Customer Question: I’ve heard that Lishan tea is an exceptionally high-quality high-mountain tea, and that high-mountain tea is a type of oolong. But why does it look so green when brewed? Is Lishan tea a green tea or an oolong tea?
Liao Chang Xing: Hello! Lishan tea is typically crafted as a semi-fermented tea, which is commonly known as oolong tea. While lowland oolong teas generally have a fermentation level of 30% to 60%, high-mountain teas range between 15% and 35%. Generally, the higher the altitude, the lighter the fermentation. The heavier the fermentation, the darker the tea liquor. Many people mistake Lishan tea for green tea primarily because Lishan’s high altitude allows producers to use a very light fermentation to highlight the tea’s unique mountain aroma, making both its flavor and liquor color resemble green tea.
While Lishan leaves could likely make decent green or black teas, making them into oolong yields much better quality and higher value, so practically no one uses them to produce green tea. The tea you’re drinking is likely just a lightly fermented oolong.
▲ Lishan tea is mostly semi-fermented and does not belong to the green tea category.