Dongding Oolong Tea

Dongding Oolong Tea

　　Dongding Oolong Tea, commonly known as Dongding Tea, is a highly renowned tea from Taiwan. It is a type of Baozhong tea from Taiwan. The term “Baozhong tea” originates from Anxi in Fujian Province, where local tea shops would wrap the tea in two square sheets of rough-edged paper, inner and outer layers, containing 4 taels of tea leaves, forming a rectangular packet. The outside of the packet was stamped with the tea shop’s mark, and the tea was sold by the packet, hence the name “Baozhong.” Taiwanese Baozhong teas are lightly or moderately fermented and are also called “fragrant oolong teas.” Depending on their appearance, they can be divided into two types: strip-style Baozhong tea, represented by “Wenshan Baozhong Tea,” and semi-ball-shaped Baozhong tea, represented by “Dongding Oolong Tea.” It has long enjoyed the reputation of “Wenshan in the north, Dongding in the south.”

Its origin is in Lugu Township, Nantou County, Taiwan, and it is primarily a semi-fermented tea made from Qingxin Oolong leaves. Traditionally, its fermentation level is around 30%. A unique aspect of its production process is that after drying, the tea leaves are wrapped in cloth and rolled into balls again to achieve semi-fermented, semi-ball shapes — a method known as “cloth-rolling tea processing” or “hot mass rolling.” Traditional Dongding Oolong Tea has a noticeable roasted flavor, although lighter roasting methods have also been developed in recent years. In addition, there is “aged charcoal-roasted tea,” which undergoes repeated high-temperature slow roasting each year to produce a mellow and richly lingering taste. After the 1999 Jiji Earthquake, tea farmers in the Lugu area developed “Dongding Concubine Tea” as part of post-disaster reconstruction efforts.