Ingredients: 100% Organic Bai Hao Oolong tea.  Hand-crafted artisan tea.

One of our Artisan Reserve oolong teas, a line of small batch handmade teas from a craft handed down over generations. Hand selected for having all the hallmark qualities of the highest grades with noteable personality accents. 

Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea is an oolong tea also known as Bai Hao Oolong or Champagne Formosa. The name Bai Hao means white tip and refers to the small tender white buds that are picked along with the top two leaves.

We have managed to procure a batch of the finest Eastern Beauty we have ever tasted. It has all the hallmarks of a legendary Oriental Beauty, the floral sweetness and lingering notes of berry, but also has a deep earthy richness that is often not found in a Bai Hao.

This batch has a depth and richness we have never come across when cupping this type of tea. It certainly has all the woodsy and earthy and complex fruit notes that you would expect with a quality bai hao oolong. However, this batch, from our friend's small farm in Huang Shan, China, is out of this world. Deep, deep flavor and accompanying mouthfeel. Brothy without being heavy. Imminently satisfying with a nourishing quality.

60-70% fermentation.

We love this tea for its depth of personality and ability to handle long steep times. A little history, the origin of this name dates back to the early 20th century when a British tea merchant presented a sample of this tea to Queen Elizabeth II. From there, the Queen named this tea as Oriental Beauty.

AKA Eastern Beauty, Bai Hao Oolong

Water: 200°F | Leaves: 1 TBSP per 12 ounce cup | Infusion Time: 3-4 minutes

Basic Steeping Tips
- Use filtered or spring water, whenever possible 
- Don’t overboil water 
- Remove leaves after recommended time (adjust to taste) 
- If you want stronger tea, use more leaves instead of steeping for a longer time 
Leaves can be resteeped 2-3 times resulting in various flavor differences. Don’t throw out those leaves until they have given it all up!

Polyphenol in oolong tea is effective in controlling weight. It activates the enzyme that is responsible for dissolving triglycerides. Studies have confirmed that a 2-3 cup per day intake of oolong tea contributes to enhancing the function of fat metabolism and controlling obesity.

The Oriental Beauty dates back to the end of the 19th century, when Taiwan began to export their teas to the west. During this time, tea was mostly harvest at low altitudes in the plains of northern Taiwan. Most of the tea farmers were new immigrants from the Fujian Province of China with little experience for growing tea. Each summer, the farmer’s tea plants were eaten by swarms of small green leaf cicadas. The farmers didn’t bother to harvest these tea plants because the low quality would be turned down by the foreign traders. However, one farmer in the Hsin Chu county of Taipei harvested his bitten leaves and managed to sell them for a high price to one of the foreign traders, John Dodd. Legend has it that the tea made from these leaves were so good that it made its way to the Queen Elizabeth II, who named it “Oriental Beauty.” Back in Hsin Chu, the farmer bragged to everyone how great his tea was, and thus the tea was also dubbed “Pong Fong Cha” or “bragger’s tea”. 

The Oriental Beauty is highly oxidized. After being bitten by cicadas, the leaves are harvested during the summer. The bite catalyzes the oxidation process, reduces astringency, and adds a sweet, honey characteristic to the tea.