Bai Jiguan tea

Bai Ji Guan or Bai Jiguan (simplified Chinese: 白鸡冠; traditional Chinese: 白雞冠; pinyin: bái jīguān; Wade–Giles: pai2 chi1-kuan1; pronounced [pǎi tɕí.kwán]) is a very light Si Da Ming Cong tea, a well-known oolong tea of Wuyi, in Fujian, China.

Bai ji guan
TypeOolong
Other namesWhite cockscomb, white rooster, 白鸡冠
OriginMount Wuyi, Fujian Province, China
Quick descriptionLight Wuyi tea
Bai Jiguan tea is grown in Fujian province, China

Legend has it that the name of this tea (which translates to 'white rooster' or more literally 'white cockscomb') was given by a monk in memorial of a courageous rooster that sacrificed his life while protecting his baby from an eagle. Touched by the display of courage and love, the monk buried the rooster and from that spot, the bai ji guan tea bush grew.[1]

Unlike most Wuyi teas, the leaves of this tea are yellowish to light green rather than dark green or brown.[1]

A field of bai ji guan bushes with the light-green leaves characteristic of this tea.

The flavour is also quite different from the other Wuyi oolongs, which tend to be otherwise very similar as a group. Like most Wuyi oolongs, it sits in the highly oxidized end of the oolong tea spectrum, though in the lower range of oxidization for a Wuyi tea, which tend to be 60-80% oxidized. Some say the oxidization level is related to the courageous actions of the rooster of legend, while others say it is more symbolic of the rooster's parental love. Regardless of your stance on the legend's relationship to this tea's oxidization, most agree that it is highly oxidized.

See also

References
  1. Towler, Solala (2010). Cha Dao: The Way of Tea – Tea as a Way of Life. London: Singing Dragon. p. 157. ISBN 9781848190320. OCLC 703432018.


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