Supreme Dong Ding Oolong Loose Leaf Tea

🍵 The Leaf — Tightly rolled balls of Qing Xin oolong from Nantou, Taiwan, hand-picked in the classic Dong Ding style with a smooth, considered medium roast applied over many hours

🍵 The Liquor — A warm, bright golden infusion with a rich, rounded body, gentle natural sweetness and none of the sharpness that lesser oolongs can carry

🍵 The Character — Softly floral and creamy, with a toasty backbone, a whisper of caramelised warmth and a long, clean finish that lingers long after the cup is set down

🍵 The Occasion — Best brewed slowly and savoured on its own — a natural choice for afternoon tea, mindful brewing, or any moment that deserves a little quiet attention

Supreme Dong Ding Oolong is one of Taiwan's most celebrated loose leaf teas — a Taiwanese oolong with centuries of tradition behind it and a flavour profile that rewards every careful cup. Dong Ding, meaning Frozen Summit, takes its name from the mountain in Nantou County where the original tea plants were first established, brought from the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian Province by a scholar returning home in the mid-nineteenth century. What began as a small planting in the Luku region quickly became one of the most admired styles of oolong in the world.

The Dong Ding style is defined as much by its processing as by its origin. After hand-picking, the leaves are withered, tossed to initiate oxidation, and rolled into the tight, dark ball shapes characteristic of Taiwanese oolong. The defining step is the roast — a slow, low-temperature process that can take fifteen hours or more and requires considerable skill to execute well. This medium roast is what gives Supreme Dong Ding its warmth and depth: the leaf retains its natural floral and creamy qualities, while the roasting adds a smooth, toasty richness that makes it deeply satisfying to drink. The result is a cup with both elegance and body — a balance that is genuinely difficult to achieve and that sets a fine Dong Ding apart from more lightly processed Taiwanese oolongs.

In the cup, the liquor glows a warm, clear gold. The character is smooth and rounded, with a soft floral note, a creamy mid-palate, and that gently lingering roasted finish. There is a subtle natural sweetness throughout — no milk is needed, and none should be added. The tightly rolled leaves unfurl slowly across multiple infusions, and the tea is very well suited to repeated brewing; the early steepings tend to be richest and most aromatic, with later infusions becoming lighter and more delicate.

Since 2008, High Teas London has been one of the country's leading independent tea specialists. With over 350 teas and infusions — one of the largest collections in the country — we have spent nearly two decades seeking out teas of genuine character and quality. Supreme Dong Ding Oolong is a fine example of exactly what we look for.

Ingredients: Oolong tea.

Brewing Note: Dong Ding rewards patience and a little repetition. Use water that has just come off the boil — around 90 to 95°C — and allow the tightly rolled leaves a moment to begin opening before timing your steep. For a first infusion, 3 to 5 minutes will give a balanced, golden cup; steeping a little longer brings out more of the roasted depth. The leaves are well suited to multiple infusions — four or five is entirely reasonable, with the character shifting gently from cup to cup as the leaf continues to unfurl. If you have a small gong fu pot, this is an excellent tea to brew in that style: 8 to 9 grams in around 150ml, with short successive steepings of under a minute each. The leaves will also cold brew beautifully — use around 5 grams per litre of cold water and leave overnight in the fridge.