Ben Shan
本山
Oolong
Around 1870 a grower named Yuan Xing found this bush on the Yaoyang slopes. For a while the tea was called after him rather than after the mountain.
It is a close relative of Tieguanyin and grows in the same county, but it is a tougher plant. The leaves are thinner, they open faster, and they go brittle at the edge. Growers who cannot reach Tieguanyin prices plant this instead, which has kept it in the shadow of its famous cousin for a century and a half.
It is the lighter of the two. Apricot and honeysuckle, brighter and quicker to arrive, with less weight behind it.
- stone fruit
- honeysuckle
- mineral
- Origin
- Anxi, Fujian, China
- Water
- 95°C / 203°F
- Ratio
- 7 g / 100 ml
- Caffeine
- Medium
- Rinse
- Not needed
Anxi four famous teas
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
6 infusions, about 4m 35s of total contact time.
- Steep 125sCool stone with a flower hidden.
- Steep 220sHoneysuckle brightens over the stone.
- Steep 330sApricot rounds the mineral snap.
- Steep 445sA cool sweetness widens through.
- Steep 51m 5sFlowers fade toward pure stone.
- Steep 61m 30sClean mineral water is all that stays.
Also sold as
Benshan, Source Mountain, Anxi Ben Shan
In Czech and Slovak shops
Anxi Ben Shan
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.