Oolong
Among the various Chinese starters served in all traditional Chinese restaurants, there is a unique Chinese beverage that a lot of people love. It is Oolong, the traditional Chinese tea, ranging between green and black in terms of oxidation. In fact, the oxidation range for this tea is from 10% to 70%.
The Chinese tea culture is vast with a variety of teas under it. All different kinds of oolong teas (semi-oxidised in nature) are collectively known as qingcha (which in Chinese, literally stands for ‘clear tea’). Oolong is more towards the green tea side than the black tea one. While it does not have the aroma of black tea, it certainly does have the grassy vegetal notes of green tea. Among the various sub varieties of Oolong, the ones found in Taiwan and Wuyi Mountains are very famous. The tea is usually brewed strong so that it tastes bitter while sipping, but leaves a sweet taste afterwards.
There are mainly two ways in which the Oolong tea leaves are processed. Some are pressed to form something in a ball-like nature that resembles gunpowder tea. Others are rolled into curly and long leaves, which is the older and traditional method to process the tea.
Looking at the origins of this tea, there are three different and equally accepted theories about it. First one is known as the “tribute tea” theory where it is said that the Oolong tea is directly derived from the Dragon-Phoenix Tea Cake tribute tea and is its descendant. Later on it got to be known as Black Dragon Tea because of its long and curly nature. On the basis of the Wuyi theory, the tea was found in the Wuyi Mountains where there are evidences such as the Wuyi Tea song found from the times of the Qing Dynasty. The Anxi Theory states that the Oolong tea originated from the Anxi Oolong Tea plant.
In terms of classification and grade, tea connoisseurs usually characterise Oolong tea as either roasted or light. Most of the Oolong is ready for consumption right after post production, but there are some kinds of Oolong which become better with ageing on low charcoal fire, where they have a regular light roasting. This process is also known as bake cultivation which involves dry roasting by the fire. Usually before the roasting process, the Oolong tea leaves are rolled and then bruised in order to open up the cell walls. This helps to stimulate the enzymatic activity. The good thing with the roasting process is that it helps in the removal of odours, and also takes away the sour and bitter astringent tastes away from the tea. Eventually, the tea becomes better in taste for consumption and lighter in effect to the stomach.
There are of course a lot of sub varieties of the Oolong tea in China itself. But there are varieties in other parts of the world too. For instances, there is Darjeeling Oolong tea, which is made with Chinese methods. Then there is Vietnamese Oolong, along with Thai Oolong, African Oolong made in countries like Kenya and Malwai, and Nepali Oolong.
Usually, about teaspoons of the oolong tea per cup is good enough quantity for brewing. The water is not exactly boiling, and the teas should be prepared at a temperature of about 82 to 88 C, or in other words 180-190 F, followed by it being steeped for approximately 3-4 minutes. A lot of high quality Oolong teas can be brewed multiple times with the same leaves. The best part is that the brewing of the tea improves with the reuse!
- Ronit Baugh
Tags: Chinese Oolong, Homemade Oolong Tea, Making Oolong, Oolong in China, Oolong Tea
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