Spring 2026 Baoshan Oolong Black

Mr Zong regularly visits our tea shop, he's the nephew of Li Chao Yun (the producer of the Yingpan Shan black tea). Everytime we meet, we have in-depth discussion about tea processing. It seems he's fallen in love with the Qingxin cultivar. He's left the plantation he was renting in Fen Shui Lin (we have a video about it, in which he makes oriental beauty). It wasn't profitable, he was getting bored there.

Carrying on with his vision of making good oolong tea in Yunnan, he decided to hit the road and look for new plantations. Last year he found one he liked in Baoshan. We've never been that far North in search of tea, but thanks to Mr Zong, we can enjoy a taste of the area from the comfort of our tea table. 

Last year in Autumn we released a ball-shaped version, it was a first try. Eventually, we prefered to have a more simple processing: classic Yunnan style, in order to fully enjoy the natural material, without any roasting or fancy tricks. 

The result is really good, I think more black teas should be made out of Qingxin oolong because they come out much smoother than a typical var sinensis black. The texture is smooth, it doesn't get bitter, which means you can brew it light to enjoy the fragrance, and strong to get a thicker brew. 

This is a tea I'd bring in a big cup during a road trip, casually sip while watching a movie, or brew gongfu style at the end of a shengpu marathon. A comfort tea with a good amount of complexity.