Dong Ding Oolong Tea / 凍頂烏龍

Dong Ding Oolong tea was originally planted in Deer Valley (Lugu), Nantou. It started from Dong Ding Mountain and was gradually cultivated and expanded to Zhangya Village, Phoenix Village, and Yunglung Village and later to the whole town of Deer Valley (Lugu). “South Dong Ding” and North Pouchong” are the two most famous and most representative Tea in Taiwan.

Dong Ding is mainly a half fermented tea made from the Qingxing Oolong tea tree. Traditionally, the degree of fermentation is about 30%. The unique aspect about this tea production process is that after drying, the leaves are rolled with cloth repeatedly as a ball to go through the kneading and twisting procedure to make the half fermented half spherical shape. The procedure is called “cloth kneading” or “hot kneading and twisting”. The taste of the traditional Dong Ding Oolong tea is roasted with a fruity, honey aroma. This is also the traditional procedure that Fang Gourmet Tea insists on.

Characteristics of Dong Ding Oolong

* Hand picked, one bud three leaves or one bud two leaves

* Tea leaves are half spherical, color is dark green with faint golden fringe

* After brewing, tea color is bright golden yellow to amber, fragrance is ripe fruity or strong floral, with a rich, mellow, sweet and smooth taste, and long lingering sweet aftertaste along with a evident roasted aroma.

* When leaves unfold, its appearance includes ash spots like frog skin, leaves curled up like shrimp ball, light green leaves with red inlay at the edges known as “green leaf scarlet fringe” or “green stalk, green belly, red fringe”.

Production Environment

Dong Ding Mountain is situated 743 meters above sea level, with an average temperature of 25 degree Celsius, and always surrounded by clouds and fog. With the right temperature and humidity along with suitable soil, the oolong tea produced is famous worldwide and the name of the place Dong Ding also became synonymous with Oolong tea.

We will be featuring this tea at our upcoming tea tasting event in NYC from June 11th to June 13th for all tea lovers to enjoy.

原產於南投鹿谷鄉，因此從原本的凍頂山逐漸開墾繁種擴展至彰雅村、鳳凰村、永隆村一帶，之後擴及鹿谷全鄉。「南凍頂」與「北包種」為台灣南北兩大名茶，可說是台灣最具代表性的茶品。

主要是以青心烏龍為原料製成的半發酵茶。傳統上，其發酵程度在30%左右。製茶過程獨特之處在於：烘乾後，需再重複以布包成球狀揉捻茶葉，使茶成半發酵半球狀，稱為「布揉製茶」或「熱團揉」。傳統凍頂烏龍茶帶明顯焙火味及果蜜香。亦是芳茗軒一貫堅持的傳統製程。

凍頂烏龍特點

*手工摘取，一心三葉或一心兩葉

*茶葉成半球狀，色澤墨綠，邊緣隱隱金黃色。

*沖泡後，茶湯金黃明亮，偏琥珀色，帶熟果香或濃花香，味醇厚甘潤，喉韻回甘十足，帶明顯焙火韻味。

*茶葉展開，外觀有青蛙皮般灰白點，葉間捲曲成蝦球狀，葉片中間淡綠色，葉底邊緣鑲紅邊，稱為“綠葉紅鑲邊”或“青蒂、綠腹、紅鑲邊”。

產地環境

海拔743公尺的凍頂山，終年雲霧飄渺，年平均溫度為攝氏25度，溫濕度、氣候加上土壤適合，所出產的烏龍茶聞名國內外，連地名「凍頂」也成了烏龍茶的代名詞。