Taking a Closer Look at What is an Oolong Tea and What is Not

The idea that some oolong teas may not be what they claim to be first came to me through the writings on www.teaguardian.com , a resource that I have recommended on numerous occasions and continue to do so. It was this article regarding oolong and semi-oxidized blacks which like much of the material on Tea Guardian, is recommended reading for serious students of tea.

It was then I began to understand why some marketers claim oolong tea is lighter version of black tea- a notion that I find ludicrous because both have their unique taste characteristics and in its own way, oolong tea offers a fuller and more complete gastronomic experience.

In the interest of objective assessment, I did a comparison of a Phoenix Dancong- a classic Guangdong Oolong- versus a well-known ‘oolong tea’ from a non-traditional oolong tea producing country.

From its dry leaves, there’s not much that can be said. Even within Chinese oolong teas, the disparity in physical appearance between a Tieguanyin and a Wuyi Shuixian is significant.

In terms of liquor, approximately 5g of both teas were brewed at 90°C for 1 minute in a tester cup. As shown from the photo, the Dancong is a lighter shade compared with the mystery ‘oolong tea’.

In terms of taste- well, we’ll get to that later.

As with most cases, ultimately it’s the wet leaves that tell the story. In the side by side comparison, the Dancong is much larger compared with the other leaf.

A closer look at the magnified photo will reveal more.

The Dancong has a classic ‘green framed with red’ appearance, unique to oolong tea. It occurs when the leaves are rattled or tumbled to cause bruising on the side. This expedites the oxidation before ‘shaqing’ occurs to ‘freeze’ the green appearance in the un-oxidized portion of the leaves.

All oolong teas have the reddish sides but it is may not be as obvious in

i)   Wuyi teas because the high firing may render the leaves very dark but if you hold up against the light, it can be seen

ii)   Minnan and Taiwan teas may or may not have it because producers often like to add a step- ‘shuai qing’ which is smashing a sack of leaves against the floor to cause the sides to fall off. This is to give the liquor a lighter appearance and lighter taste. The leaves of those teas though, have obvious jagged edges where the ‘smashed sides’ have fell off.

As seen from the photo, the larger more matured leaves are used as they can better withstand the rattling and the rolling.

The mystery ‘oolong tea’ though is smaller and does not have the reddish sides. In fact, its appearance resembles a black tea more.

Pictured is a Keemun black for comparative purposes, you can see the similarities except in the case of the ‘oolong tea’, the oxidation is halfway and the reddish hues are lighter.

Hence it is obvious that the ‘oolong tea’ is simply produced according to black tea methods but with a shorter oxidation time.

Small wonder it tastes like a weaker version of black tea.

Whether you like a true oolong tea or not is not the issue but as the cliché goes- call a spade a spade.

If you like, you can call it a semi-black, a gray tea (lighter shade of black) or a pink tea (lighter shade of red tea which is what the Chinese call black teas), it doesn’t matter, just don’t call it an oolong tea.

Labeling these teas as oolong perpetuates the misconception that oolong tea is merely a weaker version of black tea which is patently untrue, unless your understanding of oolong is semi-black.

Why do merchants do so then?

As Tea Guardian (Leo Kwan) mentioned in his article, oolong teas have sprung to prominence but not all producers are acquainted with its complex production methods. Hence they came up with their versions of ‘lighter black teas’ to cater to market demand.

If you have not tried a true oolong tea, I entreat you to, you will be surprised at the depth and fullness of the taste that awaits you, definitely more than a half-baked black tea.