What Kind of Tea is High Mountain Tea?

Customer Question: What kind of tea is high mountain tea? It has a mild taste that doesn’t quite feel like regular Dongding Oolong tea, and it almost seems closer to green tea. Some say high mountain tea is still considered an oolong tea, while others think it’s a green tea. What category does high mountain tea actually fall under?

Chang Hsing Tea: “What category does high mountain tea belong to?” or “What kind of tea is high mountain tea?” These are common questions for beginners. High mountain tea is a semi-fermented tea, which means it is a type of oolong tea. Tea lovers often find that high mountain tea tastes different from Dongding Oolong mainly because high mountain tea is mostly made with light fermentation and light roasting, resulting in a clean, delicate flavor that differs greatly from medium- or heavy-roasted Dongding teas.

The choice of light fermentation and light roasting for high mountain tea is primarily due to the superior quality of the high mountain tea leaves. To highlight the tea’s original flavor, a light roast is used. Some high mountain teas grown at altitudes above 1,500 meters are even unroasted to better preserve their authentic high mountain character. Without roasting, the tea has a relatively light flavor. Some people refer to this as the “green tea-ification” of high mountain tea, meaning the flavor profile is getting closer and closer to green tea. Because of this, many people are unclear about what category high mountain tea belongs to, and some even mistakenly think it is a green tea.

However, high mountain tea and green tea are still distinct. Green tea is completely unfermented, whereas high mountain tea has a fermentation level of around 15% to 25%. Next time you visit a tea shop, try buying a bit of both to taste—we guarantee the flavors are completely different.