Black Teas

Jiuqu Hongmei (Nine-Bend Red Plum) or Jiuqu Wulong (Black Dragon) Tea

Jiuqu Hongmei tea ranks with the famous Keemun Black in quality. its leaves twist into fine, tight, hook-like rolls, and produce a beverage as bright as their Red Plum name.

The name Jiuqu means Nine-Bend Stream, a main area of this tea's production near Mt. Dawu in Zhejiang province. The mountain faces the wide Qiantang River, famous for its tidal bore, so plenty of ocean moisture is drawn up to the tea gardens. Hongmei from the Nine-Bend area is ranked as first grade, with that from other parts of Zhejiang second and third.

When thunder rolls over Nine-Bend Stream, the people tell this story to their children: A couple living by a stream had a child late in life. They treasured the fine, strong boy above all else. One day while playing at the brook he found a beautiful black pearl. He put it in this mouth to keep it safe and ran home to show his parents, but on the way he tripped over a stone and swallowed the pearl.

Soon he was rolling on the ground with severe stomach pain. Suddenly a violent thunderstorm came up. The boy changed into a black dragon and flew up into the sky, where he remained a long time riding the clouds and rain, reluctant to leave his parents. From time to time he would turn and look back at them. He made altogether nine turns. When he was gone, there remained a stream with nine bends.

That is why this tea is sometimes called Jiuqu Wulong (Black Dragon). It is a fully-fermented gongfu black tea, but because of this name it is sometime confused with the semi-fermented oolong (wulong).

[ Top ]   [ Back to Black Teas ]