Oriental Beauty Oolong is a semioxidized tea free from pesticides, and the loose tea leaves appear colorful, usually in colors of white, green, yellow and dark red. The tea is also known as Bai Hao Oolong, which literally means white fur in Chinese for the fact that the loose tea leaves of the tea normally has abundant amount of white buds on it. The more white buds on the loose tea, the higher grade of tea it is. Oriental Beauty oolong tea comes with natural fruit and honey flavors and tastes rich, smooth, pleasant and unique.

Oriental Beauty oolong is the most legendary of formosa teas. The name was given by a queen of England. When the tea was first brought back to England by a British tea importer, the queen loved the taste of the tea so much that she honored the tea as Oriental Beauty tea. Decades ago, Taiwan tea was mostly exported to foreign countries. Formosa tea and oolong tea were terms used to refer to Oriental Beauty oolong tea only. This shows the popularity of the tea back then.

Making Oriental Beauty oolong needs the help with green leaf cicadas (an insect that does not harm humans or plants). As a consequence, it is limited in quanitity and can be produced in the summer only when cicadas are most abundant. The tea can be made with a number of tea varietals, such as Jinxuan, Cuiyu, Qingxin Oolong, Damanzhong and Baimaohou.

Oriental Beauty oolong tastes perfect with many brewing methods. One example is when brewing iced tea, some people like to add a little suger or honey in addition to its natual fruit and honey flavor to make it tastes richer and sweeter.

About the Author: Mr. Fu is an experienced tea farmer in Pinglin Township, Taipei County. He has been growing tea for over 25 years and has won many prizes in tea competitions.