Oolong tea, referred to as the Champagne of teas, is a semioxidized whole-leaf tea, which retains all of the nutrients and natural healing factors contained in unfermented green tea, but without the raw, grassy taste. It falls somewhere between green and black tea, with complex flavor and aroma. The leaves go through a very brief fermentation process, which eliminates harsh irritants from the raw tea and creates the subtle fragrances and flavors that distinguish this tea from all other varieties.
Oolong legend tells us Wu Liang (who lived during the Ming Dynasty in China, around 1400 AD), a tea farmer, went out one day to pick tea, as he did every day in the tea-picking season. He had collected quite a bit when his eye was caught by a deer drinking by the river. He stopped his tea-picking activities and killed the poor animal (sorry to have to report this). He took the slain deer home, as it would provide him with a week’s worth of meals. He forgot all about his tea. When he went back to collect his load, he found that the tea had started to blacken. We know today, it had begun to oxidize.
Wu Liang thought that it might have gone bad, but decided to proceed with his traditional preparations. He dried the tea by pan-firing, as was done with the green teas of the day. When he made a cup of this tea, he was surprised to find that it tasted different than his usual green tea, and discovered that he loved the flavor. He taught his neighbors and friends how to make the new tea, and it came to be named after him. Language being what it is, the name eventually evolved from Wu Liang to Oolong.
The processing sequence for oolong tea is:
- Leaves and buds are harvested.
- Leaves and buds are cleaned.
- Leaves and buds are placed in bamboo containers and air is blown through them. This process is referred to as “withering the leaves.”
- The withered leaves are rolled, which releases the oils within the leaf. These oils mix with the oxygen in the air and the leaves begin to ferment or oxidize.
- When the rolled leaves reach a dark blue-green color, they are placed into a hot wok to stop the fermentation process and add flavor.
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