ZEN8TEA Taiwan High Grade Organic Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea 

Fermentation: 60% - 70%

Hand-Plucked Leaves

In the catalog of Taiwanese teas, Oriental Beauty deserves its own page. Its uniqueness is due to nature's help in the cultivation process: as the leaves' edges are eaten by crickets, oxidization starts before the tea is even picked. Up until the nineteenth century, these leaves were discarded as inferior, until one farmer sold his stock for export to Western Europe. The name Oriental Beauty is said to have come from the Queen of England when she had her first cup.

Oriental Beauty has many names, and this harvest honors all of them. Known as 'five-colored tea' and as 'hairy tea', the leaves are long, knotted strands that range from dark brown to silver, the lightest ones marked by a thin fur that is identical to white tea. Soaked, the leaves transform to an even reddish brown hue, showing how much oxidization has taken place.

Oriental Beauty has a characteristic palate, mixing honey and cinnamon into a heady and lingering aroma. Brew it light enough and you will get a little briskness added to the overall feeling, which closely resembles that of a silver tip tea. The darker you brew it, the sweeter it gets (though there are limits, of course). A magnificent tea, elegant and generous in its uniqueness.