Oolong
From £44.00
High Mountain Oolong (gao-shan wu-lung cha) is perhaps the greatest and most famous of all Oolong teas.
Grown, as the name indicates, at high altitude, the leaves flush slowly on the plant. This concentrates the flavours and allows great richness and subtlety to develop in the leaf.
Oolong, or Wu-long, tea, is partly fermented. It is therefore half-way between green and black tea. It has a smooth, refined, rounded and satisfying taste between peach and chestnut. It also has greatly-prized and remarkable health properties – see the site for more details.
Taiwan, or Formosa, is renowned as the home of the finest Oolongs in the world. In the stratosphere of tea quality sits High Mountain Oolong, and the best grade of High Mountain is what the tea trade calls Toppest, also known as Silver Tip, after the beautiful colour of the leaf.
From £9.15
Formosa Oolong Orange Blossom is a light, delicate, brightly scented and highly refreshing Oolong tea, infused with the sweet, subtle aroma of orange blossoms.
This is a tea to lift the spirits on a soggy afternoon or refresh and revive in the heat of the dog days of summer. With its delightful and happy fruit flavours it is perfect as a mid-afternoon energy boost.
Formosa, now called Taiwan, is the world’s greatest producer of Oolong (or Wu-long) teas. These delicious, biscuity, toasty, semi-fermented teas are half-way between black and green tea. The leaves are bruised and exposed to the air to oxidise for a short while, then baked to arrest the process. This produces a delicate tea but one that is full of flavour.
The Oolong character is well-suited to the soft citrus flavours of the orange blossoms. The result is one of the most successful marriages of the tea world.
From £6.60
Formosa, now called Taiwan, is the world’s greatest producer of Oolong (or Wu-long) teas.
These semi-fermented teas are half-way between black and green tea. The leaves are bruised and exposed to the air to oxidise for a short while, then baked to arrest the process. This produces a delicate tea, but one that is full of flavour.
Formosa Oolongs have a particular appearance, aroma and flavour that can be described as chestnut and peach with hints of caramel/liquorice. The lightly oxidised teas are at the peach end of the spectrum, and the more oxidised, such as this Choice oolong, have more chestnut.
The leaves are a full brown in colour with a rich, sweet scent and when brewed produce a deep golden liquor with reddish tints. The aroma is full and treacly with a strong chestnut perfume. The flavour of the tea is fresh, with peachy, chestnut flavours and a mellow, developed, caramel sweetness.