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Brewing black tea

It is incorrect that the Chinese characters for Oolong literally means Black Dragon. The English term oolong derives from the southern Fujian abbreviation of WuLong shortened for the discoverer Wu Liang who prepared a deer overnight while tea slightly oxidized. The oolong shipped to England was known as Bohea which was this Wuyi tea. The moderate oxidized tea known as Black Dragon was developed in Formosa in the mid nineteenth century based on a myth that a farmer was scared by a black snake (Black Dragon) which allowed more oxidation. So I use Wuyi to mean slightly oxidize (more than Pouchong) and Black Dragon moderate oxidize (less than Tiequanyin). I haven't seen the Chinese characters for Black Dragon. The best known Guangdong tea is Lychee. I came across my first Guangdong oolong about a year ago in a tea shoppe and not a retail store. I know about Dragon Phoenix so if the local merchants will ever stock some.

Jim

Reply to
Space Cowboy
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No, it's correct. Wu = Black, Long = Dragon.

No matter whether these stories are true or false, in Chinese WuLong translates literally as Black Dragon.

Then you might have trouble getting your meaning across to others. There are Wuyi green teas, you know.

Best known where?

*Dragon* Phoenix?

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

My Mandarin-speaking wife tells me Hei is black, Wu is dark. But it sounds like a subtle distinction to me.

Reply to
Dan Stromberg

Do you simply mean the traditional and simplified variants? The below links show both versions, the simplified in brackets:

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Reply to
Bossk (R)

That site is worth it's weight in gold. I've been looking for years for something like that. You don't need any special character sets. Each character gets it's own English and Chinese radical tree! You're right and I forgot the difference between traditional and simplified. I still use it to tell where my oolongs come from especially Taiwan. I thought I was making much to do about nothing on the source of wulong. For years I never saw a dictionary with the wu long black dragon characters. You'd think every Chinese dictionary would have the dragon character. It doesn't hurt to walk a plank and enticed back with with a fantastic resource like this.

Jim

Reply to
Space Cowboy

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