Customer Question: Is Taiwan High Mountain Tea a type of green tea? It tastes completely different from black tea—it feels light, yet it’s not quite like Dongding Oolong either. The packaging looks green, and the brewed tea leaves look green too, unlike black tea which always brews into a red color. So, is High Mountain Tea green tea or something else?
Is High Mountain Tea Green Tea? Let's Define High Mountain Tea First
Liao Chang Xing: Here in Taiwan, we produce high mountain oolong tea, green tea, black tea, and white tea, with oolong tea accounting for over 99% of production. The High Mountain Tea you’re referring to is likely High Mountain Oolong Tea.
High Mountain Oolong Tea is not green tea. During its production process, High Mountain Oolong undergoes fermentation, which makes it different from green tea. Once harvested, green tea goes straight through the kill-green (fixation) process—meaning it is immediately pan-fried or steam-fried—without any fermentation. However, after harvesting, High Mountain Tea must undergo withering before moving on to the kill-green step. This extra step results in a very different flavor profile compared to green tea.
High Mountain Oolong Tea is a lightly fermented, semi-fermented tea. Because light-aroma teas have become popular in recent years, most High Mountain Tea is crafted to be light-aroma. Teas with a light aroma brew into a lighter color, leaving both the tea liquor and the brewed leaves looking quite green. Many people mistake this for green tea, but it isn’t.
▲ On the left is High Mountain Oolong, which is tightly rolled into a semi-spherical shape; on the right is green tea, which is usually processed into flaked or strip shapes. You can easily tell them apart by their appearance.
In truth, from the color of the tea liquor and flavor to the shape of the leaves, High Mountain Oolong and green tea are quite distinct. We suggest visiting a local tea shop to buy a small amount of each to try. You can easily find green tea at Taiwanese tea shops, or pick up some Japanese green tea at a supermarket. Green tea carries a distinct “grassy note”—the raw, natural flavor of the tea leaves—while High Mountain Oolong has much less of it, so it shouldn’t be too hard to tell them apart.