Wild White Tea 荒野白茶 2021
Tea Profile
Type: Wuyi White Tea
Location: Da Shui Keng 大水坑, Wuyishan, Fujian
Harvest Date: Spring 2021
Cultivar: Qizhong 奇种 (traditional Wuyi Cai Cha population)
Processing: Fully sun-dried, then roasted
Growing Style: Ecologically grown
Format: Loose leaf
The Story of This Tea
My warehouse is full of unusual teas, and this is one of them. While organising the warehouse recently, I found this 2021 white tea again and decided it was time to bring it out for everyone to taste.
It comes from Da Shui Keng in Wuyishan and is made from Qizhong 奇种, the traditional local Wuyi tea population closely associated with Wuyi Cai Cha. Qizhong is much more commonly encountered in Wuyi oolong and other traditional Wuyi teas, which makes processing this material as white tea particularly unusual.
The leaves were fully sun-dried before being finished with roasting. This combination preserves the underlying character of the Wuyi material while giving the tea additional warmth, sweetness and stability. After several years of resting and ageing, the flavours have become increasingly integrated while retaining a remarkably fragrant character.
The dry leaf may look rough and rustic, but it is a tea that should not be judged by appearance. Inside that coarse-looking material is a surprisingly rich and complex liquor. Even a simple rinse with hot water releases a strong sweet fragrance into the air.
This is also a tea I prefer to brew differently from most of our teas. Rather than concentrating it through fast Gong Fu infusions, I think it performs particularly well brewed slowly in a teapot or enjoyed grandpa style. Giving the leaves time and space allows their sweetness and complexity to unfold naturally.
Aroma and Flavour
The first contact with hot water releases an immediate sweet fragrance from the leaves. The aroma is warm and full, carrying the mellow character of several years of ageing together with the deeper sweetness created by sun-drying and roasting.
The liquor is naturally sweet and surprisingly substantial. Its rustic leaf appearance gives little indication of the depth inside: the flavour develops slowly, becoming richer and more complex the longer the leaves remain in contact with water.
This is not a white tea built around delicate spring freshness. Instead, it offers a broader, deeper expression of Wuyi material, with sweetness, warmth and a calm, persistent fragrance that makes it particularly suited to relaxed, extended brewing.
- Aroma: Pronounced natural sweetness with warm, mature and gently roasted fragrance
- Flavour: Rich, naturally sweet and layered, developing greater complexity with longer brewing
- Texture: Rounded, substantial and smooth
- Aftertaste: Persistent sweetness with a warm, fragrant finish
- Steeping Endurance: Highly tolerant of long brewing and repeated hot-water top-ups
Brewing Guidelines
Grandpa Style - Recommended
- Teaware: Large glass, mug or open tea bowl
- Ratio: 3–4 g per 300–400 ml water
- Water: 95–100 °C
- Brewing: Allow the leaves to steep freely. Begin drinking once the liquor reaches your preferred strength, then top up with hot water whenever approximately one-third of the liquor remains
Slow Teapot Style - Recommended
- Teaware: Porcelain, glazed ceramic or glass teapot
- Ratio: 5–6 g per 250 ml water
- Water: 95–100 °C
- Steeping: Give the leaves time to open, beginning around 2–3 minutes and adjusting according to taste. The tea is very tolerant of longer infusions
Why Choose This Tea
This 2021 Wild White Tea is one of the more unusual teas hidden within our warehouse. It takes traditional Wuyi Qizhong material, a tea type normally associated with other styles of Wuyi production, and presents it through full sun-drying followed by roasting as a distinctive white tea.
Its appeal lies partly in that unconventional character. The leaves look rustic, yet produce a tea that is intensely sweet, fragrant and surprisingly complex. Several years of ageing have added further integration without taking away the vivid sweetness of the original material.
It is also a tea that encourages a slower way of drinking. Rather than requiring precise short infusions, it responds beautifully to grandpa-style brewing or a slowly infused pot, making it easy to enjoy over a long period while the flavour gradually deepens.
For anyone interested in unusual Wuyi cultivars, experimental processing or simply a white tea that behaves very differently from conventional Fujian white tea, this is a fascinating tea to explore.