Dark Roasted Oolong Tasting Notes:

Our dark roasted Oolong tea has large, wiry tea leaves that produce an amber cup of tea with a warm, but subtle earthy tones, and floral aroma.  The flavor comes across first as nutty but as the leaves steep additional fruity and floral notes emerge.  This dark roasted oolong has a silky finish and a slightly floral aftertaste.

Features:

  ~Form:  Premium loose leaf oolong tea, dark roast

  ~Taste: Slightly earthy and nutty with fruity notes and silky finish

  ~Origins: Zhejiang, China

  ~Leaves can be re-infused multiple times

  ~Gluten free & sugar-free

  ~Caffeine: Medium

  ~Health benefits: Oolong boosts the natural fat-burning mechanisms and benefits the heart by reducing cholesterol.  Slows the effects of aging, helps prevent flue, disease (esp. osteoporosis and diabetes), and fights certain cancers.  Useful in treating arthritis, Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s. Relieve headaches.  Assist patients suffering from diarrhea and vomiting.  Improves alertness and cognition.* 

Background and Cultivation:

Our Oolong tea is a semi-fermented tea made through a complex five-step process that includes withering, fermenting, and rolling the leaves of which the fermentation process is the most important.  The degree of oxidization of the leaves will change the flavor profile of the oolong, with lightly fermented teas being akin to a very robust green tea while dark roasted oolongs will be closer to a mellow, but complex flavored black tea.

Oolong teas as a category vary greatly based on the specific tea cultivar and the tea roaster's objectives with each roast.  While the tastes of different oolongs will each be unique, the healthful properties range with the degree of fermentation, with light roasts oolong teas being closer to unfermented green teas and dark roasts closer to fully fermented black teas.

Health Benefits:

Derived from the Camelia sinensis plant, oolong is attributed to have many of the same health benefits as black and green teas.  Chinese teas have a strong following among herbalists, traditional medicine practitioners, as well as a growing number of wester doctors who credit it with a variety of health benefits. Many traditional Chinese doctors believe that Oolong benefits the heart and helps with weight-management above and beyond tea’s natural fat-burning mechanisms.  Drinking a cup of oolong before and after a meal can enhance the decomposition of fat, causing it to be directly discharged from the body without being absorbed.

Other commonly cited benefits are improved mental alertness and cognition, slowing the effects of aging, and an ability to boost the immune system against illnesses (like the flu), diseases (especially osteoporosis and diabetes), and fighting certain cancers.  Studies have found promising results for the prevention or treatment of arthritis, Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, among other conditions.  It is also believed to help relieve headaches, improve dental health, prevent bad breath, and assist patients suffering from diarrhea and vomiting.  

*More information about the scientific research into the health benefits of tea

Preparation Notes:

  ~Normally served with a tea pot set.

  ~A heaping tbsp (~0.2-0.3) oz of dried leaves for a small pot of tea shared among friends, but as little as a tsp dried leaves (~0.1-0.05oz) per 8 oz of water can be used for a single tea.

  ~190-195˚ F (90˚ C), or just below boiling, for about 2 minutes depending on personal preference.

  ~The tea pot, cups, and leaves are normally rinsed and warmed with hot water or the first infusion before tasting.  This helps control the brew temperature and lets the leaves open up to allows the first infusion to be more flavorful.

  ~Oolong Tea can be re-infused multiple times.