The differences between a “Black tea” and a “Oolong” are much more than simply the degree of oxidation. In this argument I am using the term Oolong as a synonym for Oriental Beauty:
In my opinion the most important are the commonly practised processing steps.
There is the rather standard way of making a black tea the “British Style”: withering-rolling-fermenting-drying. However, as mentioned in an earlier post, Darjeeling First Flush is also oxidized only 45mins and sold as a black tea even though the greenish appearance and grassy Cup. Technically this tea could now be called Oolong because it is indeed not fully oxidized. But hence the processing steps are the same as for Black Tea (no killing green) it is in fact not being called Oolong.
Once the planters of Darjeeling use small rollers (imported from China/Taiwan) and invest lots of manual work in order to make small batches of curly-shaped teas, therefore following still similar production steps but in a smaller scale, very freely the tag “Oolong” will be given to that batch. The same thing happens in Nepal. This is also being done in order to receive higher sales Prices in Export (Both countries are exported-oriented when it comes to high quality). Any tea that carries the name Oolong simply sounds fancy and made with utmost care, etc…
Secondly the cultivar is an essential factor of making Oolong. The Nepal Topaz is indeed made in a traditional fashion and follows the steps of Oolong-making, but I am convinced that Nepal does in fact not have so much Wulong-cultivars but rather go for Sinensis in highgrown areas and Assamica-cultivars in lower elevations. Some (organic) gardens are experimenting with Yabukita, TieGuanYin, etc. but that is still considered to be experimental.
tea guardian special features
At Teashop Finder
