Six Major Types of Chinese tea (Part Three): Oolong Tea

Oolong tea is semi-fermented, with the fermentation level falling between Green Tea and Black Tea. The major processing steps of Oolong Tea making is comprised of drying, shaking, fixing, rolling and baking.

Shaking, the process of making green tea is a key step in oolong tea making, which will directly affect the aroma and flavor of the tea leaves. During the shaking process, the withered tea leaves are placed in a tossing machine or shaken manually. Through the friction and collision, the edges of the leaves will be damaged, promoting enzymatic oxidation. Then, the tossed tea leaves are spread out resting to allow the moisture and components inside the leaves to redistribute, facilitating the oxidation. This operation of tossing and resting will be repeated for several times according to processing requirements. Before fixation, the leaves will turn soft, with the edges obviously turning red. When you smell the leaves, the grassy scent gradually transforms into light floral aromas.

Baking is one of the key parts to offer oolong various fragrance and taste. You may hear about light-roasting, medium-roasting and heavy-roasting which are words describing the extent of the baking, including the temperature, the duration and the times of the roasting of the tea. You may get a fresh aroma and briskness oolong with light-roasting or a strong aroma and rich flavor oolong tea soup with heavy-roasting.

Some Famous Oolong Tea:

1.Tieguanyin: possesses the fame of being one of the trademarked oolong teas. Its birthplace is Anxi, Fujian and is renowned for its greenish and heavy dry tea leaves that bloom into rich and mellow tea soup with a floral aura wrapping it up. The orchid fragrance is one of its typical aroma.
2.Da Hong Pao: one of Wuyi Mountains legends. The distinctive features of this tea are strong fragrance of orchid, fruit, and rocky charm, with lasting aroma.
3.Fenghuang Dancong: known as “Perfume in tea”, grown in the Phoenix Mountain, Chaozhou Guangdong, a region known for its diverse and veteran tea tree species, it has gained extensive popularity.
4.High Mountain Oolong Tea: produced in the high-altitude areas of Taiwan. The tea has a fresh floral and fruity aroma, sweet and mellow taste, high and long-lasting fragrance.