Free-Reprint Article Written by: Marcus Stout 
See Terms of Reprint Below.


*****************************************************************
*
* This email is being delivered directly to members of the group:
* 
*    [email protected]
* 
*****************************************************************


We have moved our TERMS OF REPRINT to the end of the article.
Be certain to read our TERMS OF REPRINT and honor our TERMS 
OF REPRINT when you use this article. Thank you.

This article has been distributed by:
http://Article-Distribution.com

Helpful Link: 
  The Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Overview
  http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Article Title:
==============

What Is A Quality Imperial Formosa Oolong Tea Garden?

Article Description:
====================

Imperial Formosa Oolong tea is one of the most prized in the
world. Oolong teas from Taiwan are becoming more and more popular
as their delicious taste is discovered by more and more tea
drinkers. Though oolong tea originated in China, and though most
of the oolong tea produced in the world today is still produced
in China, oolong teas from Taiwan, also known as Formosa oolongs
are quickly being recognized for their quality.


Additional Article Information:
===============================

871 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2007-07-06 13:11:00

Written By:     Marcus Stout
Copyright:      2007
Contact Email:  mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]



For more free-reprint articles by Marcus Stout, please visit:
http://www.thePhantomWriters.com/recent/author/marcus-stout.html


=============================================
Special Notice For Publishers and Webmasters:
=============================================

If you use this article on your website or in your ezine,
We Want To Know About It. Use the following URL to let
us know where you have used this article, and we will
include a link to your website on thePhantomWriters.com: 

http://thephantomwriters.com/notify.php?id=5058&p=load


HTML Copy-and-Paste and TEXT Copy-and-Paste 
Versions Of Article Are Available at:
http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/s/quality-oolong-tea-garden.shtml#get_code

---------------------------------------------------------------------

What Is A Quality Imperial Formosa Oolong Tea Garden?
Copyright (c) 2007 Marcus Stout
Golden Moon Tea
http://www.GoldenMoonTea.com



Imperial Formosa Oolong tea is one of the most prized in the
world. Oolong teas from Taiwan are becoming more and more popular
as their delicious taste is discovered by more and more tea
drinkers. Though oolong tea originated in China, and though most
of the oolong tea produced in the world today is still produced
in China, oolong teas from Taiwan, also known as Formosa oolongs
are quickly being recognized for their quality. One of the
reasons that oolong tea is so prized is because it is rare. And
the reason it is rare is because few tea gardens in the world are
up to the challenge of producing this labor intensive tea.

According to Chinese legend, olong tea was discovered by accident
by tea gardener Wu Liang. Wu Liang was busy collecting and
processing tea leaves for green tea when he spotted a river deer.
He stopped to kill and prepare the deer and it interrupted his
tea processing for the day. He forgot all about his tea
processing until the next day, by which time the leaves had begun
to change color. Wu Liang thought that the tea might have gone
bad, but he decided to dry it out anyway. Once he was finished
preparing the tea, he discovered that he had created a very
special and delicious variety of tea – what we call oolong
today.

Oolong tea is different from other teas because it is partially
fermented. Falling between black and green tea, oolong is
fermented, but for a much shorter period of time than black tea.
This partial fermentation is responsible for the unique fruity
taste and fragrant aroma of oolong tea. In addition, most oolong
teas are created with larger tea leaves from farther down the tea
plant. This is said to be partially responsible for the fruity
flavor of oolong teas. Today Imperial Formosa oolong tea is made
in only the finest tea gardens in Taiwan. The tea is produced by
hand following this intricate process:

The tea leaves are plucked by hand first thing in the morning as
they are ready. This may mean several pluckings over several
days, as it is critical that the leaves be plucked at their exact
time of readiness.

Next the leaves are spread out in the sun to wither. They must be
observed so that they are brought out of the sun when the
moisture is appropriately removed. Chinese oolong teas are
withered in sheds rather than in the sun.

Next, the leaves are shaken to slightly bruise the edges. This
bruising causes the oxidation process to begin.

The tea artisan then wraps the leaves in cloth, forming a ball.
The leaves will be tumbled regularly during the remainder of the
oxidation period in order to ensure that the oxidation process is
even. Some oolong teas will be tumbled every hour during the
oxidation period.

Once the oxidation period is completed, when the leaves are about
30% fermented and about 70% green, the leaves are inspected and
picked through to ensure that the leaves are not sticking
together. Some Formosa oolong teas are known as pouchongs. These
oolong teas are fermented only about 15%, as opposed to Imperial
Formosa oolong and other true oolongs.

Next, the leaves are fired to end the oxidation process. In many
cases, oolong teas are fired over charcoal, giving them a bit of
a smoky flavor.

The tea is now ready to be sorted according to grade and packaged
to be sold. Imperial Formosa oolong tea is graded according to
the following standards:

 * Finest to Choice
 * Finest
 * Fine to Finest
 * Fine Up
 * Fine
 * On Fine
 * Superior to Fine
 * Superior Up
 * Fully Superior
 * Superior
 * On Superior
 * Good to Superior
 * Good Up
 * Fully Good
 * Good
 * On Good
 * Standard

Because Imperial Formosa oolong tea is one of the best Taiwanese
teas, it is typically made from Finest to Choice tea leaves.

The best Imperial Formosa oolong tea gardens pay careful
attention to the steps required to create this wonderful tea.
They use skilled tea artisans who are experienced in timing the
fermentation process perfectly. In addition, they tend their
gardens regularly, even outside of the growing season.

During the summer, in addition to harvesting tea, gardeners must
pay careful attention to weeding. During the fall, tea plants do
their most intense growing of the year, so it's important that
the tea gardener fertilize the plants. Late in the autumn, the
tea plants must be pruned before winter. Even during the cold
winter months, tea gardeners must watch their gardens, ensuring
that their youngest plants are protected from the cold.

By March, the tea plants will need to be pruned again, in
preparation for the coming growing season.

It takes time, patience and experience to produce a tea as
delicious as Imperial Formosa oolong tea. Though few tea gardens
will go through the labor and time required those that do can
reap the rewards. In addition to the knowledge that they've
created one of the best teas in the world, they are also able to
charge more money for this rare and exquisite tea. Even so, most
tea connoisseurs would agree that Imperial Formosa oolong tea is
well worth the price they've paid to enjoy it.




---------------------------------------------------------------------
Marcus Stout is President of the Golden Moon 
Tea Company. For more information about tea, 
(http://www.goldenmoontea.com/greentea) 
green tea (http://www.goldenmoontea.com/blacktea) 
and black tea go to http://www.goldenmoontea.com


--- END ARTICLE ---

Get HTML or TEXT Copy-and-Paste Versions Of This Article at:
http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/db/s/quality-oolong-tea-garden.shtml#get_code



.....................................

TERMS OF REPRINT - Publication Rules 
(Last Updated:  May 11, 2006)

Our TERMS OF REPRINT are fully enforcable under the terms of:

  The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
  http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.2281.ENR:

.....................................

*** Digital Reprint Rights ***

* If you publish this article in a website/forum/blog, 
  You Must Set All URL's or Mailto Addresses in the body 
  of the article AND in the Author's Resource Box as
  Hyperlinks (clickable links).

* Links must remain in the form that we published them.
  Clean links should point to the Author's links without
  redirects having been inserted into the copy.

* You are not allowed to Change or Delete any Words or 
  Links in the Article or Resource Box. Paragraph breaks 
  must be retained with articles. You can change where
  the paragraph breaks fall, but you cannot eliminate all
  paragraph breaks as some have chosen to do.

* Email Distribution of this article Must be done through
  Opt-in Email Only. No Unsolicited Commercial Email.


* You Are Allowed to format the layout of the article for 
  proper display of the article in your website or in your 
  ezine, so long as you can maintain the author's interests 
  within the article.

* You may not use sentences from this article as an input
  for any software that steals sentences from others in 
  order to build an article with software. The copyright on
  this article applies to the "WHOLE" article.


*** Author Notification ***

  We ask that you notify the author of publication of his
  or her work. Marcus Stout can be reached at:
  [EMAIL PROTECTED]


*** Print Publication Reprint Rights ***

  If you desire to publish this article in a PRINT 
  publication, you must contact the author directly 
  for Print Permission at:  
  mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]



.....................................

If you need help converting this text article for proper 
hyperlinked placement in your webpage, please use this 
free tool:  http://thephantomwriters.com/link-builder.pl



=====================================================================

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE SUBMISSION

http://thePhantomWriters.com is a paid article distribution 
service. thePhantomWriters.com and Article-Distribution.com 
are owned and operated by Bill Platt of Stillwater, Oklahoma USA.

The content of this article is solely the property 
and opinion of its author, Marcus Stout
http://www.GoldenMoonTea.com



---------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
---------------------------------------------------------------------







*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

To have your article appear in this distribution list,
you must absolutely be a client of thePhantomWriters.

We offer a paid article distribution service, and this
is one of the more than 60 groups where we submit our
client articles. To learn more about our program, visit:

http://thePhantomWriters.com/x.pl/tpw/index.htm 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thePhantomWriters/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thePhantomWriters/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
    mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    [EMAIL PROTECTED]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 

Reply via email to