Oolong Tea

Tea is traditionally classified based on the degree or period of "fermentation" the leaves have undergone.

Oolong tea's oxidation is stopped somewhere between the standards for green tea and black tea. The processing typically takes two to three days from withering to drying with a relatively short oxidation period of several hours. In Chinese, semi-oxidized teas are collectively grouped as blue tea (青茶, literally: blue-green tea / "celadon tea"), while the term "oolong" is used specifically as a name for certain semi-oxidized teas.

Oxidation period certainly decides the flavor of oolong tea and different tea varieties require different period of oxidation to reach the best flavor. Common wisdom about lightly oxidized teas in Taiwan (a large producer of Oolong) is that too little oxidation upsets the stomach of some consumers. Even so, some producers attempt to minimize oxidation in order to produce a specific taste or allow the tea leaves to be easily rolled into the spherical or half-sphere form demanded by buyers in the market.

Oolong tea was first developed in the Fujian province of the period of Tang Dynasty. It was originally produced in thin brick form, known then under then name "Beiyuan" tea. The importance of the withering process for producing oolong tea was described by poet Huang Furen in his poem, which indicated that the processing of tea leaves is not a simple task, requiring the scaling of steep cliffs to pick the choicest leaves and the withering of the leaves under the sun and warm winds.

Generally, 3 grams of tea per 200 ml of water, or about two teaspoons of oolong tea per cup, should be used. Oolong teas should be prepared with 200 to 205°F (93 to 96°C) water (not boiling) and steeped 3–10 minutes. High quality oolong can be steeped several times from the same leaves and, unlike other teas, it improves with re-brewing: it is common to steep the same leaves three to five times, the third or fourth steeping usually being considered the best.

It is said that oolong tea is good for losing weight. There are two main ways to gain this good result; increase energy expenditure and inhibit the absorption of nutrients, including fat and carbohydrates. Study shows that oolong tea in general contains caffeine, Caffeine is a stimulant so it is widely accepted that the caffeine in tea increases metabolism, so good at increasing energy expenditure.

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