Artofteavessels

What’s So Special About Oriental Beauty Tea?

fullsizeoutput_1a8f-scaled-1.jpeg
70159000_2667284029958197_2723824549241028608_o
oriental beauty tea

The Story About Oriental Beauty Tea

Oriental Beauty Tea also called Dongfang meiren (Chinese: 東方美人eastern beauty’) or baihao (白毫), among other Chinese names, is a heavily oxidised long-bud type oolong tea originating in Hsinchu County, Taiwan. It is an insect tea produced from leaves bitten by the tea jassid, an insect that feeds on the tea plant.

  1.  Discovery form An Accidental Revelation

Oriental Beauty Tea was an invention by a unique technique in Taiwan. It was a beautiful mistake, initially. When a tea farmer once encountered insect problems, they picked the upper leaves and buds that are the finest parts of the trees bitten by the insects. Not wanting to waste the harvest, they took the tea to the tea laboratory and discovered that after the insects sucked the tea stems and buds juice, it started the oxidation process. The chemicals that the plant releases in response to the bug bites added natural sweetness and fruity aromas to the tea.  The farmer then sold this rare tea for a higher price as it was well-received by the world tea industry’s leaders and soon became papular.

69827324 1372105389622018 9110089040312401920 n

2. Acquired Unique Plantation Technique And Growing Conditions

After this significant discovery, the farmer applied this skill to grow all types of tea by feeding the insect, Jacobiasca formosana. And for the need of the feeding, the tea must grow in warmer areas on the leeward side of hills in regions. It also requires sufficient humidity and sunshine at lower altitudes (300–800m) between the mountains and the plains. That’s why this unique plantation technique is only suitable to harvest in the middle of summer, and only about 40–50% of the leaves used. However, as the climate changes globally, Taiwan enjoyed a warm winter almost every year now. That’s why some batches of Oriental Beauty tea can harvest in December, which made it incredibly unique.

However, the annual yield is still low, and the price is relatively high. As a result, the Oriental Beauty Tea considered as one type of rare and SPECIALITY teas. Besides, the moisture content of Oriental Beauty Tea is higher than other teas; the withering process takes longer hence leads to the longer hydrolysis and oxidation processes. The longer time helped generates the typical sweet flavour and taste of this tea.

3. The Names

It thought to have been named Oriental Beauty by Queen Elizabeth the second.  When she tasted the tea, she was amazed by the beauty of the Asian delicious tea; then, she names the tea Oriental Beauty Tea. More recently, the term 白毫烏龍茶 (báiháo wūlóng chá), translated as ‘white-tip oolong tea’ has been used because the tea tips that are bitten by bugs appeared to be white.

fullsizeoutput 1a9b

How to Brew Oriental Beauty Tea

As the Oriental Beauty Tea only uses the tip of the tea leaves, it is so rare. Hence some people considered it as the champagne of the tea. To brew the delicate tea, the Oriental Beauty Tea expert suggested using up to 90 degrees instead of 100 degrees of water to brew for 5 to 8 minutes to get the best result of the flavours.

129722207 2815042425442035 5557018347524432576 o129035357 2815042452108699 7287326356979103178 o

Are you intrigued by the story about Oriental Beauty Tea? If you are a tea lover, you can not miss this one. Go to our shop to check the offers!

<Click here>

You might also enjoy

en_GBEnglish
Scroll to Top