Belgium Chinese Tea Centre

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Category: Oolong Page 1 of 3

Tea Tree & Environment Determine Tea Quality

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On 31/07/2022

In Oolong

Among 6+1 tea types, oolong tea only has about 1000 years of history, it is not same as fine quality green/white/yellow or golden tippy black tea that mainly from small sized tea leaf and it does not rushing out for tea picking in the early spring. Oolong tea does have specific requirements for quality from fully opened mid-sized tea leaves that picked in the early May.

The health of tea Tree and Eco Blanced biological growing environment determine the basic quality in flavour/s and taste of tea.

Mei Lan hsiao, chinese tea master

The long lasting and complex multiple layers of aroma probably is the most unique charachter you will notice from Oolong tea, and the aroma is varied from region to region. If you drink a bubble of oolong tea, the first few flushes have obvious floral and fruity aromas and other natural tea aromas, but the next few flushes suddenly lose the aroma, then pay attention, you may buy tea with added.

If the oolong tea you drink only in the first 1 or 2 flushes has obvious floral or fruity aroma, afterwards aroma note drops sharply and the taste become flat and dull, thenn the chance that Oolong tea you bought probably with additive aroma substance is big.

The production for traditional roasted Oolong takes few months to complete after the picking. And, it is suggested to have patience for at least 6 months till the firing Yang energy cools down。

Few unique points to bear in mind for Eco quality traditional roasted oolong:

  • Tea garden is located in a protected Nature, far from any human and/or industrial pollution sources
  • Adapt nature fertilization, remove grass manually （preferrably tea farmers also respect and allow grass completes its life cycle）, free from pesticides.
  • In the region there are traces of wild live stock and insects that follow the nature laws of biological balance
  • Only pick once in Spring per year, tea trees are allowed to have well recovery after picking
  • The mao cha (tea after the basic production) will go through several times repeatedly roasting by experienced fire master.
  • The yearly harvest quantity is limited

There is no word to describe the emotional touch inside when standing in a tea garden. There is no better way to make a fine closure for a day with extraordinary taste of eco tea in this hot summer day.

EcoTea – MeiZhan Oolong

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On 29/07/2022

In Oolong

#ecotea#ecoquality must come from a happy, peaceful and harmony environment with diligent commitments from #hardworking people to the #mothernature and #culturesustainability

>500 years old Gushu is injured

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On 03/04/2020

In Oolong

OMG, What a crime!

The responsible person who takes care and have rights to harvest tea picking from the >500 years old GuShu （ancient tea tree）in  WuDong Shan village, for FengHuang DanCong, went to check that growing status, she was shocked by the destroying of some branches.

This crime has been reported and now is handled by the police in FengHuang Mountain Range. Hope they can catch the responsible criminals and punish them severely.

Please don’t even try to think or speak about human rights, because those who.committed such crime don’t deserve any right.

©copyrighted Mei Lan Hsiao, Antwerp/Belgium, 3/4/2020

Taste Evaluation: FengHuang DanCong #3

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On 03/02/2020

In Oolong

Received a surprised #teasample parcel from #guangdong today, there are 3 different quality grades of #fenghuang #dancong and 2 quality grades in #blacktea.

#TeaEvaluation #FHDC Grade 3:

  • lightly charcoal roasted with sweet in warm floral flavour, similar as #yashixiang.
  • The #aftertaste in the 2nd brewing is more clear than the 1st brewing, more in woody note and with refreshing taste
  • The spicy herbal note shines through in the 3rd brewing, the taste remains fine smoth, sweet and refreshing
  • Easily allow more than 6 brewings

It is delightful to enjoy the spirit from old tea trees.

Preferences

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On 07/02/2019

In Oolong

#flavours and #tastes subject to #individual #preferences #individualpreferences
but there are fundamental #differences between #naturalflavors vs. #aromaticflavors

Oolong

By

On 13/02/2018

In Oolong

Oolong is an unique tea type which is also known as ‘Qing Cha青茶” in Chinese , inFrench they translate “Qing” to “bleu”, therefore in Europe, some people know it as “thé bleu”. But if you search the color definition of “Qing 青” on Google, then you will get series of color from green to blue.  Instead of “Blue-Bleu”, the color definition of “Cyan” would be more close to the color of Oolong. 
“Qing 青” also implies the meaning of life, also is the symbol of “Spring” in Chinese culture.
 
Comparing with other tea types, Oolong is the youngest in the tea family but it has the most sophisticated requirements from tea tree cultivars, oxidation, fermentation and roasting processes.
Actually the color of Oolong has nothing to do with “Blue – Bleu”.  The color of dried leaves shoul be Olive green to dark olive green or even dark grey green  and the color of tea lique is from yellowish amber to rich amber, subject to the level of fermentation and with or without wood-fire roasting.   Multiple layers of flavours and taste, especially the after-taste somewhat driness reaction and stimulate of lymph secretion, are something unique that we should expect from good quality of Oolong tea.
Whether you call it Oolong or Thé Bleu, it is important to recognize that
  1. the Oolong is an unique type of tea from China.  
  2. The oxidation, fermentation and roasting processes in Oolong create a lot of interesting and diversed flavours and tastes.
  3. Now many other tea regions in the world try to duplicate the Oolong process.  However, it is possible to transplant tea trees, can even learn and copy the process, but it is not possible to duplicate how the flavours and taste are transformed from the unique micro-environment, weather, surounding biological environment and accumulated experience from China, Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan.
 
But is it ‘half fermentation’ already mean it is an Oolong? The answer leaves to those who know which type of tea tree cultivars and type of flavours and tastes to expect from various Oolong teas.
You can transplant the tea tree
You can learn and copy the process
but still,
you can’t duplicate how the flavour and taste from the micro- & bio environment, weather and accumulated wisdom in Oolong processes.
 
You can learn and copy the movement
You can perform the tea ceremony
but still
you can be far from Dao, without knowing how to implement the essence in life

Caffeine in Gongfu Cha?

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On 04/02/2018

In Oolong

In a Gongfu Cha group one who worries about caffeine consumption asked what to do with Gongfu style in the late evening.

I am too very sensitive with caffeine especially with coffee, but seldom suffer this problem when enjoying Chinese traditional brewing tea late in the evening There are three basic things that I would like to share with.you to consider to clarify this question:

  1. Gongfu style does not mean high caffeine if you used the right quality and brew it right
  2. Strong astringency or bitter taste =/= Gongfu style
  3. If you are very sensitive with caffeine, then should consider health first, the Gongfu style of tea can wait till next day.

I can make a list for traditional Oolong that offer us various unique flavours and taste and after taste, but bitterness definitely shouldn’t be one on the list if you have good pure quality and breq it right. Besides, you always have time to enjoy a quality tea time.

#gongfucha #chineseteaceremony #teasommelier #puretea #authenticquality #correctflavorandtaste

Dong Ding Oolong Tasting report

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On 24/09/2017

In Oolong

what in the name of Dong Ding Oolong is not knowing how to distinguish:

1. Authentic flavour and taste

2. Change of tea tree cultivar

3. Effect from global warming and the acidic environment issue

4. The influence from tea production processes

Here is a taste comparing report from

1. Tea sample from a Belgian who brought back from Lugu, Taiwan this summer

2. One Dong Ding oolong collection from our centre

 

Wu Long or Oolong

By

On 05/06/2017

In Oolong

The pinyin for 烏龍 in English can be either Wu Long or Oolong. But in Chinese there is one spelling that is 烏龍 and if you used the standard hàn yǔ pīn yīn, you will get wū lóng.
 
If you really want to know why there is a Pin Yin difference in English, then probably you should try to study the history of how the earliest Thomas Francis Wade, a British diplomat and sinologist, who produced the first Chinese textbook in English in 1867, which has further been amended, extended and converted into the Wade-Giles romanization system for Mandarin Chinese by Herbert Giles in 1892. The Wade–Giles Pin Yin is still used in Taiwan The Hanyu pinyin system that commonly used today was approved in Mainland China in 1958.
 
For foreigners who want to learn Chinese might come across with the English spelling either from the earlier Wad-Giles pinyin or from the modern Hanyu pinyin. There is no need to argue which pinyin in English is more correct, the critical point is can you make the spelling correctly in Chinese that Chinese people can understand.
It does not matter which pinyin you use in English, either Oolong or Wu Long, these all meant for one thing, 烏龍 (wū lóng) in Chinese. No matter what “Dark Dragon” is a wrong translation ^_^. 
 
When you learn tea, you will and have to learn Chinese; intonation isn’t that difficult if you could sing.
There are some confusing English pinyin for same type of tea in Chinese.  With tea we learn the essence of purity and authenticity, so I personally like to keep the Chinese spelling.   For example, Feng Huang Dan Cong 鳳凰單叢 remains as Feng Huang Dan Cong unless the mountain region is named by the China government as “Pheonix Mountain”.
 
For the same thing, Lung Jing 龍井 should remain as Lung Jing; if you use the English pinyin as Dragon Well, then how are you going to translate the best water for Lung Jing in Hangzhou, hǔ pào quán ? to “Tiger takes a bath in fountain”? It would be very weird to translate the sentence of brewing Lung Jing with the water from hǔ pào quán to “Brewing Dragon Well with the water from Tiger takes a bath in fountain“, right?
 
Don’t worry and be happy. Have a cup of tea.

Why batanical tea garden is unique

By

On 23/05/2017

In Oolong

Here are some information about the organic quality traditional Oolong from the batanical tea garden from KP:
  1. Self made natural fertilizer – he creates the fertilizer himself by using natural ingredients
  2. He only picks tea once a year, so tea trees could have sufficient resting to regain their energy
  3. The tea garden is situated on high mountain altitude which is surrounded by forests
  4. KP extremely respects to the harmony balance with the Nature
  5. The tea garden is absolutely chemical- and pesticide-free
  6. In order to teach the local villagers to pick tea according to what he wants, 1 young with 1-2 leaf, he ensures the daily income of these tea pickers instead of paying them by kg.
 
KP is devoted to the harmony balance with the Nature.  When I asked him what is his motivation to start the batanical tea garden to produce pure organic quality tea? His answer was very simple, 
he wants and he drinks only clean and pure quality tea.
KP and I both have passion to preserve the traditional wisdom and techniques.  Often people asked us why the traditional fermented/roasted processed Oolong? Simple, because
it is more gentle to the stomach and it tastes good.
 
Because KP only picks once a year in the spring time, therefore, the annual outputs are very limited.  For example, the output for Mei Zhan Oolong was less than 15 kgs in 2017 because of the warm winter. 
Do you want to enjoy this pure and authentic organic quality traditional Oolong? Please contact us directly by email : info@teasommelier.be

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