Formosa Oriental Beauty
Formosa Oriental Beauty
Formosa Oriental Beauty
Taiwan

Formosa Oriental Beauty

Dongfang Meiren

A bug-bitten, heavily oxidised oolong.

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About

The leaves harvested to create this tea release terpenes when bitten by the tea jassid, creating its muscatel-like flavour.

Oriental Beauty, or Dongfang Meiren, is a Taiwanese oolong with an unusual requirement: the leaves are bitten by insects before they're picked.

Grown without pesticides to encourage this phenomenon, a small leafhopper (Jacobiasca formosana) feeds on the young leaves and the plant responds by panicking, producing the compounds that give the tea its honey and ripe-fruit character.

A heavily oxidised oolong, processing takes levels to 60-70% – putting this tea closer to a black tea than to other light, ball-rolled oolongs. The processing technique keeps this oolong's softness and it has a long, sweet finish. The leaf is tippy and multicoloured, the pale buds giving it its other names – White Tip Oolong and Champagne Oolong.

Many familiar with high-altitude second flush Darjeelings will find Oriental Beauty a favourable comparison.

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Formosa Oriental Beauty

Formosa Oriental Beauty

Tasting

Leaf

Twisted, open-style leaves in a mix of dark brown, copper-red and olive, threaded with downy white buds.

Aroma

Floral and honeyed.

Liquor

Amber-brown and clear. Ripe stone fruit and honey over a note of wood, finishing smooth and mellow with a long aftertaste.

Profile
Tea Type Oolong
Processing Bug-bitten, heavily oxidised.
Caffeine High
Perfect For Afternoon
Milk Option Milk is not suitable for this tea.
Preparation

How to brew Formosa Oriental Beauty

Oriental Beauty is heavily oxidised, so it can typically take hotter water than a green oolong without turning harsh, 85-90°C tends to suit. It's forgiving on timing; two to three minutes draws out the honey and fruit without pulling the wood note forward. The open leaf rewards a second and third steep.

Temperature 90°C / 194°F
Measure 3g per 250ml
Steep Time 2-3 min
Infusions 1-2
Brewer's Note

This tea typically takes hotter water well, but experimenting with temperature can timing can reward you with different notes in the tea.

Temperature 90°C / 194°F
Measure 5g per 100ml
Steep Time 20s, then +10s each subsequent
Infusions 5-7
Brewer's Note

This tea is well suited to gongfu brewing. The open, heavily oxidised leaf opens fast and gives a lot across numerous short steeps – first honey with the fruit and wood notes developing as you go.

Origin

Northern Taiwan

Elevation ▲ 100-500m
Country Taiwan

Hsinchu, in Taiwan's northwest, is the historic home of Oriental Beauty, and one of the few famous oolongs that comes from low elevation rather than the island's high mountains. The warm, humid lowland climate – around 100 to 500 metres – is essential, because it suits the leafhopper (Jacobiasca formosana) that defines the tea.

The insect feeds on the young leaves in summer, and the plant's response is what produces Oriental Beauty's character. The tea is heavily oxidised and unroasted, and the region's growers, mostly around the Beipu and Emei townships, built their reputation on this single style.