How To Properly Brew Oolong Tea

Oolong tea can be a tricky drink to make properly, but if you prepare it in the Gong Fu Cha Style, which literally means "brew tea with discipline and graceful skill", you can't go wrong.

Follow these guidelines and you're sure to have a great tasting cup of wulong tea every time!

1) Boil The Water - This is imperative. Since this tea is much more coarse and thick than teas like green or white, it requires a higher water temperature in order to open the leaves to let the flavor out. Once the water boils, pour it over the leaves after only a few seconds of cooling.

The actual temperature should be roughly 185-203 degrees.

2) Use The Right Teapot - For oolong, a chinese yixing teapot, available from Generation Tea should be used as the teapot. This helps with flavor, as well as the visual appeal.

3) Use Fresh, Cold Water - Try not to use water that has been sitting out for awhile, or water that just isn't clean. Cold tap water shouldn't be used if possible, as filtered or bottled water provides a much better flavor in the end.

4) Use Two Different Brews - Since oolong tea is a little harder to open up, your first brew should consist of only a little water poured over the leaves. This opens them up and gets them ready to infuse, but this first batch should be discarded. The taste will be too bitter to be enjoyable. Of course, if the leaves have already been opened up in a previous brew, this isn't necessary.

5) Smell The Aroma - This isn't really necessary for better taste (although it helps), but rather to enjoy the tea on a deeper level. Smelling the aroma from the first batch is a good way to open up your senses so they are more receptive to the taste when your ready to drink the tea.

5) The Second Brew - After the oolong tea has been opened up, it's ready for the second batch of water. The oolong tea should be infused for approximately 1-3 minutes, depending on your taste, and the infusion time should gradually increase with each infusion. Make sure your teapot has enough room inside it for the wulong tea leaves to fully open.

6) Use High-Quality wulong tea - Like in most other cases in life, quality overpowers quantity. That is especially true with tea. The quality of a tea is a VERY big factor in the final outcome on its flavor. Just like there are different qualities of steak, there is a big difference in quality for tea as well.