The Differences Between Green Tea and Oolong

Oolong and green tea may share more in common than most tea drinkers realize. The Venn diagram overlap for character extends beyond both tea types coming from the Camellia sinensis plant.

The diverse flavors of oolong and green tea

The less oxidation and lighter the heat, the greener the processing, and the more commonality that will exist between an oolong and a green.

Green tea has a more narrow bandwidth of flavor than oolong tea, which is admittedly the flavor and aromatic powerhouse of the tea universe. However, that doesn’t mean there is no overlap in describing the shared tea flavors between the two tea types.

Young tea buds from Guizhou province processed as green tea 

Green tea flavors tend towards the bright (and unsurprisingly) green end of the spectrum. Chinese green teas are often grassy, vegetal, beany or sweet. Processing that includes a little extra heat can also impart some richer flavor characteristics to green teas, reminiscent of roasted chestnuts.

These roasted flavors with green elements of seaweed or toasted nuts most clearly overlap with tieguanyin oolongs, also often called iron goddess of mercy, from Fujian province. The lighter the roast, the more green tea and roasted tieguanyin overlap. But certain heavily roasted tieguanyin will have most of their greener elements cooked out by the charcoal during the roasting process.

Other oolong teas with a brighter aromatic profile like the quirkily named Duck Shit dancong will have a brighter floral profile that also shares some commonality with certain green teas.

A Wuyi Yancha oolong, also called rock tea, from Fujian province.

On the other hand, more heavily oxidized oolong teas and teas with a heavier roasted profile like Wuyi Yancha will depart from the green tea territory and head into darker red fruits, overripe plums, sandalwood and spice. These variations in production methods will coax very different qualities out of the tea leaf.    

Oolong is the most aromatic tea on the planet 

Oolong is the king of fragrance in the tea world. The quickest way to understand what defines an oolong tea is a tea that is on the spectrum of a non-zero, yet not 100% oxidized level of oxidation.

An oolong tea from Fujian with partial oxidation. Notice the dark color of the tea soup

Any tea which is even slightly, but not fully oxidized, counts as an oolong. (Non-oxidized is green tea, fully oxidized is black tea) Understanding this fact will also explain why teas with lower oxidation are closer to green teas, as their processing is closer on the oxidation spectrum.

These processing characteristics of oxidation and roasting impart an incredible amount of flavor and fragrance to oolong tea. Oxidation is achieved by bruising the leaves prior to applying heat, often by hand tossing or a machine that tumbles the fresh leaves, which breaks the cell walls allowing the leaves to brown. You will notice red edges on many oolong tea leaves that show this aspect of the process, whereas green teas (should) always be uniformly green and have no oxidation. 

The dark color of these oolong leaves indicates that they were oxidized and roasted

While the range of flavors in green tea can vary from seaweed to chestnuts, the profiles are within a small bandwidth. Oolong tea on the other hand can vary wildly, from fresh fruit to flowers to incense to sweet potato and pine resin.

Green tea is best when it's freshest

If you are a white2tea fan, you know that we only sell green teas for a limited time each spring. We sell them fresh in late March, sell them out and forget about them until the next spring. The reason for this is that green teas are best when they are fresh! 

Fresh green teas are bright green in color

Though some tea drinkers may debate whether aged oolongs are delicious (for us there is no debate, they absolutely are), most tea drinkers will agree that fresh green teas are best experienced as fast as possible. 

If you are interested in trying fresh green teas, make sure to join our tea club in spring time, as we usually send out fresh green teas once per spring. Also, be sure to sign up for our mailing list to keep up to date for our annual green tea pre-sale, which usually happens in late March. However, as with all things tea, the weather dictates our fortunes and the exact harvest times vary from spring to spring. 

Differences in brewing technique

Green teas are quite easy to brew, especially if you use the popular Chinese method of brewing them in a glass. All you will need is a glass that can withstand high temperatures such as borosilicate glass. Please be sure to make certain of this aspect, as shattering glass on your table when adding hot water is a surefire way to ruin a tea session! 

Simply add a bit of green tea, roughly 2-3 grams or enough to cover the base of the glass. Then, use hot water and gently fill the glass. Wait for a few minutes as the leaves saturate and steep, and drink as you please. When you have drunk half the water in the glass, top it off with more hot water. Repeat as long as you please and the leaves have flavor. 

Green tea buds being brewed directly in a glass, a common brewing style in China

The temperature for brewing green tea is often debated, but we are of the opinion that good quality green teas can easily withstand boiling water. With that being said, if you prefer a lighter experience, want to reduce bitterness and/or want to coax out the softer aspects of a green tea, then we recommend using 85°C (185°F) water. As with all tea brewing, these are only rough guidelines and are encouraged to play with brewing parameters in order to find the way that you like it the best! Maybe that means an extra gram or two of leaf, maybe it means water that is 95°C (203°F). Whatever the case may be, don’t feel bound by the strict legal guidelines of a mere white2tea blog article.

For oolong teas or higher-end green teas, we prefer to use gongfu tea brewing. The easiest way to explain gongfu tea brewing is using a high leaf to water ratio in a small vessel. Using a simple 100ml gaiwan with around 6 grams of tea is a good starting place. For oolong teas, we always use boiling 100°C water. Oolong teas offer a smorgasbord of aromas and flavors, from the teacup to the tea pitcher, the wet leaves to the tea soup. 

Take your time in between steeps, take a few deep breaths and let it all soak in. Drinking tea gongfu style isn’t a race; you win by stopping to smell the flowers, so take your time and enjoy it. If you’d like to become a gongfu tea brewing expert then this guide will take you there.

A gongfu style tea session with an oolong tea