What Is the Difference Between Oolong & Wu Long Tea?

Trying new teas is a great deal of fun, but sometimes tea names can be confusing. Although the names "wu long" and "oolong" look different, they are actually the same, delicious tea.

Wu Long vs Oolong

The spelling "oolong" is a variant on the Chinese word "wu long" (or "wulong"), which means "black dragon. Wu long and oolong teas are the same tea.

Oxidization

All tea is made from the same plant, camillia sinensis. The difference in tea types (black, green, oolong, yellow, white) is the result of different processing methods, which lead to different degrees of oxidization. Green teas are quickly heated after plucking so as to stop oxidization, whereas black teas are rolled to crush cell walls to allow for full oxidization. Oolong teas are semi-oxidized, and the degree of oxidization is carefully controlled to create specific flavor characteristics. Oolong teas are sometimes known as "blue teas."

Preparing Oolong Tea

Oolong tea is available in a variety of forms, including paper tea bags. However, really good, whole-leaf oolong deserves special preparation. Water temperature should be somewhere around 195 degrees Fahrenheit (though very dark oolongs can usually handle boiling water), and the tea should be brewed in a vessel that will allow its large leaves to unfurl completely. The same oolong tea leaves can be brewed multiple times, making oolongs an excellent value.

Types of Oolong Tea

Some oolong teas are lightly oxidized (such as bao zhong, also known as pouchong) and resemble green tea. The most heavily oxidized oolongs (such as Formosa Fancy) can resemble black teas. Oolongs have their own character, though, and often have substantial body and a unique flavor profile that changes with subsequent steepings of the same leaves.

Oolong Tea and Weight Loss

Some unscrupulous marketers of "diet" tea will use the "wu long" spelling to make their (usually very cheap and ordinary) oolong tea seem exotic. (However, many reputable companies, particularly if they are owned and managed by Chinese speakers, will use the "wulong/wu long" spelling to describe their oolong selection as well.) In any case, there is simply not enough credible scientific evidence available to prove, or disprove, oolong's supposed weight-loss benefits.

References

• Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University
• Oolong Tea and Weight Loss
• The Story of Tea, Mary Lou Heiss, Robert J. Heiss, 2007.