Leafhopper Bitten Oolong (白毫乌龙 – Bai Hao Oolong) – Out of Stock

Origin: Taiwan

Leafhopper Bitten Oolong is a hand-crafted, Taiwan competition oolong tea that is prized for its beautifully deep amber color and soft, muscatel-sweet taste. Made by picking the bud and first two leaves, this tea has a wonderful floral-fruity aroma and notes of honey and apricots.

Bai Hao Oolong leaves are created when small, green leafhoppers that thrive only in warm and pollution-free environments, suck the juices of tea leaves, buds and stems. Terpenes are released in the bitten leaves, which create a honey-like taste. To encourage the presence of green leafhoppers, the tea bushes are grown in warmer, lower altitudes of 300 to 800 meters, in unpolluted areas between the mountains and plains with an abundance of moisture and sunshine. Due to the warm weather, only 40% of the tea leaves can be harvested and the rest are lost to the intense summer heat. This produces prized yield and has made authentic Leafhopper Bitten Oolong a tea highly sought after by connoisseurs.

To make Bai Hao Oolong, the tea leaves are dried longer under the sun due to its high moisture content. Following a precise process, they are intensely sun-baked  to 80% oxidation, in the process intensifying their sweet, woody and rich flavor. The wet leaves are beautiful to look at, forming a beautiful kaleidoscope of purple to reddish autumn colors. This tea is both wonderful on its own or paired with desserts.

Tasting Notes:
– Full bodied
– 80% Oxidation
– 40% Roasted
– Honey, Peach, Lychee, Ripened Fruit

How to Brew:

Place a teabag or 1-2 teaspoons into a mug & pour 220ml of simmering water. Steep for 3 – 5 min & enjoy. Good for multiple brews