On Taoism Silk Road Black Pearl Jin Hua Raw Pu-erh Fu Tea

On Taoism has long focused on crafting Fu tea (茯茶) using quality raw leaves from southern China. The Silk Road Black Pearl is an interesting expression of that approach — Yunnan raw Pu-erh material from Lincang, sent to Jingyang in Shaanxi province for the traditional Jin Hua (golden flower) fermentation process, bringing two distinct tea cultures together in a single tea.

"Silk Road" references Xi'an's historical identity as the starting point of the ancient Silk Road. "Black Pearl" is simply a straightforward description of what this tea looks like — tightly hand-rolled dragon pearls, dark and round, each one genuinely resembling a small black pearl.

Origin & Material

Bai Ying Shan (White Eagle Mountain, 白莺山) sits in Yun County, Lincang, along the middle reaches of the Lancang River. It's a tea area known for a relatively diverse range of tea tree varieties. This tea is a blend of several cultivars from the area, including:

• Er Ga Zi (二嘎子): A wild hybrid transitional variety. Known for its smooth, soft liquor, naturally high sweetness, and low bitterness or astringency.
• Mengku Da Ye Zhong (勐库大叶种): The classic large-leaf Mengku variety.
• Mengku Xiao Ye Zhong (勐库小叶种): A smaller-leaf counterpart from the same area.

Bai Ying Shan is not a hyped or speculative single-origin mountain. The material cost is honest, and so is the price.

How It's Made

1. Light Wet Piling (Wo Dui): The raw Pu-erh leaves are moistened to a damp level, then lightly piled for approximately 10 hours of mild fermentation.
2. Steaming & Rolling: The leaves are steamed until soft, then hand-rolled into individual dragon pearl shapes.
3. Jin Hua Fermentation & Drying: The pearls are placed in a climate-controlled fermentation room, where temperature and humidity are carefully managed over approximately 28 days to allow the Jin Hua (冠突散囊菌, Eurotium cristatum) to naturally develop.

One thing worth noting: no external inoculants of any kind were used in this process — no flour, grain, or any other commonly used additives.

Because of the dragon pearl shape, the Jin Hua grows primarily inside the pearl, not on the surface.