With the arrival of our spring batch of Taiwan Dong Ding Oolong Tea, we were inspired to brew it alongside our Traditional Dong Ding Oolong as well as our current edition of the Eco-Cha Tea Club — which also happens to be a Traditional Dong Ding Oolong. All three teas were harvested this spring from the same community in Lugu, Taiwan.

In the photo above, our Dong Ding Oolong is on the left, our in store Traditional Dong Ding Oolong is in the middle, and our Tea Club batch of Traditional Dong Ding Oolong is on the right. Dong Ding Oolong has been known to be a roasted tea for at least 40 years now. This was not always the case however. Roasted Dong Ding Oolong became popular with the onset of tea competitions and commercial promotion of this local specialty. Local tea merchants were known to roast previous batches of Oolong Tea that did not sell out seasonally. This was soon in high demand. The local competitions adopted this popular roasted version as their competition standard, and the rest is history!

We brewed 6g of tea in 150mL tea judging cups for two minutes, twice. The roasted Dong Ding on the left is noticeably darker than the unroasted traditional versions. Our in store Traditional Dong Ding is made from Tai Cha #20 Ying Xiang Oolong cultivar, and was picked at least one week earlier than the Tea Club batch, which is made from Qing Xin Oolong cultivar. The middle brew is slightly darker than the brew on the right, possibly resulting from younger, tender leaf material, and differences in the weather conditions on the days of harvest. It also could be somewhat influenced by the cultivar stock, although these two strains are similar, and pretty closely related.

The roasted version of Dong Ding Oolong is unquestionably a bolder character with a more pronounced flavor profile — which is what made the roasted version famous! The hybrid strain in the middle offers an exceptionally aromatic well oxidized Oolong. And the classic Qing Xin Oolong on the right has an amazingly smooth mouth feel, and a very balanced, satisfying character.

We are excited to be able to offer these versions of Dong Ding Oolong Tea, along with our Lugu Competition Dong Ding Oolong Tea. We proudly offer three different versions of Dong Ding Oolong in our store in order to provide a more in depth understanding of this local specialty. Dong Ding Oolong Tea Country is where our life long tea adventure began 30 years ago. So we are dedicated to sharing our love for this micro-culture of traditional Taiwan Oolong Tea!

Watch our tasting video to get the full details of our take on these three teas, along with a full explanation of each one.

You can always get the low down on these teas by reading our product pages and blog posts. Just search Dong Ding Oolong Tea on our site to find all kinds of info!

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