Wu Long Tea - The Basic

Wu Long Tea - The Basic

Wu Long Tea is a very common Traditional Chinese Tea. Its tea leaves are from the tea plant Camellia Sinensis which is found in over 30 countries around the world. Depending on the fermentation/oxidation process, tea are classified in the following categories : green, white, yellow, wu long, dark and black. Green Tea are not oxidized at all while Black Tea undergo several hours of oxidation.

As you can see, Wu Long Tea lies somewhere in the middle of Green and Black Tea. The fermentation/oxidation level is about 50%. Therefore, the color of Wu Long Tea is somewhat black and a bit Green.


Wu Long Tea is gently rolled after picking allowing the essential oils to react with the air and slowly oxidize. This process turns the leaf darker with time and produces its distinctive fragrances. When the leaf has reached the desired oxidation the leaf is heated, in a process called "panning", to stop the process. It is then rolled to form the tea into its final shape. As Wu Long tea can be heavily oxidized or lightly oxidized, its flavor will vary from quite green to near-black. This tea is handcrafted, undergoing a labor-intensive process. The tea-maker must carefully balance many elements in the critical few hours after the leaf is picked including weather conditions, quality of the leaf, and the time the leaf oxidizes.

Types of Wu Long Tea

The famous Tie Guan Yin (Iron Goddess Tea or Ti Kuan Yin) belongs to this category of the tea family whereby it is commonly known as the best Wu Long Tea . Its golden yellow brew is smooth, clear and fragrant. It carries a refreshing and fruity aroma as well as the much sought-after after taste. In China, different villages usually hold annual tea competitions to see who can come up with the best Tie Guan Yin. The champions is known as "Tea King" and is said to worth equivalent to gold in terms of weight.

Other common Wu Long Tea are the Wuyi Cliff Tea and Dong Ding Wu Long Tea.

Wuyi Cliff Tea is made from tea plants grown in Wuyi Mountain, in the region of Fujian, China . The average altitude of Wu Yi Mountain is about 650 meters. The Wu Yi Cliff Tea is more heavily fermented and loosely shaped. The aroma of the dry leaves is deliciously sweet, richly fragrant and reddish gold in color.

Dong Ding Wu Long Tea (Tong Ding Wu Long Tea) is made from tea plants grown in the Dong Ding Mountain area of Nantou Luku, the famous tea growing region in central Taiwan. As known commonly as Formosa Tea. The tea leaves are grown at an average altitude of 800 meters where the conditions proved to be ideal for this Wu Long Tea. This area gets morning sunshine followed by afternoon mist. Hence, the tea leaves produced are tender and fragrant, and of high quality. The sweet smell of the growing tea attracts cicadas which leave a secretion on the tea leaves, giving this tea an unique honey aroma. During spring, the tea leaves are handpicked and underwent medium fermentation. Dong Ding Wu Long Tea is unique for its ball-rolling processing. The resultant tea leaves are tightly curled into balls. The brew is light and fragrant, and has a honey aroma with sweet lasting taste.