Bold, bright, sweet, and somewhat buttery, this tea’s boost of energy and its uncanny ability to be steeped through numerous infusions sets this Oolong apart. I usually steep the loose leaves in the cup I plan on drinking from, with 195 degree Fahrenheit water. I don’t remove the tea leaves at any point, and instead wait about 3 – 4 minutes for the flavor to extract before consuming the tea through a straw or bombilla (if these options are available to me). I don’t usually notice any bitter flavor until about 10 minutes or so in, and this is more noticeable with each infusion.
One of my favorite things about Oolongs is how they “unroll”.
I use 1 tsp for every 8oz, and by the time I get to the 8th infusion, the cup is full to the rim with huge unrolled tea leaves.
One of my personal favorites, and highly recommended to any Oolong lover.
As an interesting side note, I’ve been told a story as to why this tea has been nicknamed “Monkey Picked Oolong”. Apparently this variety of Oolong is grown by Monks in China. These Monks like to pick the youngest Oolong tea leaves from the top of giant tea trees. Since they can’t reach these tea leaves, Monks will throw rocks at Monkeys that are sitting in the top of the tea trees, and the Monkeys retaliate by throwing the tea back down at the Monks. Thus you have Monkey Picked Oolong. It is also more commonly called Ti Kuan Yin, as Kuan Yin is a Buddhist Goddess.
