There really is nothing like an exquisite Oriental Beauty Oolong - the distinctive notes of honey and thick citrus in a velvet textured liquor bring you to an instant and deep appreciation of the tea culture and tea artistry of Taiwan.
This particular lot of Oriental Beauty is hand-picked, from Qingxin Dapang bushes in Hsin Chu, Taiwan.
A quick note about Oriental Beauty oolong generally: it is one of the famous leaf hopper teas from Taiwan. What this means is that a tiny little jassid called a 'leaf hopper' chews on the leaf in the summer and basically those little bites start oxidative and other chemical change processes (like the production of terpenes) in the leaf before the leaf is even picked! The presence of leaf hoppers is good, as it makes for a tea with an intensely rich aroma profile and reduced astringency as well as it indicates that the tea is clean because if you spray pesticides then the leaf hoppers won't come and do their leaf hopper magic. Oriental Beauty is one of the most oxidized oolongs in the oolong category. It generally is taken to about 80% oxidation. The color of the leaves is varied - in fact, the tea is sometimes called 'five color tea' because of that. The injuries that the leaf hoppers do to the leaves result in a variety of shades of bronze, brown, or red developing in the leaves and make for a beautiful dry leaf.