The best Oolong from the summer season

Oriental Beauty Tradition, summer 2024

 The diversity and complexity of Oolong tea never ceases to amaze. While green tea is all about capturing and celebrating the freshness of spring in each Chinese tea region, Oolong is able to catch the aromas of all 4 seasons! And Oolong does much more than that. In the high mountains, Oolong tea is able to retain the immense power of those misty peaks where the plantations are located. In Wu Yi and Dong Ding, Oolong tea gains a new dimension with the intervention of tea masters who roast the leaves over glowing charcoal. In Hsin Chu county, the tea receives its most unlikely and almost magic transformation from the bite of a tiny green insect, the jacobiasca formosana Paoli! Their bites create a defensive reaction from the leaf. It activates a chemical process in the leaf that produces scents of honey and perfume. This is one of those rare occasions where an insect is actually welcome in the production of tea. That's why farmers are carefully managing their fields and don't spray pesticides that may prevent these little jassids from coming and biting their leaves.  

Imperial Oriental Beauty, summer 2024

Oriental Beauty is not just the right mix of soil, weather and human skill like all other teas. Its quality also depends on this little green insect and that makes it already very special. But that's not all! There's a trend in the market for lighter, fresher and more fragrant Oolongs. This makes sense for high mountain Oolongs, but, in my opinion, it doesn't make sense for Oriental Beauty. Why not also add the 'magical' transformation of roasting to Oriental Beauty? Nowadays, a large segment of the market prefers to leave its OBs unroasted. The advantage is less work for the farmer, a lower cost/price and leaves that smell brighter when the tea is young. The catch? Such tea won't improve with time. Instead, it will turn sour and its fragrance will slowly disappear.

On the other hand, with a traditionally roasted Oriental Beauty, you can taste how the 2023 version is thicker, sweeter, more fragrant than the 2024 harvest. The same is even more true when one tastes the 2020 imperial OB versus the 2024 imperial Oriental Beauty when four years of aging in a porcelain jar are what separate these two teas. It's like aging fine wine. But with tea, one year is sufficient to notice a difference and the tea is already very enjoyable in its first year..

2024 imperial Oriental Beauty

Don't be fooled by furry Oriental Beauty leaves! They are very much alive and changing despite their dry and stable appearance. Underneath it's liquid gold waiting to appear! And if you're looking for a light and everyday insect-bitten Oolong, I can also recommend my Dong Ding Concubine Oolong from June 5th, 2024!