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Bai Ji Guan白鸡冠

Yan Cha · Wuyishan, Fujian, China

Bai Ji Guan is a Yan Cha oolong from Wuyishan, Fujian, China. Brew it at 95°C with 6g of leaf per 100ml of water; expect up to 8 short infusions in a small gaiwan or teapot. A quick rinse is recommended.

Quick facts

Origin
Wuyishan, Fujian, China
Category
Oolong
Cultivar
Bai Ji Guan (albino cultivar — young leaves flush yellowish-white, low chlorophyll)
Oxidation
light
Roast
light
Water temp
95°C
Leaf ratio
6g / 100ml
Infusions
up to 8
Rinse
Yes

Tasting notes

Most Wuyi yancha drink dark and heavy. Bai Ji Guan refuses to. The leaf is pale, almost yellow-green — an albino cultivar — and the liquor pours light gold where the rest of the category runs amber. First sip is pear and a clean elderflower top note, with a faint medicinal-herbal thread underneath, like crushed stems. The mineral backbone is there but quiet, holding the fruit up instead of competing with it. This is the one yancha where boiling water is wrong: drop to 95°C or the delicate top notes cook off and you're left with a thin, stony cup. Keep early steeps short — the light oxidation means it exhausts faster than heavier cousins, usually around steep six. Good Bai Ji Guan has a cooling lift on the upper palate that separates it from mediocre lots, which just taste like a soft, floral nothing. Worth trying once to understand how wide the yancha category actually is.

Flavor profile

The lightest and most unusual of the Four Famous Wuyi cultivars. Delicate pear and peach fruit up front, with elderflower and a subtle medicinal herbal quality. Underneath sits the characteristic Wuyi minerality, but it reads gentler and more transparent than its heavily roasted siblings.

Terroir

Zhengyan; original bushes from Bat Cave (Bianfu Dong) deep in the Wuyi scenic area

Cultivar: Bai Ji Guan (albino cultivar — young leaves flush yellowish-white, low chlorophyll)

Brewing

Rinse: Quick flash rinse — this lighter yancha opens fast.

  1. Quick rinse — pour off immediately.
  2. Steep 1: 10 seconds
  3. Steep 2: 10 seconds
  4. Steep 3: 15 seconds
  5. Steep 4: 20 seconds
  6. Steep 5: 25 seconds
  7. Steep 6: 30 seconds
  8. Steep 7: 40 seconds
  9. Steep 8: 50 seconds

Lower temperature than most yancha (95°C not boiling) to preserve the delicate floral and fruity top notes. Lighter oxidation means it's less forgiving of oversteeping.

Aroma & taste

Aroma

  • elderflower
  • pear
  • peach
  • fresh herbs

Taste

  • stone fruit
  • mineral
  • medicinal
  • huigan

Processing

  • withered
  • semi-oxidized
  • twisted
  • light roast
Start brewing Bai Ji Guan

Sources