversity is key, and tea grows alongside wild bamboo, evergreens, and flowers.

Part of that biodiversity is about encouraging not just the widely known varietals like Rou Gui or Qilan to grow, but also making space for more difficult to find varietals not often seen or known outside of Wuyishan. Li Xiangxi believes that each varietal bring its own unique style to the pure expression of Wuyi minerality, and this sampler is a testament to those unique perspectives. Taste through six Wuyi oolong teas - including famous cultivars and less-well-known varietals.

 Taste & compare across varietals: 

Bei Dou Wuyi Oolong (25g)

Bei Dou is named after the constellation the “Plow,” or the Big Dipper. This tea is most similar to Big Red Robe in terms of big bold flavor and deep resonant texture. The Li Family’s Bei Dou varietal is planted on a cool slope of volcanic rock for a deep minerality. Mr. Li’s insistence on long meticulous yaoqing turning and fluffing bring out big floral and fruit notes in this rare but tremendous offering.

Learn more about this tea >>

Zheng Yan Su Xin Lan Wuyi Oolong (25g)

Su Xin Lan was near extinction in the 1980’s with so many farmers tearing out this rare cultivar in favor of Rou Gui and other more popular well-known teas with an established market. Su Xin Lan is starting to experience a revival, with the Li Family growing true “Zheng Yan” or rock tea Su Xin Lan planted within the Wuyishan Ecological Preserve. Deeply cooling and aromatic with notes of frankincense and juicy melon. Toffee and brown sugar syrup, candied cherries, and a thick, deep, rich texture.

Learn more about this tea >>

Jin Qian Wuyi Oolong (25g)

Jin Qian is a rare varietal that the Wu Family grows on one of their most prized mountain plots on a tiny terraced sliver of rock surrounded by untouched forest on all sides. This tea benefits from morning mist, mountain spring water and tremendous biodiversity, yielding a beautiful juicy pear flavor profile and deep mineral-laden complexity. The Li Family has to climb their mountain plot to hand-pick Jin Qian and rush the fresh leaves back to the workshop for a 30+ hour yaoqing and hand-firing process to bring out incredible depth and nuance. Jin Qian literally means "golden coin" a reference to the golden rounded leaves of the Jin Qian tea bush.

Learn more about this tea >>

Bai Mu Dan Wuyi Oolong (25g)

You might recognize “Bai Mudan” as a white tea. This intriguing harvest is Da Bai cultivar planted in Wuyishan and picked with the classic Bai Mudan mix of leaf and smaller buds, but finished as a roasted oolong. The result is fascinating - a tea with the buddy mouth-filling textural thrill of a traditional Fuding Bai Mudan, but with the minerality and deep roasted flavor of a classic Wuyi Oolong. The aromatics are full of orange zest and licorice root. The first infusions have a bright white tea quality with earthier burdock undertones and coriander spice. Later steepings are rich and aromatic like floral ginger, with hints of juicy blackberry.

Learn more about this tea >>

Zheng Yan Chun Gui Wuyi Oolong (25g)

One of Wyishan’s rarer teas, cultivated by only a handful of families, Chun Gui was only introduced in 2015 as a new hybrid varietal developed for its intense aromatics. While most families in Wuyishan focus on famous teas like Rou Gui and Big Red Robe, the Li Family works hard to represent a beautiful diversity of  cultivars, seeking out even the rarest teas like this one, all for the sake of encouraging biodiversity and for sharing with the students at the Yangxian Tea Institute as part of tasting courses. Thanks to a long-standing relationship, we are lucky enough to bring in teas like this on a very small scale. This remarkable tea has notes of candied ginger, sandalwood, orchid honey, calamansi and molasses with a vaporous billowing perfumed aftertaste packed with minerality.

Learn more about this tea >>

Huang Qi Wuyi Oolong (25g)

Huang Qi has recently taken off in Wuyishan, introduced for its very early bud growth in the spring. One problem small family farmers face in the deep mountains of Wuyishan is that when harvest season comes, there’s nobody but themselves to rely on for help picking. Planting a varietal that can be picked earlier helps manage the season! The Li Family grows a small stand of Huang Qi bushes on their remote, pristine hillside with the Wuyishan Ecological Preserve, surrounded by forest.  Deep, toasty and cozy with notes of pumpkin, cinnamon and cedar. Juicy hints of tangerine and muscat grape come through in the aftertaste.

Learn more about this tea >>

Zi Mei Gui Wuyi Oolong (25g)

Zi Mei Gui, or “Purple Rose” is part of the Li Family’s commitment to cultivating rare and off-the-beaten-track varietals to preserve biodiversity within the Wuyishan Ecological Preserve and to share with the students at the Yangxian Tea Institute as part of their tasting courses. Thanks to a long-standing relationship, we are lucky enough to bring in teas like this on a very small scale. Zi Mei Gui is appropriately full of notes of rose, along with persimmon, apple, sandalwood and toffee, with a bright juicy texture.

Learn more about this tea >>