The History of Oolongs.
Teas originated from ancient China, where local people had been drinking teas for over thousands of years. Eventually, this healthy tea plant got spread to other parts of the world and gave rise to the myriad of teas we see today.
Many people always wonder where did the name, “Oolong”, come from? There have been many different versions of the story and one of them is this popular legend of “Fujian Tea Folklore”. According to this folklore, a young man named “Dragon” during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty (1722-1735) lived in Xiping Township, Anxi province of China. He lived by planting tea and hunting and because of his dark skin tone, the villagers called him “Oolong”, meaning “Dark Dragon” （烏龍）in Chinese.
On an early morning after his tea harvest, Oolong found a prey on his way home and chased it up near a local Guanyin or Goddess of Mercy statue. He then returned home with the prey for the night and totally forgot about the tea he had picked. The next morning when he woke up, Oolong found that the tea leaves that were still sitting in his bamboo barrel had developed a red colour on the edges.
Without knowing that his teas turned red due to natural fermentation, Oolong was upset and contemplated on what he should do with his hard-earned tea harvest. Oolong did not want his harvesting efforts to go to waste, so he came up with a brilliant idea. He decided to add a twist to his teas by frying them in a pan over a woodstove with charcoal. Surprisingly, the teas not only did not spoil but also had a very unique special sweet flavour after the frying. He was astonished with the fragrance and sweetness that it brought to the tea.
Oolong later discovered that on his way back home, the tea leaves he carried in his bamboo barrel on his back were tossed and shaken with his movements. He then developed new techniques that he would add into this tea-making process that included withering, oxidation, roasting, drying, etc. With his repeated trial-and-error, he finally formulated a detailed process of tea-making that gave his teas an exquisite flavour and aroma. Later, this unique semi-fermentation process was named after him, and oolong teas were born.
About two centuries ago during the Qing Dynasty (1796-1908), immigrants from Fujian, China brought in different cultivars from Wuyi Mountains (well-known for cliff tea oolongs like Da Hong Pao) and Anxi region (famous for oolongs like Tieguanyin, Meizhan, Qilan, etc.) of Fujian province and started cultivating on the island of Taiwan in the northern and central regions. Over many years of research and trial-and-error, the local Taiwanese developed their own unique style of tea cultivation and processing methods. Today, Taiwan is known as one of the leading origins for producing high quality oolong teas.
Happy Brewing!
