Sticky Rice Oolong

This unusual, balled oolong is an interesting amalgamation of 3 different tea growing country’s knowledge. A Taiwanese tea cultivar has been combined with a herb traditionally used in Yunnan to produce a delicious oolong tea grown in Thailand!

Sticky Rice Oolong is made from the cultivar, Jin Xuan, also known as Golden Day Lily or Milk oolong, which was developed in the 1970s in Taiwan for its buttery, creamy flavour and ease of growing. There is a strong connection between Taiwanese tea knowledge and growing tea in North Thailand. Taiwanese tea masters were brought over in the 1980s, bringing with them their skills and tea plants, as a means of helping the farmers in this part of Thailand to divert away from opium growing. Sticky Rice Oolong is combined with a herb called Nuo Mi Xiang which has the distinct aroma and taste of sticky rice with vanilla overtones. Nuo Mi Xiang plant has been used in Yunnan, S.W. China for years where tea makers used it to enhance the flavour of puerh teas. Both the tea and Nuo Mi Xiang are now grown in the mountainous region of Chiang Rai, Thailand. The tea is firstly oxidising and rolled for 8 hours and then Nuo Mi Xiang is added and further oxidisation and rolling takes place resulting in this delicious, easy drinking tea