Ba Xian (Eight Immortals)

Rock Wulong Tea 2021

Ba Xian rock wulong tea dry leaves in a wooden display box.

Cupped infusion of Ba Xian rock wulong tea and strained leaves.

Signature rich and deep floral aroma that lingers and full flavor. Lightly roasted in a brief traditional charcoal finishing roast to develop sweetness while retaining floral aromatics. Great for tea drinkers looking for a strong flavor and high aroma in a reasonably priced rock wulong.

Related Years:

2023 $20.25
2022 $28.00

Tea Origin: Wuyishan City, Fujian Province, China
Tea Bush: Qian Li Xiang
Tea Maker: Liu Dexi
Harvest Time: Late April
Plucking Standard: Zhong kai mian

This tea has a strong sweet fragrance that fills the room when brewed. The mineral-rich soil of the volcanic Wuyi Mountains also lends a delicate and building mineral sweetness that creeps below its naturally rich and deep floral aroma. Lightly roasted in a brief traditional charcoal finishing roast to develop sweetness while retaining floral aromatics. Great for tea drinkers looking for a strong full flavor and high aroma in a reasonably priced rock wulong.

Eight Immortals is known for having a concentrated aroma and a body of sharper, heavier flavors, reminiscent of a Dan Cong wulong.

Roasting Eight Immortals wulong to perfection

A man leaning over a large woven basket to stir the large pile of leaves inside with both hands. Several other baskets surround him. — Mr. Liu mixing baskets of wulong by hand intermittently throughout their slow hours-long charcoal roasting.

The Qian Li Xiang tea bush cultivar used to make Eight Immortals produces thin leaves with a particularly high aroma. In processing this wulong, the tea makers take care to preserve as much of this distinctive aroma as possible.

Once the tea has been oxidized, it’s quickly dried into unfinished mao cha by oven roast for about 50 minutes. Oven roasting preserves aromas better than charcoal roasting. However, traditional charcoal roasting develops a wulong’s sweetness and depth of flavor. For Eight Immortals, tea makers strike a balance between the two by finishing the tea with two very short and low-temperature charcoal roasts.

For Ba Xian, each charcoal roast lasts only about 4 hours at a low temperature of about 40°C (104°F). The tea leaves are then allowed to rest, dissipating some of the smokiness from the charcoal and letting the effects of the roast permeate to the center of the whole leaf. The second short charcoal roast is done 20 days later to finish the tea. The result is a well-developed flavorful rock wulong with a well-preserved and powerful aroma.

Excellence in gardening practices

Eight Immortals garden and factory — Eight Immortals organic tea garden and factory.

Our Ba Xian (Eight Immortals) rock wulong comes from sustainable tea garden in Wuyishan. Tea master Liu Dexi’s garden is certified to meet highest level requirements for Chinese national organic agricultural standards. No pesticides, herbicides, or artificial fertilizers are ever used. It’s weeded by hand and naturally fertilized with fermented rapeseed paste (a byproduct of making canola oil) and goat manure.

No chemical fertilizer, pesticide, or herbicide was used in the production of this tea. Click here to read more about our promise to fair trade and the environment.