Product Overview
Tucked away in the heart of old Hong Kong, Fukien Tea Company stands as one of the city’s last bastions of traditional tea craftsmanship. For over six decades, this family-run tea house has quietly upheld the art of hand-roasting Tieguanyin — a time-consuming, fire-guided craft that few still practice today. The shop’s appearance remains almost unchanged from the mid-20th century: shelves lined with vintage metal tins, faded family photos, and the comforting scent of roasted leaves lingering in the air. Here, tea is not just sold — it is preserved, taught, and lived.
Founded by a Fujianese tea family that settled in Hong Kong after the war, Fukien Tea Company has become a living archive of southern China’s oolong-making heritage. Every generation has passed down not only the technique but also the intuition — knowing by sight, touch, and aroma when a leaf has reached its perfect roast. In an era dominated by industrial processing, the shop’s quiet persistence feels like a window to a slower, more deliberate world, where each batch of tea is still tended by hand and judged by the nose and palate of a true craftsman.
At the center of this legacy is Master Patrick Yeung, affectionately known as Yeung sifu to locals and regulars. Now in his seventies, he continues to roast tea himself every day, adjusting temperature and timing by instinct. Visitors to the shop often find him seated behind a small wooden tea table, preparing side-by-side tastings that reveal the profound difference between a lightly roasted six-hour tea and a deeply roasted sixty-hour one. He speaks softly but with precision, turning each tasting into a quiet masterclass in aroma, patience, and balance.
Master Yeung’s philosophy is simple yet profound: roasting is not just about applying heat, but about transforming the soul of the leaf. Through gentle, prolonged fire, the natural florals of Tieguanyin evolve into rich, layered notes of caramel, toasted grains, and aged fruit. His shop may be small, but under his care it has become a cultural landmark — a hidden sanctuary where the spirit of traditional Hong Kong tea-making continues to breathe.
Buying tea from Fukien Tea Company is more than a transaction — it is an invitation to experience something that is disappearing. Many visitors remember sitting with Master Yeung for their first roasting comparison, learning to recognize how heat shapes flavor, texture, and aftertaste. When you enjoy this tea at home, you are continuing that experience, cup by cup, savoring a lineage that bridges Fujian’s mountains and Hong Kong’s backstreets.
This Tieguanyin is crafted from authentic Anxi-grown leaves and undergoes multiple stages of oxidation, firing, and deep roasting. The process can take up to sixty hours of low-temperature, hand-controlled heat, allowing sugars and essential oils within the leaves to slowly caramelize. This technique creates a complex profile unmatched by modern “light fragrance” Tieguanyin — richer, rounder, and profoundly enduring.
The dry leaves are tightly rolled, glossy, and deep chestnut brown with subtle reddish hues. Once steeped, they unfold into full, resilient leaves of dark copper tone — a sign of careful roasting and balanced oxidation.
The fragrance opens with warm notes of roasted chestnut and caramelized sugar, followed by a clean hint of wood smoke. As the tea unfolds over multiple infusions, layers of malt, dried fruit, and molasses emerge, softening into a faint floral sweetness that lingers long after each sip.
The liquor is thick and velvety, carrying a weight and warmth that fills the mouth. Early steeps emphasize roast and caramel depth; later rounds reveal hidden fruit tones and a steady, honey-like sweetness. The aftertaste is long, soothing, and gently cooling in the throat. This tea is remarkably durable, yielding eight to twelve satisfying infusions when brewed gongfu-style.
Teaware: Use a 100–150 ml gaiwan or a small Yixing clay teapot (150–250 ml).
Tea-to-water ratio: About 6–8 g per 150 ml of water.
Water temperature: 95–100 °C (near boiling).
Rinse: Quickly rinse for 3–5 seconds to awaken the leaves.
First steep: 30–40 seconds; adjust to taste.
Subsequent steeps: Gradually extend infusion time (40–50 seconds, then 1–1.5 minutes).
