How WuYi Tea Gets Its Name

Wuyi tea is often assumed to be a variety of tea, such as green tea or black tea. Yet it gets its name from a beautiful mountainous region in the northeast area of China where the tea plant -- Camellia Sinensis -- is abundantly grown and harvested.

All types of tea originate from the Camilla Sinensis plan. How the tea plants are harvested and processed determines whether the yield is a black, green, oolong or white tea variety.

The wuyi tea that has recently captured consumer and media attention is an oolong (also referred to as wu long) blend.

The Wuyi Mountains are located between Wuyishan City, located within the Fujian province of China and Wuyishan Town, located within the Jiangxi province.

Mt. Wu-Yi Shan is one of the most popular mountains of the Wu-Yi mountain region, which in total covers an area of approximately 70 square kilometers.

This pristine area is the perfect setting for a natural park and also has the climate for tea agriculture and production.

Wuyi tea farming has been going on for centuries in the Far Eastern culture and the Mt. Wuyi Shan area has been known to produce some of the most prestigious teas.

Tea grown in the Wuyi Mountains is recognized as some of the best organically produced and pristine tea available, which can be attributed to the height of the tea farms in the mountains and the protective nature of the people of their farmland in this region.

In addition, the Wuyi Mountains act as barriers against the inflow of cold air from the northwest, while retaining warm moist air originating from the sea nearby to the east.

As a result, the area has a perfect climate of humidity mixed with high rainfall which commonly produces fogs amongst the mountains. The annual temperature range of the Wu-Yi Mountains is between 12 to 18 °C.

Tea farmers from the Wuyi tea create different blends depending on the fermentation time of the tea leaves.

As an oolong variety, wuyi tea undergoes a complicated fermentation and production process that yields a cross between green and black teas.

The tea typically has a fruity, medium-bodied taste and contains about half the caffeine as a cup of coffee. It is rich in polyphenols that have strong antioxidant properties to help protect against a variety of health conditions and disease.

In addition, polyphenols have been shown to improve metabolism to facilitate weight loss. For more information on the health benefits of this popular tea blend, click here.

Source: Article by G. Granger, an expert in tea production and who has created tea blends for Evitalife and www.wu-yi.com.

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