Oolong · Puzhong Village, Taiwan
Organic "Silver Dragon" Fanzhuang Oolong Tea
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Tasting notes
About these tasting notes
These are the tasting notes we and others pick up most often. Palates vary, so you may catch some, all, or different ones — flavor is personal and subjective. Nothing is added: there are no added flavorings in this tea. Any notes you find developed naturally in the tea plant through rediscovered artisanal processing techniques.
About these tasting notes
These are the tasting notes we and others pick up most often. Palates vary, so you may catch some, all, or different ones — flavor is personal and subjective. Nothing is added: there are no added flavorings in this tea. Any notes you find developed naturally in the tea plant through rediscovered artisanal processing techniques.
Effects
About these effects
These are the effects people most often report from this tea. Bodies differ, so treat them as a common guide rather than a promise — most people notice at least one, but what you feel is personal.
About these effects
These are the effects people most often report from this tea. Bodies differ, so treat them as a common guide rather than a promise — most people notice at least one, but what you feel is personal.
Silver Dragon Cultivar - a hidden cultivar to be discovered
Silver Dragon (銀龍) (Yínlóng) tea cultivar is unusually rare, and often grown only by hobbyists or small-batch artisans. This tea was processed in a "Fanzhuang" style of fermentation, giving the tea a very unique combination of distinctive cultivar and "lost" tea processing knowledge. It's a very exclusive opportunity to offer this tea on our website, as there is almost none available on the Western Market. It has a lovely full bodied character and develops beautifully over many steeps.
Notes from Staff: Silver Dragon is sometimes confused with “silver needle” (白毫银针) or silver dragon Yinhao Longzhu (银毫龙珠) teas, but this distinction is only relevant to the tea processing. This oolong we offer is from a specific tea cultivar called "Silver Dragon"(銀龍) - its a very robust and tasty tea that reminds me of milk chocolate or malted candies, with a touch of floral honey. After you enjoy this tea, you’ll probably want to stockpile more!
Why charcoal roasting costs more
Most tea today is roasted using an electric method, because it is faster, cheaper, and requires less skill, thus making it more consistent. This tea was roasted the traditional way: by an artisan's hand, over charcoal embers, using low heat over the course of many days under careful supervision. It takes far more knowledge, fuel, and time than electric roasting, but it rewards the tea with deeper flavor and the ability to age gracefully for decades.
A rediscovered technique: Semi-Rolled Fanzhuang Oolong
As tea production scaled up, many traditional techniques were abandoned for faster, more consistent modern methods. Semi-Rolled Fanzhuang Oolong is one of them — passed down for generations, then nearly lost. The artisans behind this tea relearned it and now practice it by hand, in small batches, the way it was done before automation.
Old Mountain Tea Guarantee
Our teas are guaranteed free from harmful chemicals. We source directly from small, clean family farms that take real pride in their work — no middlemen, no anonymous blends. Many of these teas are bug-bitten, and leafhoppers only feed on gardens grown without pesticides, so the leaf itself is living proof the garden is clean. Every tea is grown to organic standards and traceable to the farm that made it.
Origin & Terroir
- Cultivar
About this cultivar
Silver Dragon cultivar is often used for very floral and robust oolong teas. First discovered in 1993 as a genetic mutation of its maternal plant Qing Xin Oolong (青心烏龍), it soon became clear this was a hybrid cultivar. Unfortunately, the paternal tea plant parentage is unknown, possibly attributed to No. 17 (Bai Lu / 白鷺) or quite possibly "Camellia Formosensis" or other wild Taiwan plants. This tea cultivar is so localized and distinctive, there is no official Tai Cha (TTES) number to formally identify this cultivar, making it a very special and distinctive tea to try.
- "Silver Dragon"(銀龍) (literally "hidden dragon")
- Status
- Extremely Rare Cultivar
- Processing method
- Fanzhuang Oolong(番庄烏龍茶)
- Charcoal roast level
Why charcoal roasting costs more
Roasted by hand over low charcoal embers across multiple sessions and days, far slower than electric roasting. It deepens flavor and lets the tea age well, which is why charcoal-roasted teas cost more.
- Region
- Puzhong Village, Mingjian township, Nantou County, Taiwan
- Harvest
- Summer 2026(Organic)
- Elevation
- 550 meters
- Climate
- Humid, Tropical
- Oxidation level
What oxidation level means
Oxidation is what turns green tea into oolong or black tea — as leaves are bruised and rested, enzymes react with oxygen and deepen their color and flavor. Green tea sees almost none; oolong ranges widely; black tea is oxidized fully.
- Picking style
Why picking style matters
Hand-plucking means workers select each bud and leaf by touch, one at a time — far slower and more expensive than machine harvesting, but gentler on the leaf. As labor costs rise, fewer gardens still pick this way, making hand-plucked tea increasingly rare.
- Hand Plucked
- Bug-bitten level
- 0%
How to brew it
Leaf · 5 g
Water · purified soft water, freshly boiled
First infusion · 20 seconds
Each infusion after · add 15 sec
Up to 12 infusions
Leaf · 5 g
Water · purified soft water, freshly boiled
First infusion · 2 minutes
Second infusion · 5 minutes
Third infusion · 10 minutes
