15th Ave Coffee & Tea

Hello All,

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a blog post about tea and as we’ve just introduced a new tea to our line-up, I thought it’d be just the time to do so. Without any further ado I’d like to introduce you to our new premium tea offering, Bai Hao Oolong or “Oriental Beauty Oolong.”

You may recognize the name “Bai Hao” from our Bai Hao Silver Needle white tea. Bai Hao literally means “white hair” and refers to the silver tips of this oolong’s delicate leaves. It’s told that when the tea was first discovered, the crop had been damaged by an infestation of grass hopper-like insects. One farmer, instead of destroying his crop, decided to process it into tea and take it to the local tea merchant who offered twice the price of his usual tea. When he returned to his village to tell his neighbors of his triumphs, his neighbors thought him to be exaggerating and mockingly named it “Big Mouth Tea” though it wasn’t long before many of the region’s farmers began to grow the Bai Hao Oolong as well. As the tea gained popularity in the western world, it was England’s Queen Elizabeth II who gave the tea its western name “Oriental Beauty Oolong.”

From the Fujian province of China, a region which is traditionally said to be “eight parts mountain, one part water and one part farmland”, Bai Hao oolong is grown at an elevation of 3,000 ft. It is the tea’s oxidation level of 70% that accounts for the fruit-like sweetness of black tea, yet with the hallmark honey fragrance of an oolong. The Bai Hao Oolong is famous worldwide for its magnificent smooth and sweet flavor.

While processing this tea, tea leaves are wound or rolled tightly in order to initiate the oxidation process which is ended by way of charcoal-fire. As a result, the tea as you’ll find it in the cafe is seen in tightly-wound strands that, over the course of several steeps, unwind into full leaves (as you can see in-detail by clicking on the picture above). As the leaves open up, so do the Bai Hao Oolong’s exotic flavors. In order to experience the depth and complexity of this tea, I recommend enjoying a pot of it through all of 3 to 7 steepings allowing for the flavors to best develop.

So whether it’s on Monday’s student night or during our Sunday jazz matinee, be sure to try a pot of our Bai Hao Oolong tea and enjoy as the flavors un-wind. If you have any further questions about our tea offerings, please comment below!

-Amanda