Best Way To Brew Oolong Tea

Oolong tea is an excellent tea which is made after being through all of processes of withering, shaking, rolling, baking and other processes. Oolong tea is evolved from tribute tea(Dragon Phoenix tea, a compressed tea brick with dragon and phoenix molding which was an exclusive representing symbol of the empire) in Song Dynasty, and was created around 1725 in the middle age of Qing Dynasty. After tasting it, the palate is left with fresh floral aroma. The most oolong teas are from Fujian, Anxi County where produce best quality of oolong tea. Taiwan Alishan oolong teas are began to be sought after by more and more tea lovers, because of its unscattered fragrance and sweet intriguing taste. However, to best taste high mountain oolong tea, it is necessary to well know the correct preparation.

Brewing oolong tea needs a unique skill, and it has some fun during in the process of tea steeping.

To make a good oolong tea, you should first prepare tea. In general, it is best to understand the origin, variety, process, and manufacturers of the tea, and sometimes even the characteristics of tea making from the person who makes the tea should also be considered.

Choosing relatively good quality tea and using the amount of tea leaves(between 7 to 10 grams) is a prerequisite for a good oolong tea brewing.

Amount of tea leaves being used can also be determined according to the capacity of the tea pot. A tight hemispherical oolong tea needs amount of 1/3-1/4 pot of tea leaves, as a looser tea like Phoenix Oolong needs more than half pot of tea leaves.

A tea set often includes a tea tray, teapot, tea cups and other accessories is needed for tea brewing. It is advised that size of each tea set has to be matched, including the teapot size to the number of people and other factors. Select a good size tea set according to number of people tasting tea. For those who like to drink strong tea, it is recommended to use a small cup; for those who have a lighter taste, it is recommended to use a large cup. For a group of three to five people, you can use the Yixing clay teapot to make tea that the teapot size is between 120 and 150 ml, while a teacup is between 20 and 30 grams. From a practical point of view, tea pot and tea cup are the must needed tea sets.

To brew best tasting oolong tea, it is recommended to use natural spring water if possible. Otherwise bottle purified water is also good for brewing tea. Tap water is always last choice.

Taiwan oolong, Tie Guan Yin oolong and Phoenix oolong tea brewing

The first is to boil water, the water temperature that just reaching boiling point would be more appropriate. When the water is boiled, rinse the teapot(or Gaiwan) and tea cups so that it is cleaner and on other hand is to warm tea wares. Then place tea leaves in the pot.

Pour in with boiling water and immediately pour it out. The purpose of this is to wash away the dust on the tea leaves and other impurities.

Then lift the kettle and pour from the top into the inner side of the teapot that makes tea leaves rotating in the pot which is to emit the fragrance of oolong tea. Fill up boiling water fully, and then gently skim off the floating white foam or impurities again with the lid to make the tea fresh and clean. Cover the lid immediately.

*For using Yixing clay teapot: Continuously shower the teapot with boiling water easily during steeping.

After 45 seconds, pour the tea into the small tea cup or to a tea pitcher if you have one. (The steeping time should be appropriate, insufficient time will not fully emit the color, fragrance and the taste. On the contrary, over brewed will produce bitter taste.) When pour out the tea to tea cups, lower tea pot as close as possible to tea cups in case of scattering away the fragrance of tea.

The thickness of tea is needed to be shared evenly. The last left tea in the bottom of tea pot needs to be evenly dripped into each tea cup that the flavor and the thickness of tea are equivalent even. Using a tea pitcher will avoid this issue. When using tea pitcher, tea is transferred to tea pitcher entirely before split into each cup.

Once the tea is poured into the cups, it should be tasted immediately to avoid the loss of prime taste. Scent it before taste it, although it’s not much amount, but it really refreshes and sweetens your throat, and leave an unforgettable aroma in your palate.

Additional Note:

• Should boil water as needed.
• After third steep, water should be reheated, especially in winter.
• Pay attention to the amount of tea using and the brewing time. Most of Tieguanyin and Phoenix tea should be using from 5 to 7 grams and Wuyi rock tea should be 8 to 10 grams. For the first infusion, it generally need to be steeped for more than 20 seconds or up to one minute(looser and tenderer tea take less steeping time, more time for older and tighter tea), and then each subsequent brewing time can be set to 10 seconds more, so that it can better emit the taste of tea. Brewing time can be extended gradually after each steep. But it should be on the basis of the quality of the tea.
• And also according to personal preference, the amount of tea leaves or time of brewing can both be changed if needed

A good quality oolong tea, such as Tie guan yin, Taiwan Oolong and Phoenix Oolong, can still be fragrant after seven or eight times brewing.