Bai Jiguan
白鸡冠 · White Cockscomb
Oolong
They say a rooster is buried under the first bush. It threw itself in front of an eagle to save a sleeping child, and the monk who buried it woke to find tea growing over the grave, with leaves as pale as the bird's crest.
The plant really is unusual. Its spring growth comes up yellow-white instead of green, almost colourless in strong light, and it stays that way for weeks.
Of the four famous cliff teas of Wuyi, this one is given the lightest fire. The others are roasted dark. It stays close to the leaf, and drinks sweet and strange, lychee over cold stone.
- lychee
- floral
- mineral
- Origin
- Wuyi Mountains, Fujian
- Water
- 95°C / 203°F
- Ratio
- 7 g / 100 ml
- Caffeine
- Medium
- Rinse
- Yes · 5s
One of the Wuyi Si Da Ming Cong (four famous cliff cultivars)
How much leaf
Gong fu brewing is leaf-heavy and short. Set your gaiwan or pot size and this is what to weigh out.
Vessel volume
100 ml
Recommended dose
Use ~7.0g of tea
The session
7 infusions after the rinse, about 4m 5s of total contact time.
- Rinse5sWake the leaf and pour it away — this one isn’t for drinking.
- Steep 110sSomething pale and floral, held back.
- Steep 215sLychee opens, bright and sweet.
- Steep 320sA cool mineral edge slips under.
- Steep 430sMilky softness rounds the fruit.
- Steep 540sStone and flower, trading places.
- Steep 655sThe sweetness thins to clean rock.
- Steep 71m 10sA last floral breath on water.
Also sold as
White Rooster Crest, Bai Ji Guan, Pai Chi-kuan, White Coxcomb
Steaper times this session for you
A countdown per infusion, a gong when each one is up, and the whole library in your pocket. Coming to iPhone.
Get notified at launchThese numbers are a median of independent gong fu sources, not a law. Leaf age, vessel and water all move them. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.