What Does Oolong Tea Taste Like? A Flavour Map From Floral to Roasted

Oolong doesn't have one taste, because it's a way of making tea, not a single tea. Lightly oxidized, lightly roasted oolongs taste floral and creamy: lilac, orchid, fresh butter, sweet green notes. Heavily roasted oolongs taste warm and deep: toasted grain, caramel, dark fruit, cocoa and a mineral finish. In between you'll find honey, peach, apricot and spice. What most oolongs share is a thick, smooth texture, very little bitterness when brewed well, and a taste that changes from one steep to the next.

I'll be honest: my first oolong was a tea bag labelled simply "oolong" at a hotel breakfast, and it tasted like weak, slightly burnt green tea. I decided oolong wasn't for me. A couple of years later someone poured me a Tieguanyin that smelled like a bunch of lilac, and right after it a Da Hong Pao that tasted like toast and dark chocolate. I couldn't believe they were the same category. Today Wuyi oolongs are what I drink most, and a Phoenix Dan Cong is my favourite tea of all. Here's the map I wish I'd had.

Why oolong tastes so different from tea to tea#

All tea comes from the same plant. What makes oolong unique is a step called zuo qing: the leaves are tossed and rested many times over several hours. Their edges bruise and oxidize faster than the centre, which is where the classic "green leaf with a red rim" comes from. That uneven oxidation gives oolong both high notes (flowers, fresh fruit) and deeper ones (baked fruit, nuts, pastry) at the same time.

Then comes the roast. Some oolongs are dried gently and stay green and floral. Others are baked over charcoal for many hours, which adds toasty, caramel and chocolate notes, much like the browning of bread crust.

So when someone asks what oolong tastes like, the honest answer is: which one?

The oolong flavour map#

Light oolongs: floral and creamy#

If you've only had green tea, a light rolled oolong is the easiest step. The dry leaf is rolled into tight green balls that open into whole leaves. The liquor is pale gold.

The aroma is the headline: lilac, orchid, sometimes hyacinth. On the tongue it's sweet and smooth, with none of the grassy sharpness green tea can have. Good high mountain oolongs add a thick, almost oily texture and a cooling sweetness that lingers in the throat.

Roasted oolongs: warm, deep and mineral#

Wuyi rock oolongs are the opposite end. Long, dark, twisted leaves; amber to deep orange liquor. The first thing you notice is roast: toasted rice, bread crust, caramel. Under it sit dark fruit (dried plum, raisin), cocoa and, in a good tea, a cool mineral finish Chinese drinkers call yan yun, "rock rhyme".

Roasted oolongs are warming and very forgiving to brew. They're my everyday tea in winter. More in roasted vs green oolong.

The in-betweens: honey, fruit and perfume#

• Oriental Beauty is heavily oxidized but barely roasted. Leafhoppers nibble the leaves in the field, and the plant's response gives a natural honey and muscat aroma.
• Dan Cong from Phoenix Mountain is the most aromatic tea I know. Most types are named after the scent they resemble: honey orchid, gardenia, almond and more. It has a light bitter edge that turns into long sweetness.
• Dong Ding sits in the middle: nutty, honeyed, gently roasted.

Does oolong taste bitter?#

Good oolong, brewed well, shouldn't taste harshly bitter. Some teas carry a pleasant bitter edge that quickly turns sweet in the throat: Dan Cong and young Wuyi teas are the classic examples. Harsh bitterness or sourness usually means too much leaf, steeps that are too long, or a low-grade or poorly stored tea.

How oolong compares to other teas#

My side-by-side: a four-oolong flight#

Four gaiwans, 5 g each, from lightest to darkest. Same afternoon, same water.

Four teas from one category, and they could have been four different drinks.

How to taste oolong properly#

• Brew gongfu style if you can. Many short steeps show you how the flavour develops.
• Smell the empty cup. Oolong leaves a strong aroma on warm porcelain; this is often where the best notes are.
• Watch the changes. Early steeps are aromatic, middle steeps are fullest, late steeps turn sweet and mellow.
• Compare two side by side. It trains your palate faster than anything.

More in how to taste tea.

Which oolong to try first#

• You like flowers and green tea: a light Tieguanyin or Taiwanese high mountain oolong.
• You like red (black) tea or coffee: a Wuyi rock oolong or Dong Ding.
• You like honey and fruit: Oriental Beauty.
• You want the full perfume experience: Phoenix Dan Cong.

Myths about oolong taste#

"Oolong tastes halfway between green and black tea." Only in the vaguest sense. A light Tieguanyin and a charcoal-roasted Da Hong Pao don't taste like a midpoint of anything.

"Milk oolong has milk in it." It doesn't. Real milk oolong gets its creamy note from the Jin Xuan cultivar; strongly milky versions are often flavoured.

"Roasted oolong tastes burnt." A good roast tastes like toast and caramel. Burnt, ashy flavours mean a rushed roast or a tea that needs time to rest.

My honest take#

If your first oolong disappointed you, it was probably the tea, not the category. Try two oolongs from opposite ends of the map, a light rolled one and a roasted Wuyi, side by side. You'll know within ten minutes which way your taste leans.

The bottom line#

Oolong tastes floral and creamy when lightly oxidized and roasted, and toasted, caramel-like and mineral when heavily roasted, with honey, fruit and perfume in between. It's smooth, rarely harsh, and changes steep by steep. Start with one light and one dark oolong, then explore the rest in my Chinese oolong guide.