When you see this tea, you may ask, why creating another slot for the same red oolong we have been offering before? The answer is quite simple, because this is not “Longan Nectar” anymore, this is “Plum Nectar.”

Due to unexpected changing in the process, our red oolong this season (spring of 2018) no longer taste nor feel like “Longan Nectar” anymore. But since we never carried this type of red oolong, we think it is worth carrying.

At first glance, it looks like oriental beauty in a heavy rolled form. Don’t be fooled, this is not an oriental beauty, nor a black tea, but 100% an oolong tea. The term “red” as applied to tea is difficult to understand in the context of English culture, so we must explain this “redness” in the cultural context of Mandarin culture. In Mandarin, black tea is actually named “red tea” (紅茶) for its color, and shouldn’t be confused with the actual “black tea”, which is also called “Hei Cha” (黑茶). Red tea was referred to as “black tea” because the dry leaf itself is typically black in color (See here). To this day the vast majority of westerners still don’t know what a “Red Tea” actually is!

In Taiwan the art of tea experimental tea processing is thriving and tea growers and processors alike are searching for new techniques to bring out new flavors and aromas! Our “Red Oolong” came about as an experimental marriage of oolong tea and black tea processing. After the process of “waving” the tea will be “heavy rolled” like a black tea immediately and oxidated heavily like black tea, but meanwhile has the traditional oolong processing final steps of “kill-green” and a special types of “heavy roasting.” For this season we use charcoal roasting technique for all of our tea, so this “heavy roasting process” was done by charcoal roasting instead of the commonly applied machine roasted.

The tea now has a completely different profile from “Longan Nectar” and feels totally different from it. It is still smooth and pungent in its aroma, but once you savour it you will notice a difference. Enjoy!

Harvest: Varied / 不定
Varietal: Qin Xing Oolong / 青心烏龍
Elevation: 100 M / 壹佰公尺
Region: Luye / 鹿野
Oxidation Level: 80% / 分之捌拾
Roast Level: 5 / 伍分

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