Ba Xian 八仙

Ba Xian is a late budding cultivar known for its elegance and mild citrus and orchid notes. Tea Drunk's Ba Xian showcases its top terroir with pronounced Cong Wei.

First, the freshly picked leaves of a Dan Cong need to be sun wilted. Once the leaves are silky and soft, they move inside to wilt under shade and gently flip occasionally. The signature step to making Wu Long tea is the shaking step, where the tea maker shows their skill by regulating how the water travels from the stems to the leaves and out. It is traditionally done by shaking the leaves on a bamboo tray but is commonly done with a tumbling machine. This step varies by tea and weather; it takes a thoroughly experienced tea maker to decide how soon and often to shake the tea. This step usually takes tea makers all night to complete. After resting for a few hours to ferment, the leaves undergo Sha Qing early in the morning, applying high temperature to lock the tea in the desired fermentation stage. During Zuo Xing, or shape making, they are rolled into string shape, then spread evenly on baking trays to dry. After the tea season, the refining process starts with the tedious step of picking out old stems and leaves, usually taking months to finish. Then the "cleaned" teas are charcoal roasted over a very dim ash fire for 6-10 hours. Many teas need to repeat this step, with at least three weeks' resting time between each roasting.

Ba Xian gets its name from eight ancient tea trees related to the famous Eight Immortals in Chinese mythology. Tea Drunk's Ba Xian hails from the village where Ba Xian originated from, Ya Hou. This village is the most prized location for the cultivar and sits at ~900 ft elevation.