Milk Oolong tea is extremely popular for its appealing taste and pleasant aroma. In this article we want to talk about what is milk oolong tea, how is it made and prepared.
What is Milk Oolong tea?
It is a Taiwanese tea variety that provides a sweet creamy and buttery milky taste and flowery scent. Oolong tea is made of camellia sinensis plant. It falls in-between black and green tea in oxidation and can show characteristics of both. However, its milky taste doesn’t mean that it contains any actual milk. This effect is achieved due to gently roasted rolled tea leaves and harvesting features.
Milk oolong tea most often has a green color and an unusual for tea semi-balled shape. It is formed because of the traditional method of rolling used during processing.
How is Milk Oolong tea made?
Oolong tea is grown at mid to high altitude in the Taiwanese mountains. Actually, the elevation plays a vital role in the formation of tea taste. The higher it is, the more flavors and aromas are concentrated in the tea leaves. Usually they are harvested in spring and autumn. After harvesting they go through a number of steps:
The first stage is withering. In order to remove excess moisture the tea leaves are spread out on mats to wither. It is very important to wither all the leaves evenly.
Oxidation. The tea leaves are tossed to gently bruise them, exposing their inner cells to the air. It leads to the leaves' oxidation. Leaves are oxidizes in a temperature-controlled environment until they acquire the necessary flavor and aroma. During this process the color of tea leaves changes to brown or green. To stop the oxidation process tea makers apply heat.
Twisting. Oolong tea leaves are twisted into a semi-balled style shape.
Sorting. They are sorted by taking out all the broken pieces.
Roasting. To remove any excess moisture and get delicate flavors, the tea artisans make the tea leaves go through final firing. In result, we have tea with a milky sweet flavor, floral cream aroma, and a silky texture. There is not any milk or other dairy products in Milk Oolong tea.
How to brew Milk Oolong tea
All you need is 1 heaping teaspoon and 250 ml of boiling water (100 °C).
Put the Milk Oolong tea leaves in your teapot. Pour the boiling water over the leaves and steep for about 1-2 minutes. You can steep it several times and the tea should retain its milky aroma and taste throughout the steeps. After multiple steeps, the semi-balled shaped leaves will fully unfurl.
Sense Asia presents the collection of premium loose-leaf teas. It includes Milk Oolong tea with creamy aroma and a smooth pleasant aftertaste. All teas are hermetically packed with minimum delay after receiving from the farms in Vietnam. We use 100% natural ingredients and only whole leaves to maintain all the natural health benefits. Follow us and learn more about tea and Vietnamese tea culture!
