Бан Тань Яо «Небесный пояс»

Ban Tian Yao (Beauty Filling Half the Sky), a heavily fermented oolong and one of the most ancient Wuyi oolongs produced in Fujian province. As legend has it, the first Ban Tian Yao tree grew on the sheer Sanhua cliff from a seed dropped by a mountain hawk; the tea growers could reach neither the leaves nor the tree itself. The cultivar is low-yielding, exceedingly rare, and impossible to cultivate on an industrial scale. The dry leaf takes the form of small black strands. The aroma is soft and spiced, never overbearing: cinnamon, cardamom, wormwood, charcoal, sandalwood. The taste carries spiced, woody, vegetal and dried-fruit motifs: fruitwood shavings, scorched wood, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, nutmeg, dried cherry; the finish brings notes of baked aubergine and grilled tomato. Water temperature 75–90 °C. It relaxes, calms, restores the nervous system and eases tension; its aroma fills the space with a sense of grandeur and nobility.