Firstly; what are the types of Chinese tea that are rolled? The main group that springs to mind for me are the Oolong family. If you look closely at loose Oolong tea leaves before they have been brewed you will notice that the leaves are tightly wound up into little pellets. Two loose green teas that are also clearly rolled are Jasmine Dragon Pearls and Gunpowder Green tea.
These teas, while still being whole leaf appear to be small and potentially broken leaves before they are brewed. Or in the case of Jasmine Dragon Pearls they look like tiny little green marbles. But the magic happens when you pour the boiled (and hopefully cooled as boiling water damages the whole leaf) unto the leaves and you can see them being to open up or unfurl. Once this process is completed you should be left with open, whole leaves of tea.
So what is the point of rolling an Oolong tea?
Oolongs are rolled after oxidation to create their tightly closed shaped to improve the taste of the tea while brewing it. When preparing Oolong it is recommended that you rinse the tea first so as to encourage the leaves to begin to open. So your first brew after the rinsing will be with leaves that are partially open or are in the stages of opening. Subsequent brews will have different nuances and tastes because the leaves will be at different stages of unfurling. This is what makes Oolong such a complex tea in terms of flavours.
This type of rolling and the rolling I will describe for Jasmine Dragon Pearls below is not to be confused with rolling teas as the catalyst for starting the oxidation process required to make cha such as Black, Oolong or Puerh.
Jasmine Dragon Pearls are exactly that, OK not exactly from Dragons, but the little balls do resemble pearls. The same will happen as does with the Oolong leaves, once the pearls are submerged in water they will open up to reveal multiple green tea leaves.
The process used to roll these leaves is a little different because each individual pearl is made by wrapping it in tiny pieces of paper which later have to be removed. It is a long process which accounts for the sometimes high price of Jasmine Pearls.
So there you have it, a little introduction into tea rolling. I still have a lot to learn and while I have seen the Jasmine Pearls being rolled I have not yet seen this process for Oolong tea but I hope that one day I will!
These teas, while still being whole leaf appear to be small and potentially broken leaves before they are brewed. Or in the case of Jasmine Dragon Pearls they look like tiny little green marbles. But the magic happens when you pour the boiled (and hopefully cooled as boiling water damages the whole leaf) unto the leaves and you can see them being to open up or unfurl. Once this process is completed you should be left with open, whole leaves of tea.
So what is the point of rolling an Oolong tea?
Oolongs are rolled after oxidation to create their tightly closed shaped to improve the taste of the tea while brewing it. When preparing Oolong it is recommended that you rinse the tea first so as to encourage the leaves to begin to open. So your first brew after the rinsing will be with leaves that are partially open or are in the stages of opening. Subsequent brews will have different nuances and tastes because the leaves will be at different stages of unfurling. This is what makes Oolong such a complex tea in terms of flavours.
This type of rolling and the rolling I will describe for Jasmine Dragon Pearls below is not to be confused with rolling teas as the catalyst for starting the oxidation process required to make cha such as Black, Oolong or Puerh.
Jasmine Dragon Pearls are exactly that, OK not exactly from Dragons, but the little balls do resemble pearls. The same will happen as does with the Oolong leaves, once the pearls are submerged in water they will open up to reveal multiple green tea leaves.
The process used to roll these leaves is a little different because each individual pearl is made by wrapping it in tiny pieces of paper which later have to be removed. It is a long process which accounts for the sometimes high price of Jasmine Pearls.
So there you have it, a little introduction into tea rolling. I still have a lot to learn and while I have seen the Jasmine Pearls being rolled I have not yet seen this process for Oolong tea but I hope that one day I will!
You can explore Chinese teas from LuLin Teas here or click if you want to learn more about Oolong Tea or Jasmine Dragon Pearls.
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