Ingredients
The tea
- 5 gOriental Beauty oolong
- Dongfang Meiren
- whole leaf, with white tips
The water
- 300 mlwater
- at about 90 degrees
- soft water if you have it
The equipment
- a gaiwan or small teapot
- a fairness pitcher
- small cups
- a kettle
To serve
- on its own
- without milk or sugar
Directions
- Boil the water and let it cool briefly. A minute off the boil is about right.
- Pour hot water into the pot and cups. Swirl it round and pour it away. A cold pot drops the brewing temperature.
- Put the leaf into the warmed pot. About five grams to three hundred millilitres. Pour the hot water over the leaf. Let it steep for about three minutes. Three minutes suits a Western ratio.
- Take it off slightly early rather than late. Pour the whole infusion off the leaf. Leaf left sitting in water keeps brewing.
- Pour it all into the fairness pitcher. Pour it out into the small cups. Small cups keep the tea properly hot.
- Add a little time to each steep. The leaf tells you when it is done. Serve it with no milk or sugar. That is not a rule but a waste otherwise.
- Keep it sealed away from light and air. Keep it away from strong smells. Never store it near spices or coffee.
Technique
- A small leafhopper pierces the buds and sucks the sap, and the plant responds by producing defensive compounds that carry the honey aroma — the insect damage is the point of the crop rather than a problem. That means no pesticide can be used on these gardens, since the insects must be present and feeding, and the bitten leaves are smaller and damaged so the yield is much lower. It is a summer harvest, unusual for a fine tea when most prized teas are spring picked.
- Brew at about ninety degrees rather than boiling, since boiling water scorches the delicate buds and gives harshness in place of honey. Oversteeping turns it bitter and drying and the honey character is lost first, so take it off slightly early. Astringency in the cup means it was too hot or too long.
- The name attached through nineteenth-century British buyers of Formosa oolong, which is the documented route. Stories about a British queen naming it circulate but are not well documented, and the atlas does not repeat them as fact.
Substitutions
- Filtered or soft water is a real improvement, since hard water dulls both flavour and colour more than people expect.
- Gongfu brewing uses far more leaf and steeps under a minute where the Western ratio here uses about five grams to three hundred millilitres for three minutes; both are done with this tea.
Variations
- Pour the whole infusion off the leaf into a fairness pitcher and serve from that: leaf left sitting keeps brewing and turns bitter, and the pitcher evens out the strength so every cup is the same.
- Good oolong gives four or five infusions, each differing; the second is often the best, once the leaf has opened fully.
- Drink it with no milk or sugar, both of which mask the honey aroma entirely.
History
Leaf-hoppers nibbling the buds trigger the honey aroma; the name comes from its nineteenth-century popularity with British buyers of Formosa oolong.
Frequently asked questions
What is Oriental Beauty Tea?
Oriental Beauty Tea is a drink from Taiwan: heavily oxidised Hsinchu oolong with honeyed peach notes from insect-bitten leaves. Leaf-hoppers nibbling the buds trigger the honey aroma; the name comes from its nineteenth-century popularity with British buyers of Formosa oolong.
How long does Oriental Beauty Tea take to make?
Oriental Beauty Tea takes 5 minutes of preparation and 5 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Oriental Beauty Tea?
Yes, within limits. Filtered or soft water is a real improvement, since hard water dulls both flavour and colour more than people expect. Gongfu brewing uses far more leaf and steeps under a minute where the Western ratio here uses about five grams to three hundred millilitres for three minutes; both are done with this tea.
What is the most important thing to get right in Oriental Beauty Tea?
Take it off slightly early rather than late. Pour the whole infusion off the leaf. Leaf left sitting in water keeps brewing.
