2018 Lao Dongfang Meiren Oolong (Oriental Beauty) Tea

Oriental Beauty tea is a medium-fermented oolong made of bug bitten leaves.

Dong Fang Mei Ren is a long twisted version of Beauty, which can also be rolled into hemispheres - such tea is called Gui Fei oolong.

Thai Beauty is quite distinct from her Taiwanese sister. First, our tea is made from Ruan Zhi oolong (TRES № 17). This hybrid is rare in Taiwan nowadays and Dong Fang Mei Ren is produced from Qin Xin Da Pan cultivar there. Second, there are terroir differences. You can recognize Thai origin by the bright fruity tones such as of mango, strawberries, litchi, peach, and other tropical fruits.

Our regular and attentive customers may notice that the harvest in the tea attributes has "aged" by 4 years. Yes, we were lucky enough to find an aged Beauty with a brighter and more powerful profile-and were happy to replace 2022 with 2018, although there was an option to simply restock the previous batch. We don't chase fresh tea, but we always choose the most flavorful.

Warmed, this DongFang MeiRen smells of floral honey and chocolate candy. Its infusion carries delightful notes of honey and sea buckthorn jam, intertwined with hints of chocolate, clover, and floral accents. When brewed strongly—or overbrewed—all the tones merge into a rich, vivid bouquet dominated by the meadow honey flavors.

Oriental Beauty tea has several other names. Because of the light fluffy buds, this tea is called Bai Hao (White Tip) oolong, because of the legend - Pen Feng Cha (Braggart’s Tea), for its bright sparkling taste - Champagne oolong.

Peng Feng Cha Legend - Bragger’s Tea

Long ago, the legend says, one tea farmer had left his fields due to extremely important, urgent matters. And so he couldn't care properly about the plantation any more. As a result, his wonderful garden had been attacked by an enormous quantity of tiny green insects (tea green leafhopper). Almost all the leaves had been bitten and had begun to turn yellow. Nevertheless, he couldn't allow himself to abandon producing tea. He continued to harvest, proceed and make his oolongs. To his great surprise, the tea that had been produced from the yellow bitten leaves had a very strong sweet fragrance. The farmer was so proud and bragged a lot about his tea, hence the name Peng Feng.

As it has turned out, the bites of the insects had caused leaves and buds oxidation and fermentation by enzymes, and hence sweet floral and honey notes had appeared.

Bug-bitten Tea

Oriental Beauty oolong is produced only from tea leaves, which were attacked by little flies - small green leaf-hoppers, which come in the period from late April to June. The leaf, defending itself from bites, releases a special enzyme. As a result, a tea made from such material, has these distinctive natural honey-fruity tones that are characteristic of Oriental Beauty Tea.

Thai farmers consider the arrival of leaf-hoppers as a great luck. They try to keep their plantations as natural as possible and do not use chemical fertilizers, hoping that the green tea flies will return to them again and will bite their tea bushes, giving rise to amazing honey and muscat tones in the future tea. And that is why this oolong is expensive.

Try To Cold Brew Oriental Beauty Tea

According to the Taiwanese tradition, Oriental Beauty is well suited for cold brewing. Indeed, this oolong is wonderfully infused in cold water.

Once at the factory they made me a bottle of this tea to go for my way back. But because of a big hurry, I made only two stops in five hours and drank just a few sips of this tea. So I brought it all home. The tea got so strongly infused that the luscious honey aroma from the bottle knocked me down. It was an absolutely undrinkable drink but still interesting to taste.