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Oolong · Wuyi rock tea
Bai Ji Guan
báijīguān · 白鸡冠
“White cockscomb” — one of the four famous Wuyi rock teas, and the strangest. Its pale yellow-green leaf and lighter roast set it apart from its dark cliff cousins, giving a softer, sweeter, more floral rock tea.
- Region
- Wuyi mountains, Fujian — 600–1,000 m
- Harvest
- Late spring; roasted over following months
- Oxidation
- Medium oxidation, light-to-medium roast
- Cultivar
- Bai Ji Guan — a pale-leaf Wuyi cultivar
In the cup
Sweet corn, herbs and a soft floral note over a light mineral body — gentler and brighter than most rock teas, with a clean finish.
What it gives
A smooth, warming oolong — partial oxidation and a measured roast make it mellow and easy on the stomach, with a calming aftertaste.
Bai Ji Guan — white cockscomb — is one of the sì dà míngcōng, the four famous bushes of the Wuyi rock-tea tradition, alongside Da Hong Pao, Tie Luohan and Shui Jin Gui. It is the odd one out, and the easiest to recognise: its cultivar carries a pale, almost albino leaf, yellow-green where the other rock teas are dark, said to resemble the comb of a white rooster.
That pale leaf calls for a gentler hand. Bai Ji Guan is given less oxidation and a lighter roast than the heavy, charcoal-finished Da Hong Pao, so it keeps a softness and a floral lift unusual in yánchá. It still grows in the same mineral gullies of the Wuyi cliffs and still carries the yányùn, the “rock rhyme”, but worn lightly.
In the cup
Brew it gongfu — a good measure of leaf, near-boiling water, short steeps — after a quick rinse. The liquor is pale gold for a rock tea, the flavour sweet corn and herbs over a soft mineral base, the floral note clearer than its roasted cousins. It is the rock tea to reach for when you want minerality without the weight of the roast.
How to brew
Bai Ji Guan
Water
95 °C — near boiling
Leaf
7 g per 100 ml
Steep
Rinse, then 15–25 s, many steeps
Vessel
Gaiwan or seasoned clay pot
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