Verdant Tea

An Introduction to Oolong Craft

An Introduction to Oolong Craft

CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK
banner
Loading...

This bundle includes five 25g bags of oolong tea for 125g total (25 sessions).

Oolong is the most technically-demanding and time-consuming tea in the world to produce, and our partners take on the challenge relying on their own hands and their senses, not machinery, meaning sleepless nights and 20 hour days in the workshop to finish their tiny micro-batches of varietal-driven oolongs that honor their specific microclimates, from Wuyishan to Daping Village.

This sampler brings together iconic oolong teas from our partners across China to share a glimpse at the magic and complexity that comes out in the long turning and fluffing process that defines oolong teas and gives you a sense of how many styles can exist within this single category, from dark roasts and aged oolong to fresh floral vibrant green oolong.

An Introduction to Oolong Craft: 

Chun Lan (25g) 

This extremely limited offering is crafted from the Chun Lan varietal, rarely seen outside of Wuyishan. It was originally selected by Li Xiangxi as a reserve tea to share with our CSA-style tea club members. Hand-fired Chun Lan combines all the big orchid flavor of Qilan with incense spice and cooling yun. The "Yun" sensation in this tea builds with each infusion over time. After several steepings, this Yun begins to dominate as a lingering physical sensation that strengthens the growing mineral texture and flavor.

Learn more about this tea >>

Shui Xian Wuyi Oolong (25g)

Li Xiangxi's family has been hand picking and processing tea for generations. Their tea is fed from a mountain spring, with plants between ten and one hundred years old, all grown traditionally without fertilizers or pesticides and picked by hand by the family. This Shui Xian varietal picking really shines with the Li Family's delicate charcoal roasting process to bring out the deep complex forest notes and minerality that make Shui Xian so famous.

Learn more about this tea >>

Original Wulong Revival (25g)

Master Zhang is a true innovator. He doesn’t make tea to follow trends. He experiments and takes risks to make tea better for the generations to come. This Original Wulong Revival uses the older Ben Shan varietal leaf and undergoes three times more careful hand turning and fluffing than modern Anxi oolong. For finishing, it is loosely rolled in the oldest style of oolong making that is half strip style and half ball, with many of the leaves more strip-style than rolled. Master Zhang describes the shape as a dragonfly. This hand processing and shaping yields a different tea- a genre of its own outside of Wuyi style, Guangdong style or Anxi style. The light roast is rewarding and brings out a unique savory sweet complexity we don’t see in other teas from Master Zhang.

Learn more about this tea >>

Xing Ren Xiang Dancong (25g)

Xing Ren Xiang, or Almond Aroma is a uniquely savory nut-forward varietal that Huang Ruiguang and his family pick once a year from single bushes cultivated in Wudongshan. These bushes are not pruned back and picked sparingly to encourage deeper roots and more robust flavor year after year. The Huang Family’s meticulous hand processing yields a distinct roasted almond flavor, with notes of cooling pine. 

Learn more about this tea >>

Autumn Laoshan Green Oolong (25g)

This tea is the He Family's answer to the challenge that oolong is only for southern China. Despite Laoshan Village only having fifty years of tea cultivation and oolong being the most technically demanding kind of tea in the world to produce, Mr. He comes through brilliantly. The careful kneading and rolling brings out a beautiful, pure expression of the minerality of the soil and the water. This tea is processed without a roast for a true green flavor of Laoshan.

Learn more about this tea >>

Spring Anxi Ruan Zhi (25g)

Ruan Zhi or "Soft Stem" is sometimes better known as "Qing Xin" varietal, used in Taiwan to produce Dong Ding and Baozhong and in Thailand for Doi Mai Salong. The traditional processing truly emphasizes the connection between Anxi and Taiwan tea craft. Any Taiwanese tea afficionado will be impressed by the intense bready sweet notes and deep florals this Anxi Ruan Zhi offers.

Learn more about this tea >>

Autumn Tieguanyin (25g)

True Tieguanyin varietal stands out for its deep lingering aftertaste, big texture, and the ability to steep out over many infusions. Master Zhang has honed his Tieguanyin cultivation techniques and finishing process over forty years of experimentation, earning the respect of the entire Daping area as a teacher and community leader. He utilizes organic farming techniques, encourages biodiversity, and advocates against wasteful irrigation to encourage healthy and deeply complex and nuanced tea. This modern green style Tieguanyin requires an intense turning and fluffing process in finishing that needs to be adapted on the spot depending on the weather and the aroma, requiring deep experience.

Learn more about this tea >>

2024 Special Grade Rou Gui Revival

This spring harvest reserve designation Rou Gui was hand finished this spring using a very old, traditional technique that Master Zhang has been researching that involves three times the usual turning and fluffing and a difficult half-rolled half-twisted shape. The result is a textural sensation with a deep intensity. Some years Master Zhang doesn’t designate a reserve or special grade for certain teas. It all depends on the final tea, which needs to satisfy a certain level of sweetness, a long lingering aftertaste, and thick balanced texture and evocative aroma.

Learn more about this tea >>

Traditional Mao Xie (25g)

Daping is the birthplace of the Maoxie (Hairy Crab) varietal, and the village is proud of its heritage. Master Zhang is one of Daping's foremost craftsman of traditional Anxi oolong processing, and as it is his favorite way to finish his oolong teas, it only makes sense to show off the subtle and more savory finish of traditional roasting on this varietal. The darker traditional finish brings out unique sweetness that are hidden in a greener finish.

Learn more about this tea >>

More Information

More Information
Enable SaleNo
Copyright © 2013-present Magento, Inc. All rights reserved.