Oolong Tea is extremely popular in Asia, but if you order this delicious drink in the West, you are often still met with a blank stare. Things are changing though because every day more Westerners are discovering the delights of this remarkable leaf.
Oolongs teas are the extensive range of teas in between black and green. Tea-makers with the necessary skill are able to coax a wide range of flavours, from deep chocolate to buttery florals to tropical fruit to roasted nuts out of the same batch of leaves.
So let us here at the Kent & Sussex Tea Company introduce you to the world of loose leaf oolong, and the immense possibilities it offers the tea lover. Below are a number of ways of adding flavour to your Oolong tea.
Vanilla flavoured Oolong Latte
For this delicious recipe, you will have to brew your loose leaf oolong a little stronger than usual. A good suggestion is to use twice the normal amount of leaves and allow it to steep for between three and five minutes.
Wait for it to cool down. Now put some crushed ice in a glass and pour the tea on top. To add more flavour, add the extract of about one half of a vanilla bean, unsweetened almond milk, a pinch of salt and scraped. That’s it. Stir it a little, and serve.
Oolong infused with vanilla, almond milk and cinnamon
Brew the tea at just below boiling point (around 195 degrees Fahrenheit) and allow it to steep for between two and three minutes. To make one glass of this delicious drink, you are going to need half a teaspoon each of honey and cinnamon, 1/4 of a cup of almond milk, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.
Allow the tea to cool down and then use a blender to mix all the ingredients. It is best served cold, with as much crushed ice as you prefer.
Maple Oolong Milk Tea
This recipe will excite your senses and warm your soul with its woody, earthy feel. You will have to brew milk and loose leaf oolong together over a pan. Make sure not to overheat the blend. Allow it to warm gradually and slowly.
To make two cups of this tea, you are going to need around 4 teaspoons of oolong leaves and 600 ml of milk. Once the mix has reached the desired temperature, cover it and leave it for a few minutes. Afterwards strain it, and finally add as much maple syrup as you prefer.
Bubble Oolong Flavoured with Chia Seeds
To prepare four delicious cups of this mix, you must first prepare two cups of oolong. Once this has been brewed, it has to be strained out. Then add a natural sweetener such as agave nectar, honey or brown sugar. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
As soon as your oolong has cooled, put a few chia seeds in all four cups and proceed by pouring a similar amount of tea brew in each cup.
You will have to add enough liquid to every cup to allow the chia seeds to bloom. This shouldn’t take much longer than a minute, but you will have to stir the mix now and again.
Once the chia seeds have bloomed, pour the tea that’s left in the pot into the four cups equally. Add a dollop of cream and some crushed ice for an end product that isn’t only tasty, but also healthy.
Oolong with Coconut Milk
To add a unique tropical twist to your oolong, serve it as follows. Brew the tea leaves in hot water for five minutes. While you are waiting, mix some chopped lemongrass with eight fluid ounces of coconut milk and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir the mix, and continue heating it in the microwave for another 30 seconds.
Next pour four fluid ounces of brewed oolong in each of two cups. Now the coconut milk has to be strained before you pour it equally into both cups. Add as much honey as you prefer. If you like lemongrass, you can add some of this as well.
The Bottom Line
Here at the Kent & Sussex Tea Company, we believe that oolong deserves to form part of every discerning tea lover’s collection. Not only is it a delicious refreshment, but it also offers many health benefits.
The sheer number of different blends means that there is one (or more) to fit every taste. From darker blends such as Formosa Ruby Black to lighter blends like Darjeeling 1st Flush Tea Gopaldhara Wonder and medium blends such as Huo Shan Huang Ya Yellow Tea, there is an Oolong that you and your guests are bound to love.