What Puts The OO in OOlong?

[murrius]

I've been increasingly puzzled by the large variety of teas that are called oolong. I thought for awhile that it was the unique rolling into those amazing little balls like Alishan and Dong Ding. Then I tried a wonderful dark wu yi and am told that it is an oolong as well but has long rolled leaves. I though that the common link might be the part green, part fermented characteristic but then read a post in the black tea section about a darjeeling fully fermented oolong. I'm confused. Is there a unified theory regarding what an oolong actually is?

[Space Samurai]

First, Darjeeling is its own special beast, one that confuses many of us frankly, so put that out of your mind for the time being.

Oolong is a very wide catagory, probably the widest in tea. Oolong is any tea that is roughly between 30% to 70% oxidized. Its not quite green tea, but not quite black tea. So as you have noticed, you will have very floral high mountain oolongs on one end of the spectrum, and wuyi rock teas and other heavily roasted or oxidized teas on the other.

[Vulture]

Yah, there are a lot of factors for oolongs and they change each harvest too.

How Green or Black (oxidized) a tea is

How it was roasted (if at all)

If it has been aged and so on.

[Salsero]

First, Darjeeling is its own special beast, one that confuses many of us frankly, so put that out of your mind for the time being.

So true!

Between degree of oxidation and degree of roast, there is nearly infinite possible variety among oolongs, and as you have noted they can make the difference between night and day.

By the way, these days, in most circles, "oxidation" is preferred over "fermentation" to describe the changes in enzymes that take place after plucking and before the application of heat. Somewhere here in the forum Scruff McGruff posted a very wise chemist point of view of exactly what complicated processes are happening, but nowadays fermentation tends to be reserved for teas like puerh that are subjected to very different processes.

[Vulture]

By the way, these days, in most circles, "oxidation" is preferred over "fermentation" to describe the changes in enzymes that take place after plucking and before the application of heat. Somewhere here in the forum Scruff McGruff posted a very wise chemist point of view of exactly what complicated processes are happening, but nowadays fermentation tends to be reserved for teas like puerh that are subjected to very different processes.

Yah, even aged oolongs are not really fermented as they are kept dry over time with re-roasting the teas I believe.

[tjkoko_off]

Although I'm not certain of this but I think that the name oolong translates into black dragon.

[hop_goblin]

oolongs are baked and kneeded by hand and let to dry numerous times. The process is done over and over until the right "tea" has been achieved. It is a very intensive process that requires more attention than any other tea. Oh plus Darjeelings are from India and Oolongs from Taiwan and China DOAH!

[trallis]

just keep it simple in your mind and remember green tea isn't oxidized and black tea is. oolong is between.

But what would be really helpful would be if someone who knows could name and define the common types of oolong

[geeber1]

oolongs are baked and kneeded by hand and let to dry numerous times. The process is done over and over until the right "tea" has been achieved. It is a very intensive process that requires more attention than any other tea. Oh plus Darjeelings are from India and Oolongs from Taiwan and China DOAH!

Hop, I have an Indian Nilgiri that's called an Oolong. http://tinyurl.com/dezw6h
Maybe they are calling it Oolong to be different?

[woozl]

Ok I'm no expert but this is what I know
"Oolong" refers to the process of curing the tea.
Green tea is steamed immediately after harvest. Then fired.It is not oxidized.
Red or black teas are fully oxidized before they are fired.
Oolongs run from lightly fermented :BaoZhong to heavy: Da Hong Pao.
The production is labor intensive, can take days as leaves are manipulated to induce fermentation then stopped and re-fermented again.
Leaves are then hand rolled or twisted and then fired.
The flavors are as complex and diverse as the methods used.

[Space Samurai]

But what would be really helpful would be if someone who knows could name and define the common types of oolong

Okay, but I'm sure I'll miss some.

Formosa (Taiwan) These tend to be "high mountain" oolongs and are on the green side, more floral. Often named after the mountain in which it is harvested (shan=mountain). Are often rolled into little balls/clusters. A lot of these styles migrated from Fujian IIRC.

Li Shan
Ali Shan
Wen Shan
Dong Ding/Tung Ting

Wuyi Yan Cha These are the rock teas from the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian, China. These are more heavily oxidized and roasted. The leaves are darker and tend to be long and wiry.

Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe)
Qi Lan
Shui Xian
Rou Gui

Guang Dong

Dan Cong. From the Feng Huang Mountains (Pheonix Mountians). There are verious types of this tea, but it most notable for its natural peachiness.

Tai Guan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy. I am not entirely sure what all seperates this tea from others. It comes (originated?) from Anxi County in Fujian. It is rolled into clusters and ranges from green, floral oolong, medium roasted, or heavily roasted, though the greener versions seem to be more common now, possibly as the popularity of green tea grows.

Other Oolongs inlude:

Bai Hao Oolong (Eastern Beauty)
Lan gui ren
Bai Ji Guan

I think that's a good start.

[richardr2009]

Shouldn't that be "Tie Kwan Yin" (Tie = Iron).鐵

You wrote: "Tai Guan Yin ..."

[Herb_Master]

Shouldn't that be "Tie Kwan Yin" (Tie = Iron).鐵

You wrote: "Tai Guan Yin ..."

The Chinese Names are qwritten in Chinese Characters - there can be no confusion about the characters - despite the fact that there are numerous ethnic groups and nationalities each with different languages in China the standard Chinese characters are the same for all. The pronunciation however varies immensely, not only with different chinese languages but within the different dialects also.

For communicating with the wetsern world and english speaking parts the different nationalities try to Romanise (or Anglicise) the way that they pronounce those characters - this can result in numerous romanised spellings of the same Chinese characters.

my first encounter with the mentioned tea - was 'Tie Guan Yin'

[Herb_Master]

But what would be really helpful would be if someone who knows could name and define the common types of oolong

Okay, but I'm sure I'll miss some.

Formosa (Taiwan) These tend to be "high mountain" oolongs and are on the green side, more floral. Often named after the mountain in which it is harvested (shan=mountain). Are often rolled into little balls/clusters. A lot of these styles migrated from Fujian IIRC.

Li Shan
Ali Shan
Wen Shan
Dong Ding/Tung Ting

Wuyi Yan Cha These are the rock teas from the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian, China. These are more heavily oxidized and roasted. The leaves are darker and tend to be long and wiry.

Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe)
Qi Lan
Shui Xian
Rou Gui

Guang Dong

Dan Cong. From the Feng Huang Mountains (Pheonix Mountians). There are verious types of this tea, but it most notable for its natural peachiness.

Tai Guan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy. I am not entirely sure what all seperates this tea from others. It comes (originated?) from Anxi County in Fujian. It is rolled into clusters and ranges from green, floral oolong, medium roasted, or heavily roasted, though the greener versions seem to be more common now, possibly as the popularity of green tea grows.

Other Oolongs inlude:

Bai Hao Oolong (Eastern Beauty)
Lan gui ren
Bai Ji Guan

I think that's a good start.

Space Samurai is right those are ALL the really important Oolongs.
And particularly with the 3 mainland regions they tend to have generic similarities across the region making them easy to pick up and understand once you have become accustomed to the region.

There are other countries that produce oolong notably Vietnam, Thailand, and North India, also Korea and one or 2 Chinese provinces but many of these tend to be the results of individual producers trying to move into a higher premium tea grade and have yet to be generally recognised as good quality additions to the Oolong world in a regional sense, so you are best exploring Samurai's 4 regions.

[murrius]

That's helpful. Thanks for the comments and information. The darjeeling connection still baffles me but then again, I still don't know why the sky is blue.