Oolong Tea

Many people are just now hearing of Oolong tea. However, like many teas, it has been around for several hundred years. In fact, it was over 400 years ago that it was first produced in China. While it started out in China, this tea is now exported and sold all over the world. The name itself comes translates to Black Dragon Tea. Oolong is also known as Wu Long tea. The Wu means Black and the Long translates to Dragon. There are a lot of different stories and legends on how this tea came to be named as well as discovered. The true origin of Oolong tea happens to be some Oolong tea facts that are not actually known by anybody. However, everybody that knows about it knows that it first came about from the Fujian Province. Understand some of the more popular origins and decide for yourself which sounds most plausible.

Tribute Origin of Oolong Tea

One of the most popular origin stories of this tea is that it is what is known as a tribute tea. This particular tea was rumored to be sent to the Emperor as a kind of taxation that was unofficial. When it first came to be, Oolong tea was pressed down into hard cakes instead of Oolong tea bags to make it easier to ship and store it. Phoenix as well as dragon tea cakes were the kinds of tribute teas that happened to be sent to the very well known Imperial Tea Garden Beiyuan. This was in Fujian Province. Legends say that once the tea cakes began to fall out of the Ming Dynasty favor, the Beiyuan itself began to make its own tea. This tea happened to be very curly, long and glossy. The look of the Oolong tea is what caused it to get its name, Wu Long or “Black Dragon”.

Wuji Shan Mountain Origin

Another popular story about the origin of what is Oolong tea and where did it come from happens to go back to when it was very first produced. This happened at Wuji Shan Mountain in the Fujian Province area. They say that it the name of the tea was actually after the part of this mountain that it came from. There are at least 2 different Qing Dynasty poems that speak of this legend. Because of the similar names as well as the agreed upon location of Oolong tea, this is a very popular origin that people look to. However, there are still other origins to look into before you make up your mind about the Oolong tea work history.

The Hunter Origin

Another legend is one that makes this tea something that came about completely by accident. It starts with a man named Wu Liang. He was picking tea and was nearing the end of his very exhausting day. At one point, a deer distracts him. He began to chase the deer while he was still picking and gathering the tea that would soon become Oolong tea. The leaves that were in his cloth bag began to oxidize and get bruised while he was running after the deer. Once he made the discovery of what had happened to the original Oolong tea during his chase he did not want to waste his hard work. He decided to try it to see if it was completely ruined or if he could salvage it. He brewed and dried it and was surprised at the smooth and mild taste unlike anything he had experienced before. He began to share this new discovery that he had made and in no time, Oolong tea or Wu Long was named after him in honor of his pleasant mistake that he had made.

The First Oolong Tea Export

While the origin of this tea is something that has been debated for many years, the first export of Oolong tea for sale is agreed upon and known. Back in 1610, the Dutch brought this tea to Holland. This was the Europeans first chance to get to taste this particular tea. In the beginning, it was sold to them as a type of very exotic medicine. People weren’t buying it when it was marketed this way. However, in 1635, Oolong tea was given to the Dutch royalty. In no time the wives of the very wealthy merchants began to drink it as well. In 1662, Charles II of England married a Portuguese princess that drank the tea. It was then that it became very popular in England as the Oolong tea diet. It was right around this time that the tea was brought into the New World with the help of English and Dutch traders.

Jasmine Oolong Origin

Jasmine Oolong tea is very popular and was something that was made by accident. A servant to the Emperor was boiling water so it could purify whenever a leaf from the camellia sinensis plant drifted off and fell into the water being boiled. This particular Emperor, Shen Nung was very well known as a renowned herbalist. Because of this, he felt compelled to try the leaf filled water. The taste itself was very gentle and had an effect that was very stimulating and is one of the many benefits of Oolong tea. The blossoms of the jasmine just so happened to have drifted into the Oolong tea as it was being dried which gave it a very pleasant aroma.

Oolong Popularity

Oolong is a very popular tea nowadays. It has a lot of rumors going around about it which makes it more popular for the wrong reasons. A lot of the other kinds of tea will have more astringent than what Oolong tea has. This means that it is a lot gentler on the stomach as well as the tongue and it is a very slimming tea. Its full aroma and very mild taste are just a few of the things that make Oolong tea so popular and loved by people from all over the world.