What Is Yancha: A Beginner's Guide to Wuyi Rock Tea
A Deeper Guide to Wuyi Rock Tea “yancha:"
Updated August 2026, originally published 10/20/2023
This guide to Wuyi rock tea (yancha) has been updated with expanded sections on yancha varieties, common misconceptions, tasting and brewing tips, tips for starting your yancha journey, and more information on the category to better reflect the changing landscape, both within China and internationally. Since the original guide was published in 2023, the yancha world has continued to develop, including the revision of China’s national standard for Wuyi rock tea for the first time since 2006. GB/T 18745-2026 was adopted this year and will take effect April 1, 2027, introducing updated requirements around the product's definition, geographic scope, quality, testing, labeling, and other aspects of production and sale. These changes made it the perfect time to expand and update this guide to better help you on your tea journey. Whether you’re new to yancha or looking to deepen your understanding of one of the tea world’s most fascinating and complex categories, this updated guide will help you better appreciate the unique craftsmanship and nuances behind Wuyi rock tea.
Hello, friends! Those of you who know me know that my two favorite types of tea are heicha and yancha. I love yancha so much that I became one of the Global Tea Ambassadors through WuyiStar, having become a certified Chinese tea specialist through their volunteer program.
However, after having conducted local tastings and introducing individuals to yancha, I’ve come to realize that yancha is such a broad category with so many facets to it, which in turn causes many who are beginning their tea journey to end up confused by its mystery. So, without further ado, let’s get into what yancha is, where it comes from, and how to prepare it.
For ease of readability, I have prepared this table of contents. Simply click each heading to go to the section you want.
Table of Contents
1.) What is Yancha?
10.) How to Brew Yancha?
What is “Yancha?”
Simply put, “岩茶,” “yancha” or “yan cha” translates literally to “rock tea” and is a specific type of oolong tea unique to the Wuyi mountains of Fujian, China. Yancha is a partially oxidized and traditionally roasted oolong with leaves processed as strips rather than balls (which is common for oolongs, especially Taiwanese and Anxi oolongs). In Chinese tea culture, many tea drinkers consider yancha to be a “professional’s tea,” with understanding demonstrating serious expertise in the industry. What makes it different from other tea types is that it has an unusually developed professional tasting culture around it, where subtle differences in cultivar, terroir, processing, roasting, aroma, mouthfeel, and the unique yan yun all are evaluated and appreciated as you sip.
The key to understanding yancha is learning how cultivar, terroir, craftsmanship, and roast all work together to shape a tea. You don't need to memorize every cultivar or chase the most expensive yancha to appreciate this fascinating tea; you just need to start tasting.
The graphic below shows the common types of Chinese oolongs and where they are produced, with the focus of this guide being WuyiShan and the oolongs made there.
Common Misconceptions about Yancha:
As with all teas, yancha is also surrounded by common misconceptions. Here are a few and why they aren’t true.
“Heavier roast = better tasting tea”: Not necessarily. Roast is a tool to shape and reveal character; heavy roasts can be lovely, but high roasts can also be a technique to hide flaws in the tea itself. If the whole tea is scorched to a crisp, any flaw will be hidden and the brewed tea will be flat and taste of charred leaf with zero depth to it. While roast is an essential part of production, yancha is not simply just another roasted oolong. Lighter roasted yancha can be excellent and heavily roasted tea is not automatically more traditional or higher quality.
“All yancha tastes the same”: A lot of beginners expect yancha to have the same profile; roasted, minerally, nutty, and smoky. This just isn't true. Yancha can be chocolatey, creamy, floral, and more depending on the type of yancha, the area it was grown in, the level of roast, the age, and more. Yancha is incredibly complex and has many nuanced flavors that, while somewhat tricky at times to pin down, can be incredibly engaging and enjoyable when you do.
“Yancha is only for experts”: This is NOT true at all. Because yancha has so much terminology, it can feel intimidating. However, keep in mind that you DON’T need to understand every cultivar, mountain, roast style, or production term to enjoy yancha. This knowledge comes naturally with exploration- you can start by simply noticing the aroma, body, sweetness, roast flavor, and observing how the tea changes across each steep. Build your knowledge at your own pace, don’t let others overwhelm you with the amount of depth to the category.
"Charcoal Roasting is better than Electric": This one comes down to personal preference in tastes as both electric roasting and charcoal roasting can produce different flavors and aromas in the finished tea. Much of the modern yancha market is electrically roasted yancha. Although charcoal roasting remains a traditional and still-practiced method in Wuyishan, electric roasting has become much more common because it is easier to control, more consistent, less labor-intensive, and more practical for larger-scale production. Environmental concerns and the cost and availability of charcoal have also encouraged the development of electric equipment designed to reproduce some of the characteristics of traditional charcoal roasting. Neither heat source automatically produces better yancha; the skill of the roaster and how the roast interacts with the underlying tea matter more than the heat source alone.
"Charcoal Roasting is smokey, Electric is floral": This is an oversimplification. There are differences between the two methods in the finished tea, but they aren't as simple as “charcoal tastes smoky and electric tastes floral.” Charcoal roasting can produce deeper, warmer, and more rounded roast characteristics while electric roasting allows very precise control and can preserve more of the underlying floral, fruity, or varietal character, particularly at lighter roast levels. However, the roast level, temperature, duration, number of roasting sessions, and skill of the roaster can have a much greater effect on flavor than the heat source alone. A lightly roasted charcoal tea and a heavily roasted electric tea may taste far more different from one another than two teas roasted to a similar profile using different heat sources.
"The stronger the aroma, the better the yancha": Not necessarily. Yancha can be incredibly aromatic, particularly cultivars such as Rou Gui, but a powerful aroma isn't automatically a sign of quality. When tasting yancha, pay attention not only to what you smell when you first lift the cup or gaiwan lid, but also to the tea's body, texture, sweetness, and what remains after you swallow. A tea might have an intense initial aroma but a thin body or short finish, while another may seem quieter at first but develop greater depth, sweetness, and a long-lasting aftertaste. Good yancha isn't necessarily the loudest tea in the cup; it's about how all of these characteristics come together to create a truly delicious experience.
Why explore yancha?
So now that we’ve cleared the misconceptions out of the way, let’s talk about why you should dive into the category. Yancha is one of the most fascinating and complex categories of Chinese tea, and it’s one that becomes more interesting with the more you learn. With dozens of cultivars, countless producers, different roasting approaches, and variations in aging and refinement techniques, yancha offers nearly endless opportunities for comparison and discovery. More than many tea categories, yancha highlights the influence of terroir on tea. Within the Wuyi mountains, the differences in growing location can dramatically influence the aroma, texture, minerality, and overall character of the finished tea. Beyond terroir, yancha also celebrates complex craftsmanship. The choices made during processing and roasting can transform the final tea, allowing skilled producers to bring out entirely different expressions from the same raw material. Exploring yancha is ultimately an exploration of how land, cultivar, and human expertise come together in the finished cup; a DaHongPao from one producer or growing location may taste completely different from another, making each tea an opportunity to discover something new within this incredibly diverse category.
Quick Primer: Yan Yun and Minerality
One of the biggest things with yancha is the Yan Yun (“岩韵,” “rock rhyme,” or more poetically “essence of the rocks”). This term essentially refers to the inherent qualities of a good yancha. Yan yun is the result of the terroir in Wuyi as well as the style of roasting and production of the yancha and gives rise to the phrase “taste of the mountains.” Yan yun is more difficult to describe as it is an abstract trait of yancha (as in, it’s difficult to describe something so abstract- because yan yun is more of a feeling than anything physical, it usually is described with more poetic, flowery language, which can be confusing to those new to drinking rock oolongs). The best way I can describe it, without actually giving you yancha to taste, would be that yan yun is in essence the lingering cooling feeling in the back of the throat after sipping the tea; it’s not just the initial wave of flavors present as you sip, but the sensations you get as you drink. Additionally, while yan yun doesn’t affect the longevity of the tea, teas with prominent yan yun tend to last longer in my experience.
How to Identify Yan Yun?
To identify yan yun, I suggest the following:
1.) pay attention to the aftertaste of the tea. As you swallow, what flavors linger in your mouth and throat? It might be sweet or more mineral-like, but there should be some flavor lingering; I like to describe it as sipping a strong, high-quality mineral water, with that sort-of mineral (i.e. slight saltiness) flavor lingering. It’s almost like sipping a glass of mineral water with the mineral flavors amped up to 11.
2.) After sipping the tea, take a deep breath in. Look for a cooling sensation in the back of your throat; if you feel a sort-of cool, refreshing feeling in your throat, congratulations, you’ve noticed yan yun!
3.) pay attention to how the flavors change and shift with each steep. If the flavors continue to evolve and shift after you’ve sipped the tea, with you noticing more subtleties and nuanced layers to the tea, that’s a sign of yan yun.
Identifying yan yun takes time and practice, but with effort, you will be able to tell yan yun in no time. Yan yun is one of the magical elements that makes yancha such a delicious tea to experience and when you begin to notice it, you’ll feel more attuned to these enchanting flavors that make yancha so desirable amongst tea-heads.
Now that that's out of the way, let's get into the terrain that creates the yan yun.
WuyiShan: The Rugged, Rocky Region and its Teas
WuyiStar farm at 9 bend River San Hua Feng Mountain A Rainy Day in WuyiShan
Images courtesy WuyiStar and Caroline Wu of WuyiStar. These depict the terrain of WuyiShan.
Yancha’s history is intertwined with the history and culture of the Wuyi region, formerly referred to as “Bohea” in English (that being said, some vendors do still use Bohea when referring to Wuyi teas- both yancha and Wuyi hongcha). The Wuyi Mountains (“WuyiShan”) are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and are known for their vast biodiversity, rugged rocky terrain, and a soil rich in minerals. These immense cliffs act as a barrier, retaining moisture within the region, creating an area with high humidity (average RH of 80%) and high annual rainfall (averages around 2,000ml, or around 80 inches of rain annually). The combination of this backdrop of steep, rocky cliffs coupled with the unique climate of the region and the labor-intensive process to make yancha have made it a highly desired tea throughout history. WuyiShan is also home to other teas and is known as the birthplace of black tea (hongcha), like Tongmuguan’s famous smoked lapsang souchong (“正山小种,” “Zhèng shān xiǎo zhǒng”) or the more recent invention, jin junmei (“金駿眉,” oft translated to “golden eyebrow” or “big golden eyebrows,” or even “beautiful golden eyebrow”).
For yancha, there are 3 official production regions, each with their own subregions and styles; these regions are Zhengyan (the core area), Banyan (the middle area that surrounds Zhengyan), and Zhouyan (the areas outside of the WuyiShan Scenic Area). There is technically a fourth region in the tea world, Waishan (where yancha is grown outside of the previous 3 regions), though this is not a recognized distinction in the 2026 updated yancha standards. This may lead to confusion as the industry uses the 4 region system whereas China has adopted an updated administrative classification, folding Waishan into Zhouyan. These regions are:
Zhengyan (“正岩,” “true cliff” or literally “real rock," sometimes labeled "full rock") is the most desirable location for yancha production, Zhengyan is also referred to as the “core” production area for yancha. Zhengyan material commands high prices as the higher and more rocky terrain results in the highest yan yun and minerality of Wuyi yancha.
Banyan (“半岩区,” “half cliff”) material refers to the production zone surrounding the Zhengyan core region; Banyan material is still located within the WuyiShan Scenic area, though at a lower elevation than Zhengyan. Banyan yancha is still quality material and will have a strong yan yun and minerality to it.
Zhouyan (“洲茶,” or “outside tea”)- Zhouyan is the third region and refers to tea grown outside of the scenic area, but still in the general area; Zhouyan tea primarily grows in the riverplains of WuyiShan, outside of the rocky peaks, growing in the sandy and loamy soil. The quality, while lesser than Banyan and Zhengyan, is still decent and better than tea grown in Waishan.
Waishan (“外山,” literally “outer mountain”)- This refers to yancha produced outside of the three areas mentioned above; Waishan material generally is more affordable, as the further one gets from Zhengyan, the more affordable teas generally are (which isn’t entirely true, but is for most cases).
How Is Yancha Made?
When simplified for understanding, yancha undergoes roughly 7 steps of processing. They are as follows:
Picking: Leaves are picked at a standard of buds and two to three leaves, generally from mid-April to the end of May. Leaves may be either handpicked or machine harvested.
Withering: The picked leaves are placed on bamboo sieves or cloths and placed at a specific thickness, and depending on weather conditions, are either sun-dried outdoors or withered indoors in a special heat-assisted trough where the moisture levels can be reduced while being closely monitored.
Shaking: The withered leaves are then placed into a shaking machine, which gently bruises the leaves, reducing the moisture levels in the leaf and adding more oxygen exposure, in-turn allowing for flavor and fragrance compounds to really form in the leaves more intensely. This is repeated several times, with the leaves resting and recovering in between each shaking process.
Fixation: Now the withered and shaken leaves are placed into a heated wok and gently fried at varying temperatures to stop enzymatic oxidation. In essence, this "fixes" the leaves into a more stable state, less susceptible to bruising and continued oxygenation.
Rolling: The fixed leaves are now rolled into strips. The rolling process removes excess moisture and prepares the teas for the next step, baking.
Drying and Baking: The leaves are then placed onto a roasting basket and heated using either electricity or charcoal-firing. Higher temperatures in firing further reduce the moisture content, improving storage ability, while also adding a depth of flavor to the leaf and promoting the unique aromas and tastes of yancha to really shine. Personally, I prefer charcoal roasted teas, though the electric baked oolongs are also quite pleasant.
Refining: This is when the fired and fully-processed leaves are sorted and packaged, possibly even blended with other leaves to produce a finished product, or sent for another roast as a “finishing fire.”
What about re-roasting? Re-roasting, or fùbèi (复焙), is different from the normal firing stages used during production. Yancha, with time, can undergo something called a “return to green” (Fanqing, 返青).This can be influenced by moisture and storage conditions, as well as the tea's original moisture content and degree of roasting. It can mean that the leaves were not properly roasted and still contain a higher water content, which essentially loses or reverses some of the characteristics from the processing steps and turns the tea back into a grassier tasting cup. A previously finished tea can be roasted again after it has been stored, sometimes months or even years later. Producers may do this to refresh the tea, address moisture or that “returning green,” or to reshape its roast character entirely. Re-roasting is another tool in the producer's toolkit and does not automatically indicate higher or lower quality.
Picking the Leaves (WuyiStar) Fixing the Leaves (WuyiStar) 
Charcoal Roasting Tea (WuFeng)
Commonly Seen Yancha Varieties
Yancha is such a large industry with many hundreds of varieties, though one term you’ll likely encounter is "Sì Dà Míng Cóng," ("四大名丛," or "four great tea cultivars,” literally “four famous clusters''), which refers to the four "greats" in Wuyi yancha. These include Da Hong Pao ("大紅袍" - "Big Scarlet Robe" or "big red robe") which is arguably the most famous and can be the most expensive yancha on the market (mother tree DHP costing over $20,000- it warrants its own post, so look out for that when I have the four varietals post), Shui Jin Gui ( "水金龜," "Golden water turtle"), Tie Luo Han ("铁罗汉," or "Iron Arhat''), and Bai Ji Guan ("白鸡冠," or "white cockscomb").
Other popular varietals include Rou Gui (“肉桂,” “ròuguì,” “Chinese Cinnamon”), known for its characteristic taste and aroma of Chinese cinnamon and spices as well as being very flavor-forward. Rou Gui can be on the fruitier side or the more spiced side. You’ll also encounter Shui Xian (“水仙,” “water sprite” or “narcissus flower,” sometimes translated to “water immortal,” occasionally spelled “Shui Hsien,”), a tea is known for its floral and woodsy flavors, generally being a higher roasted tea.
QiFul Life NiuLanKeng Rou gui QiFul Life NiuLanKeng RouGui Brewed NiuLanKeng
Where to Start with Yancha?
If reading this has piqued your interest and you want to start exploring yancha, tasting yancha from different cultivars and producers is one of the best ways to understand how terroir, processing, and roasting all influence the final cup.
Disclosure: QiFul Life did pay for the inclusion of the links in this section, though I have independently purchased and tasted the teas myself after meeting the QiFul Life team at the Chicago Tea Expo, separate from this arrangement. QiFul Life also made some suggestions for updating this guide, though these suggestions were minor in nature, and the vast majority of the updates are my own and reflect the changing landscape of the yancha market. They did not dictate my conclusions, recommendations, organization, or the substance of the updated content.
For beginners, I recommend starting with sampler sets that allow you to compare different expressions of yancha rather than committing to a single, pricier tea upfront. One great place to start with yancha is QiFul Life’s carefully-curated yancha collection, which is a great resource for exploring the classic yancha varieties as well as some more uncommon ones, like the always-delicious shi ru. For example, their Wuyi Rock Tea Sampler includes 6 of the most famous types of yancha, allowing you to explore different cultivars side-by-side and experience some of the most famous regions at a reasonable price. Personally I have tried their Zhengyan DaHongPao, which is included in the sampler set, and found it to be one of the nicest examples of a medium-heavy roasted DaHongPao on the market. It's wonderfully rich and creamy with a balanced roast, serving as a great example of what makes yancha so delicious. Of course, one tea or producer isn't going to tell you everything you need to know about yancha. The point of a sampler is to taste broadly and figure out what YOU enjoy, and this is just one that I have experience with and enjoyed tasting my way through.
Why is Yancha so Expensive?
Sticker shock is one of the most common reactions when first discovering yancha. If you’re a beginner to yancha, you may think to yourself “how on earth can a small bag of tea cost so much more than the oolongs I’m used to buying?” Compared to many other teas, yancha can seem surprisingly expensive, especially when you see the size of an average single-serving bag, at around 8.3-8.5g per bag. However, the price of yancha is influenced by a combination of factors, including the costs of maintaining the unique growing environment, limited production, the labor-intensive processing, and the skill required to roast the tea properly. Let’s get into this a bit, though.
Limited terroir and growing regions: Unlike many teas that can be produced across large areas, all across China, the most sought-after yancha comes from the specific terroirs previously mentioned. For example, a Zhengyan tea will cost several times the price of a non-zhengyan tea, due to the limited production area and natural scarcity of the teas grown there. As demand for quality yancha has grown, prices have increased to match demand. That being said, location alone does not always guarantee a better cup. A well produced Banyan or Zhouyan tea from a skilled producer can be far more enjoyable than a poorly made tea from a prestigious location.
Labor Intensive Processing: Yancha requires a long and involved production process, from withering and shaking through fixation, rolling, baking, and roasting. Much of this work requires careful monitoring and adjustment based on the condition of the leaves, weather, and desired final character. Traditional charcoal roasting can be particularly labor-intensive, as the roaster must carefully manage temperature and timing over multiple roasting sessions.
Roasting skill and refinement: Roasting is one of the most important ways a producer shapes the final character of yancha. Skilled roasting can bring out the aroma and body of the tea while balancing the natural characteristics of the cultivar and terroir. Repeated roasting and refinement also require time, expertise, and storage space, all of which add to the cost of the finished tea.
Cultivar, producer, and reputation: Some cultivars and locations are simply more sought-after than others. Famous locations such as Ma Tou Yan and cultivars such as Rou Gui or Da Hong Pao can command significant premiums because of their reputation and demand. The reputation of the producer and the skill of the roaster can also affect price.
To put this into perspective, let’s look at the sampler set linked above, using those explanations to analyze it. Included in this tasting set is a Zhengyan DaHongPao, as well as a Ma Tou Yan rou gui- two highly sought-after types of yancha from desirable locations. Ma Tou Yan is currently one of the most expensive and desirable locations for yancha, especially rou gui- it comes from the core region and has a bold, prominent flavor. In China, there is a saying about rou gui: “Aroma is easy to find, but true depth of taste is hard to come by” (“香气易得，滋味难求”)- ma tou yan fills both of those requirements, providing the characteristic cinnamon fragrance while also giving you a bold cup of tea. At the same time, the set includes several lesser-known cultivars, like Shi Ru. This showcases the incredible diversity within yancha outside of the famous varieties, offering equally fascinating experiences for you in your tea journey.
How to Brew Yancha
There are several ways to brew a nice cup of yancha and as a caveat, please do not let these rules seem like law for brewing yancha. Play around with these parameters to brew up a cup you’ll enjoy, as your tongue knows what’s best for you.
Generally, it is recommended to brew yancha gongfu style in either a gaiwan or a purple clay teapot (yixing teapot) with boiling water. More commonly, especially in WuyiShan, 8.5g of leaf or more is used in a gaiwan or yixing teapot. Personally, I prefer this ratio and use 8.5-10g of leaf for a 100ml gaiwan, hit it with boiling water, then steep for about 15s for the first steep, adding 5 to 10 seconds for each additional steep. This makes a bolder cup with a more pronounced minerality and rounded flavor, in my opinion.
Should you wish to take a more sensory approach to brewing yancha for analysis, a recommended ratio would be 5g of leaf to a 110ml gaiwan, boiling water, with the steeps being 2 seconds, 3 seconds, then 5 seconds, increasing each subsequent steep by 5 to 10 seconds based on your desired strength.
If you’re doing an in-depth sensory analysis, some of the key traits to look for in a yancha are as follows:
For the dry leaf, look at the appearance of the leaf. Are the leaves tight and thinner, like a string, or more fat and bold looking? Are they all of an even color (uniformly roasted- they should be either dry and dull, evenly mixed, or a range of colors in balance with each other)?
For the tea itself, look at the color and turbidity (clarity) of the tea. Is it a clear, bright liquid, or something more muted and muddy? Does it have a strong color to it, or is it sort of like someone dropped a single droplet of food coloring into your water? Good yancha should have a consistent and bright color; the higher the roast, the darker the color usually. It should range on a scale from a lighter golden color (for the lighter roasts or the rinses) to rich, bolder orange-red colors as the roast level increases.
For the aroma, how does the lid of the gaiwan smell? Are there any smells that could seem “off,” like a strong “burnt” smell? How about floral aromas, like orchids? A good yancha should present floral and vegetal aromas, while also retaining some of that mineral-rich aroma that yancha is famous for (sort of like a wet rock).
Look at the leaves after you’ve steeped them. The leaves, once opened up, should reveal a greenish middle and a slight reddish tinge along the edges. You should see predominantly green but some red should be observed as well, which indicates proper roasting and firing.
In the first steep, you should pay attention to the aromas and observe any off-smells, as those indicate storage issues. The second steep should be analyzed for turbidity and brightness of the brew, and the third and subsequent steeps should look at the changes in aroma and taste over brews. The taste should be consistent, as should the appearance.
Visual analysis of leaves Sensory analysis setup Sensory Analysis for turbidity
A more intense way to do the sensory analysis, and the one usually practiced in official settings (these fit the Guobiao guidelines) involves 5g of leaf in a 110ml gaiwan. You will still use boiling water for this, though the steeps will be longer, at 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes for the first 3 steps. You will pour this off into a separate bowl and use a tasting spoon to both analyze the color and turbidity of the tea as well as the flavor and aromas on the spoon. You will be looking for the same characteristics as noted above, though these longer steeps really allow one to get the feel for a tea and notice as many of the imperfections or off-qualities to a tea as possible. As a note, this should not be your daily method of drinking yancha, as it is primarily to analyze the characteristics of the tea rather than enjoy the experience. However, if you do desire, you may steep the tea however you like, as ultimately it is supposed to be something that you will enjoy.
Finally, another way to steep this would be western style in a mug. For this, I would recommend 5g of leaf (2 tablespoons) to 12oz of water (~350ml) boiling water, steeping the first steep for 3 minutes, second for 3 minutes, 3rd for 5 minutes, then the 4th for 8 minutes. You can get multiple infusions, and as always, please tweak these to your desired flavors. You’ll be the one drinking it and your tongue knows best for you, so don’t let these guidelines seem like law.
TL;DR of Yancha:
• Yancha, also called Wuyi Rock Oolongs, is a partially oxidized oolong rolled into strips rather than balls like other oolongs.
• Yancha comes from a distinct geographically protected production area, the Wuyi mountains.
• Yancha is known for a characteristic minerality, like drinking mineral water but with added depth and flavor.
• Not every yancha will have an obvious Yan Yun. It tends to be most characteristic of Zhengyan teas, and its intensity can vary significantly depending on terroir, cultivar, processing, and roasting.
• China's national standard for Wuyi Rock Tea was revised in 2026 for the first time since 2006. The new standard, GB/T 18745-2026, formally incorporates Yan Yun into sensory evaluation, strengthens geographic and authenticity requirements, and recognizes aged yancha as a distinct category.
• Yancha's characteristic minerality comes from the unique and rugged terrain of the Wuyi Mountains.
• There are 3 main production regions, with Zhengyan being the most desirable and most expensive. These are Zhengyan, Banyan, and Zhouyan. You may encounter a fourth: waishan.
• Common yancha available include DaHongPao, shui xian, rou gui, tie luohan, shui jin gui, and bai ji guan.
• I recommend starting with yancha samplers, such as the one available from QiFul Life, which includes several of the most common varieties and some rarer ones for your educational experience.
• Yancha is not defined by roast alone
• The best yancha balances body, roast, aroma, and yan yun
• Finding your preferred style matters more than chasing the most expensive, elusive yancha.
• To brew yancha gongfu, take 5g of leaf to 110ml in a gaiwan and steep for 2, 3, then 5 seconds, adding time for each steep.
• For Western brewing, take 5g of leaf (2tbs) to 12oz (350ml) of water and steep for 3mins, 3mins, then 5mins, finally 8mins.
• A good yancha should be balanced between the roast flavors, minerality, and floral notes.
• You can brew yancha however you want, but just make sure it's enjoyable to you- don't let anyone tell you that your style of brewing is wrong if it's what you enjoy!
This is a new type of tea that I am not familiar with. I generally like regular green tea but will inquire with my local shop about this yancha tea. https://rentry.co/nht8ypz3
I had an old neighbor that would frequently drink Yancha and I was looking for a recipe this afternoon. Found your bog post and will go about trying to make myself some Yancha today!
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