Black Dragon Tea - Oolong Tea 100 gram - Café du Jour loose tea

What black dragon tea is

Black dragon is the older name for oolong tea. Oolong is partly oxidised, stopped somewhere between green tea, which is barely oxidised at all, and black tea, which goes the whole way. That is why it tastes like neither of them and a little like both.

The dry leaf here is coarse and rusty brown, with tips scattered through it: young buds that still have their fine white hairs on, which is a sign the leaf was picked with care. The aroma is sweet, with a nutty note that carries into the cup. Nothing is added — the ingredient list is oolong tea and that is all.

Brewing it

Use 2 to 3 g of loose-leaf tea per 200 ml, in a strainer, an infuser basket or a teapot with a built-in filter. Water at 85 to 90 °C suits oolong; water straight off a rolling boil is harsher than the leaf needs. Two to three minutes is enough for the first infusion. Pour the cup off completely so the leaves stop steeping, and you can go again two or three more times, adding about half a minute each round. The flavour shifts as you go, which is half the reason for drinking oolong loose.

At a glance

• Contents: 100 g loose-leaf oolong tea
• Ingredient: oolong tea, nothing else
• Dry leaf: coarse and rusty brown, with white-haired tips
• Aroma and taste: sweet, nutty
• Brewing: 2 to 3 g per 200 ml, 85 to 90 °C, 2 to 3 minutes
• Re-steeps two or three more times
• Packed by Café du Jour at our own tea house in the Maasland countryside