Oolong Tea (wulong tea)
The name oolong tea comes into the English from the Chinese name, which is pronounced as O·-liông tê. The Chinese name means "black dragon tea". There are three widely accepted explanations on how this Chinese name came about.
According to the "tribute tea" theory, oolong tea was a direct descendant of Dragon-Phoenix Tea Cake tribute tea. Oolong tea replaced it when loose tea came into fashion. Since it was dark, long and curly, it was called the Black Dragon tea.
Oolong tea first existed in Wuyi Mountain. This is evidenced by Qing dynasty poems such as Wuyi Tea Song (Wuyi Chage) and Tea Tale (Chashuo). It was said that oolong tea was named after the part of Wuyi mountain it was originally produced.
Oolong tea had its origin in the Anxi oolong tea plant. A man named Sulong, Wulong or Wuliang discovered it.
Another tale tells of a man named Wu Liang who discovered oolong tea by accident when he was distracted by a deer after a hard day's tea-picking, and by the time he remembered about the tea it had already started to oxidize.
Processing of Oolong
Oolong tea undergoes a few delicate processes in order to produce the unique aroma and taste. Typical Oolong tea is processed according to the following steps:
Wilting : Sun dry or air dry to remove moisture partly.
Cooling: Cool off in shaded area.
Yaoqing : Gently tossing leaves to bruise the edge of leaves to create more contacting surface for oxidation.
Cooling and Yaoqing are repeated multiple times.
Shaqing : The procedure is to stop oxidation with high heat. Premium leaves are usually stir fried in a large pan over high heat, large productions are done by machine.
Rouqing : The tea leaves are rolled into strands or nuggets before dehydration.
Roasting: Roasting with low heat to dehydrate tea leaves, this step can be repeated with temperature variations to produce flavors of choice.
Grading
Packaging
According to the "tribute tea" theory, oolong tea was a direct descendant of Dragon-Phoenix Tea Cake tribute tea. Oolong tea replaced it when loose tea came into fashion. Since it was dark, long and curly, it was called the Black Dragon tea.
Oolong tea first existed in Wuyi Mountain. This is evidenced by Qing dynasty poems such as Wuyi Tea Song (Wuyi Chage) and Tea Tale (Chashuo). It was said that oolong tea was named after the part of Wuyi mountain it was originally produced.
Oolong tea had its origin in the Anxi oolong tea plant. A man named Sulong, Wulong or Wuliang discovered it.
Another tale tells of a man named Wu Liang who discovered oolong tea by accident when he was distracted by a deer after a hard day's tea-picking, and by the time he remembered about the tea it had already started to oxidize.
Processing of Oolong
Oolong tea undergoes a few delicate processes in order to produce the unique aroma and taste. Typical Oolong tea is processed according to the following steps:
Wilting : Sun dry or air dry to remove moisture partly.
Cooling: Cool off in shaded area.
Yaoqing : Gently tossing leaves to bruise the edge of leaves to create more contacting surface for oxidation.
Cooling and Yaoqing are repeated multiple times.
Shaqing : The procedure is to stop oxidation with high heat. Premium leaves are usually stir fried in a large pan over high heat, large productions are done by machine.
Rouqing : The tea leaves are rolled into strands or nuggets before dehydration.
Roasting: Roasting with low heat to dehydrate tea leaves, this step can be repeated with temperature variations to produce flavors of choice.
Grading
Packaging
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