On a cold winter night
A friend dropped by.
We did not drink wine
But instead drank tea.
The kettle bubbled,
The coals glowed,
The bright moon shone
Outside my window.
The moon itself
Was nothing special -
But, oh, the plum-tree blossoms!
—Du Lei (Xiaoshan)
(Song Dynasty)
Oolong (meaning "Black Dragon"), also known as Qingcha (Dark Green Tea), is a slightly oxidized tea with a taste and aroma that sit somewhere between green and black tea.
During the processing of Oolong tea, the leaves are shaken, and their edges of the leaves are left to “bruise”. This produces a brown or red color, while the middle of the leaves remains green. The actual amount of oxidation depends on the desired finish of the tea, as well as the skill of the tea maker. This can result in Oolong teas that are lightly oxidized, like pale, delicate-tasting green teas, to forms that are almost fully oxidized, like dark, bold-flavored black teas.
Fujian province has been a center of Chinese tea culture for over a thousand years, and it is here that oolong, as a distinct style of tea, is believed to have first emerged – most likely during the late Ming to early Qing dynasties (17th century), as tea makers began experimenting with partial oxidation of the leaf. This gave birth to a new style, sitting between green and black tea
One common legend of how Oolong tea came about tells of a tea farmer in Fujian who was picking his crop. Suddenly, he saw a deer and abandoned the tea-picking for the sake of hunting the deer. By the time he got back to processing the tea, it had already started to oxidize, giving off a surprisingly pleasant aroma. Once processed, the farmer discovered that the finished tea had a new taste, much stronger and sweeter than his usual tea. Since the man was called Oolong, the newly developed tea was named after him.
The production of Oolong tea requires some of the most artisanal and sophisticated skills of tea-making.
Oolong tea artisans are much like boutique winemakers.
Oolong teas are often sold under simple trade names (e.g., Tie Guan Yin, Wuyi Oolong, Dan Cong). However, experts categorize and understand oolong by its region, age, bush variety, and season of harvest, just like wine.