Oriental Beauty | Subscription
Rose, citrus, honeyed figs
Regular price $38
Oolong tea · high oxidation · unroasted
Rose, citrus, honeyed figs
Oriental Beauty oolong tea, or Dongfang Meiren, was the most precious tea in 20th century Taiwan. It traveled to the West and was given its name by an English Queen for its beautiful depth of flavor. It is also known as champagne oolong or Bai Hao oolong.
Oriental Beauty has a signature aroma of muscat grape, brought to life by a tiny insect – the tea jassid Jacobiasca formosana. When the tea plant is bitten by the jassid, it secretes a defensive hormone to attract the jassid’s main predator. As tea leaves with a high level of the secretion undergo oxidative processing, a muscat-like aroma develops.
The tea jassid thrives in warmer weather and is especially active at the bookends of summer, causing the harvest to be very seasonal. Higher quality Oriental Beauty contains more tea buds, the white brow-shaped leaves coated with resinous baby fuzz.
Oriental Beauty offers aromas of citrus and flowers. It opens with a bouquet of rose petals and sweet muscat grape. The finish is long and generous, rendering baked sweetness from honeyed figs.
