Oolong tea is half fermented during the unique manufacturing process which integrates the feature of fully oxidized black tea and un-oxidized green tea . It's the combination of the delicate taste of green tea and sweet aroma of black tea. The edges of the leaves are scraped slightly to make it a little oxidized during the process but the whole leaf organization is still maintained. As a result, the fragrance of flowers and fruits is produced. Different fragrance and flavor are produced through the change of fermentation degree. Oolong tea has the richest taste among all kinds of teas.

The health benefits of drinking green tea

The Chinese have noticed the medicinal benefits of green tea since the ancient times. Green tea has been used in china for at least 4,000~5,000 years. There are more and more scientific researches in Asia and western countries to prove the health benefits of drinking green tea. The secret of green tea is that it contains powerful anti-oxidants such as EGCG which has a myriad of health benefits. Many researches show that the EGCG not only inhibits the growth of cancer cells but also kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissues, lowering cholesterol levels and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots which could cause such serious illnesses as heart attacks and stroke.

Growing

Soil and weather conditions play important parts in producing tea of great quality. The best green/Oolong tea in the world can be produced in Taiwan because of the unique geographical location and climate features. The soil in the area of higher than 1,000M mountainous terrain are good for tea tree growing . Also the sub-tropical forest has the features of suitable humidity and huge temperature difference between day time and night time.All these features make the area the ideal place for planting tea trees.

Tea picking

The process of picking tea leaves is strict and time-consuming. Usually the leaves need to be intact, even only the foremost two leaves on the top (1 bud with 2 leaves) are picked. The best picking period is when the 60% of the first leaf tips get ripe, and the second leaves are formed in whole tea field. The color of tea leaves can't be too light or there will be less fragrance and more bitter taste. On the other hand, the color can't be too dark either, or the flavor will be diluted. Therefore, the whole hand picking process relies on farmers' experience, years of practice and also dexterity.

In general, the best quality of tea leaves are picked in springs and winters. Some special teas, like Oriental Beauty needs to be picked in midsummers. The tender bud of the tea tree must to be bitten by Jacobiasca formosana and this feature ensures that there is no pesticide in the tea farms. Hand picking process is time consuming and the output is less. The high production cost makes the precious tea relatively more expensive than others.

Tea process

Most Oolong teas are semi-oxidized. It is midway between green tea and black tea in terms of oxidation. It requires expertise and experience to make decisive judgment during the processes. Different tea maker has their own know-how of how to make tea. That is why different teas from different tea makers generate different scents even if they use same tea leaf.

Outstanding teas are genuinely coming from time-consuming production through manual processes. The workflow of oolong tea includes tea leaves which consist of one bud and two leaves are picked in the morning and then exposed to sunlight. Then the process is followed by drying process applied to promote fermentation. Oolong tea is considered semi-fermented with a rate of 30% to 50% while Green Tea is unfermented and Black Tea is 100% fermented. As for drying process, a repeated rub process is designed to generate more flavor, texture and aroma. Then the tea leaves are smoked by using charcoal. Finally, a tea expert grades the quality according to flavor and characteristics of different batches.

How to taste tea?

If this is your first time to have Oolong tea, try to think about how you taste wine.

• Color: To judge the transparency of tea color, you can tell the quality of tea. The brighter the color, the better flavor the tea has.
• Smell: Like drinking red wine, sniff the tea three times before you drink it. Good tea will give you refresh elegant fragrance, which is like fruity or honey like scents. In addition, sniff the the remaining fragrance of the empty cup after drinking will also light you up.
• Taste:In general, there are three stages of tasting tea.Firstly, the flavor will be sensed from bitter to sweet (bad tea will transform sweetness to bitterness). Secondly, you can feel that tea goes down your throat smoothly if you are drinking good tea. Finally, a sweet aftertaste from throat will linger for a certain period of time.