Discover oolong
The longest single chain in the catalogue, and the only journey that never changes category. Oolong spans nearly the whole oxidation range, so six steps stay inside it and still travel further than most journeys across three.
Who this is for
Someone who has had one oolong and could not tell what made it an oolong.
What you should come away with
A feel for oxidation and roast as two separate dials, which is the thing that makes oolong legible.
Barely oxidised to barely recognisable
Six teas, one unbroken chain of authored steps. Each one adds either oxidation or roast, and by the end both dials are near the top.
Starting point. Everything after this is measured against it.
Extremely floral and light-bodied, with the aroma doing nearly all the work. Useful as the low-oxidation anchor of the oolong range: put it beside Oriental Beauty and the breadth of the category becomes obvious in one sitting.
Why this step follows
The lightest oolong to the reference rolled one. Almost a continuation of green tea, then a step into the category proper.
Creamy and intensely floral, with essentially no astringency. The aroma in the empty cup after pouring is part of the experience and is often more striking than the liquor itself.
Why this step follows
The same rolled, lightly oxidised style with more thickness and a longer cooling finish. The clearest next step if the first one worked.
Thick and almost milky in texture, with a floral sweetness and no grip at all. The cooling sensation in the throat afterwards — hou yun — is the quality marker practitioners look for.
Why this step follows
The first introduction of roast, applied lightly to a familiar rolled leaf. Expect toast and baked fruit over the floral base rather than instead of it.
Buttery and gently toasty, with more weight than a high-mountain oolong and far less char than a Wuyi tea. A good demonstration of what a light roast adds without taking over.
Why this step follows
A light roast on a familiar rolled oolong, before committing to charcoal-forward Wuyi tea.
Thick, roasted and mineral, with the roast sitting over rather than replacing the underlying tea. A freshly roasted yancha can be almost entirely charcoal; the same tea rested six months is far more expressive, which is why patient sellers are worth finding.
Why this step follows
From roast-led to aroma-led. Dan Cong is the least forgiving oolong there is — a few seconds too long is genuinely bitter, and that edge is where its fragrance sits.
The most aromatic oolong made, and the least forgiving. A few seconds too long produces real bitterness, and the same leaf brewed briskly is extraordinarily perfumed. That bitterness is not a flaw to be eliminated so much as a boundary to be brewed against.
Read alongside
- Exploring oolong styles
The widest-ranging category in tea, organised by two independent axes — how far oxidation ran and how much roast followed. Knowing which corner you are in explains most of what is in the cup.
- What is oolong tea?
Partially oxidised tea, bruised deliberately and often roasted. It is the widest-ranging category in tea, and calling it 'halfway between green and black' is the most misleading simplification in the subject.
- Why oolong can taste floral
Because bruising the leaf edges and letting oxidation run partway generates aromatic compounds that neither green nor black tea produces — and because stopping at the right moment is a judgement made by smell.