Oolong tea is probably the category of tea that is most misunderstood and wrongly portrayed. We can’t change the world overnight, but here are 7 things you ought to know about oolong tea:
1) What’s in the name?
Oolong or to follow the ‘proper’ Hanyu Pinyin spelling of ‘wulong’ (乌龙 ) literally means ‘black dragon’ in Chinese.
With a name like that you can count on there being some legends.
The common versions include:
i) A mispronunciation of the inventor’s name (Su Liang or Hu Liang in some versions)
ii) The tribute tea version
You can read more about them and the hidden agenda behind it in the guest post I wrote here.
Oolong tea is also known as 青茶 or dark green tea- also inexplicably translated as ‘blue tea’ or ‘teal tea’.
This follows Professor Chen Yuan’s convention of classifying tea based on the color of the wet leaves written in the 70s.
For completeness, the teas are classified as such: green, white, yellow, oolong, black and dark (aka post-fermented teas).
2) Its Distinctive Production Process
What makes an oolong tea as such is not merely its level of oxidation which often overlaps with other categories of teas (white & yellow on 1 end and black on the other) but a distinctive stage of process known as ‘yao qing’ (摇青) or ‘rattling’.
The leaves are rattled by hand or tumbled in a machine to create friction and abrasion with one another. The abrasion ‘bruises’ the leaves which in turn expedites the oxidation process.
This is distinct from the ‘wo hong’ (oxidation) stage in production of black tea though non-authentic oolong makers pretend it is the same.
By varying the number of times the leaves are rattled or how long it is left to wither after rattling, producers can vary the oxidation levels.
After withering, the leaves undergo ‘sha qing’ (杀青) or heating to halt enzyme activity that causes oxidation.
3) The Disproportional Influence of Oolong Tea
If you are not from China, you might be mistaken that oolong tea is THE quintessential Chinese tea.
In fact, it makes up only 14% of teas produced in China (green tea makes up 70%).
Despite that, in Chinatowns all over the world, oolong (and Puer) are among the first Chinese teas served.
This is attributable to the fact that oolong tea is produced and enjoyed most in Southern China- notably Guangdong and Fujian. At the same time, a sizeable number of overseas Chinese migrants and their descendants come from these 2 provinces, often via the ports of Guangdong and Xiamen (also known as Canton and Amoy).
The Chinese immigrants brought with them their home town teas and hence spread it to the world- notably Tieguanyin and Yancha.
4) The 4 Sub-categories of Oolong Tea
Oolong teas can be further divided into 4 sub-categories based on the area of production:
i) Guangdong Oolong- such as Phoenix Dancong- often known as Chaozhou teas
ii) Minbei Oolong- teas grown in Northern Fujian such as Wuyi Yancha
iii) Minnan Oolong- grow in Southern Fujian such as Tieguanyin and Sezhongs
iv) Taiwanese Oolong
These are more than ‘mere’ geographical division but the first 3 bring with them unique processing styles.
While Taiwanese Oolong was initially heavily influenced by Minnan Oolong, it later took on its own slant and some of the newer production of Minnan Oolong in turn took on Taiwanese influence.
In recent years, Thailand and Vietnam- among others, notably New Zealand- started producing oolong but a close examination would reveal that their styles and often owners as well are Taiwanese or Taiwanese influence.
5) Widest Spectrum of Taste
One of the most difficult questions I had to answer was “how does a typical oolong tea taste like”.
There is no ‘typical oolong tea’. Not anymore than there is a ‘typical human being’.
It can taste almost like a Japanese green tea, such as the case of Wenshan Baozhong.
It can taste almost like a black tea as in the case of Dongfang Meiren aka Oriental Beauty.
But then it can taste like NOTHING you have ever experienced in the world like Anxi Tieguanyin, Phoenix Dancong and Wuyi Yancha.
The level of oxidation and level of roasting, coupled with the numerous cultivars and terrains gives oolong tea the most diversity in taste.
6) Oolong tea and gongfu tea
Great, learn gongfu brewing.
No, seriously. Gongfu brewing may not be ubiquitous all over China but it is among oolong tea drinkers and there is a very good reason.
While ‘experts’ hardly seem to agree on any single brewing method, you will find virtually universal concurrence among serious oolong tea lovers that gongfu brewing is the way to go.
The heat, ratio of leaves and care is necessary to unleash the allure of oolong tea, don’t short change yourself with casual brewing.
7) Does it Taste Better Fresh or Aged? Depends
Unlike green tea (fresh) or dark tea (aged), the taste of oolong tea can improve or deteriorate with age depending on which type.
As a general rule of thumb, the lower oxidation and roasted ones don’t age well.
This is particularly so for the ‘green style’ Tieguanyin and Taiwanese Oolongs. Because of its higher moisture content, the taste of these teas start degrading very fast, especially without vacuum packing or refrigeration.
At the other end of the spectrum, high fired Wuyi Yanchas age gracefully and connoisseurs have been known to beg merchants to part with their stash of 20 year old Wuyi Yanchas for unbelievable prices.
(No commercial slant on the statement above, I belong to the ‘beggar’ category, not the ‘begged’ since I have no such stash)
For more articles on overview of different categories of tea, see here
Hope these 7 articles piqued your interest in oolong tea, if you want to find out more about the specific varieties of oolong tea, you can follow this link
Learn more about the 3 main schools of gongfu brewing for oolong tea when you join us for our oolong tea tasting events.
See more articles on overviews of various categories of tea
