Types Of Tea & Tea Terminology

Tea Glossary Page 10: Terms N & O

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Needle: The dried tea leaf, rolled from a natural leaf shape into a long, narrow “needle” shape. See the photo of oolong tea needles below.

Nilgri Tea: A dark, intensely aromatic, fragrant and flavorful tea grown in the southern portion of the Western Ghats mountains of Southern India (the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu) and other areas. Its strong flavors make it desirable for blending into quality Orange Pekoe.

Nose: The aroma of the infusion.

Nilgri tea. Photo by Badagnani | Wikimedia Commons.

Oolong: A semi-fermented or semi-oxidized (semi-green) tea that falls between green and black tea on the fermentation continuum (green tea does not ferment at all, black tea ferments for two to four hours; for oolong, the fermentation process is interrupted in the middle). While the tea looks similar to black tea, the taste is closer to the green tea, with a more rounded flavor and mouthfeel. Oolongs are produced in the Fujian province of China and on the island of Taiwan, formerly called Formosa by the Portuguese traders (ihla formosa means “beautiful island” in Portuguese); hence the name Formosa Oolong for one of the best-known oolong tea. Oolong is characterized by lighter brews and larger leaf styles. Its color is golden to dark brown and its taste and aroma range from fruity to floral. Examples include pouchong, qing tea, red hood/red robe), ti kwan yin, wuyi and generic oolong. Oolongs are traditionally fired into hot woks and cooked very quickly, which stops the fermentation process. Oolongs, like green teas, should be brewed at 195°F.

Golden Phoenix Oolong comes from the unique tea trees of Feng Huang Shan that were cited in Song Dynasty Tribute Tea Records of the 11th and 12th centuries. Once reserved exclusively for emperors of China, the trees were once guarded by soldiers. Golden Phoenix Oolong has a floral, nectar-like aroma of ripe peaches and apricots. Like a great wine evolving in a glass, it takes on a different intensity and character with each consecutive infusion. The tea is available at RishiTea.com.

The following information is provided by PalaisDesThes.com:

Oolongs are divided into two categories: light oolongs, which are lightly fermented (10% to 15% fermentation) prepared in the so-called Chinese way; and dark oolongs, where the fermentation process is much more important (60% to 70% fermentation) in which the teas are processed according to a method more specifically developed in Taiwan. In practice, the preparation of semi-fermented teas is less clear-cut than this: each plantation has its own recipes and produces teas with different degrees of fermentation. Rather than adhere to the traditional divisions of Chinese versus Taiwanese methods, all semi-fermented teas have to go through the following procedures:

Withering: The leaves are left to wither in the sun for a few hours. They are placed into baskets and shaken, which bruises the leaves and exposes the juices in the leaves to the air, which begins the process of oxidation (fermentation). They are then put in the shade to cool.
Sweating: The most important stage in the preparation of oolong teas. The leaves are placed in a room that is kept at a constant temperature of between 22°C and 25°C with a humidity level of roughly 85%, in which they are continually stirred with ever-increasing force. This allows the aroma to be released and facilitates the evaporation of water. The final degree of sweating depends on the duration of this process: in the so-called Chinese method the fermentation is halted as soon as the leaves have reached a 10% to 12% degree of fermentation and this produces light teas with a leafy flavor. The so-called Taiwanese method involves a longer period of sweating allowing fermentation to progress to a level
of up to 70% and producing darker, fruitier teas.
Roasting: Once the desired degree of fermentation is reached, roasting allows the tea enzymes’ reaction to be halted. This procedure is identical to the one used to produce green teas.
Rolling: As with green teas, the rolling process gives the leaves their twisted shape. The leaves are often very large and are just creased or sometimes rolled into large pearls.

Oolong Tea

Oolong tea: Da Hong Pao Red Robe, Formosa Oolong and Silk Oolong. Photo courtesy of TeaForte.com.

Orange Pekoe: Pronounced peck-oh, it is the second highest grade in a seven-tier grading system for black tea. It describes the size and physical condition of the leaf, not a particular kind of tea, quality, or flavor. (Most teas labeled Orange Pekoe are blends.) Pekoe is derived from the Chinese word for white, which referred to the white hair on the leaf bud. Early Western merchants used the word to mean that the leaves so graded were exclusively plucked from the tip of the branch: the leaf bud and the two leaves below the bud. Its use in India and Sri Lanka broadened to mean whole leaves of a uniform size, and this is what it generally means now. It may include leaves picked from lower on the branch. (See Flowery Orange Pekoe.) Orange is variously described as a reference to the Dutch House of Orange or a reference to an old Chinese practice of including orange blossoms as a flavoring agent.

Organic: The USDA’s National Organic Program certifies products as organic based on farming, handling, manufacturing, distribution and labeling practices. Requirements include: no antibiotics or growth hormones for animals, animals must be raised on organic feed and have free range to graze, crops must be raised with no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers containing synthetic chemicals, no sewage-sludge fertilizer, no bio-engineered foods or irradiation, and no GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Farming practices should enhance and preserve soil and water.

A government inspector must certify the farm after visiting it; farmers must keep detailed records on crops. There is a network of certifying organizations outside the United States who do the certification, for example, in China and other tea-producing regions.

Orthodox: Prepared using a technique which leads to larger leaf styles, mirroring hand-produced teas.

Oxidation: A process that converts the plucked tea leaf to oolong or black tea. Green tea is barely oxidized. See fermentation.

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