With so many sites selling wu yi tea also known as Wu Yi Oolong tea how is one to know which site is selling the Authentic Wu Yi Tea. Wu Yi Oolong tea must be produced in the Wu Yi Mountains which is a famous mountain range in the fujian provence in China. A variety of tea types are produced in an around Mount Wuyi Shan. The most famous of the teas produced in the Wu Yi Mountains is called Da Hong Pao or Big Red Robe.

Da Hong Pao is a very important Wu Yi Oolong tea which is also known as Wu Yi Rock Tea comes from the Wu Yi Shan, Wu Yi Mountain, in Fujian, China. Only tea from this region can be considered authentic Wu Yi Cha. It is incredibly flavorful tea from the stems of the tea plants among the rocks in the Wu Yi Mountains, so it is also called "Wu Yi Rock Tea". It is the best and rarest tea among all teas from the region. Its supply is extremely limited due to the limited growing area. Its enormous weight loss function has been recognized worldwide.

Make sure when you decide to buy Wu YI Oolong tea that you determine the grade of the tea and where it is produced. Many companies don't list the grade of the tea or tell you much about the tea. If a company does not tell you the grade of the tea, generally you are getting an inferior product. If you do any research on Oolong tea, you will find out there are dozens of grades of the tea.

White Tea, Green Tea, Oolong tea, Black tea all come from the same tea plant called the Camellia Sinesis. Oolong tea is a semi-oxidized tea and tastes more like a green tea than a black tea. The most famous of these oolong teas are grown in the Wu Yi mountains of the fujian provence. Other varieties are also grown Tiawan, Thailand, Vietnam and Africa.

You may have read about the benefits of green tea and Wu Yi Oolong tea for weight loss. Recent articles and studies have shown that Oolong tea can assist in the burning of calories and can assist in increasing your metabolic rate. Why would Wu Yi Oolong Tea be better in buring fat than green tea? Since Wu Yi Oolong Tea is semi-oxidized, it retains many more of the antioxidants such as EGCG. Wu Yi Oolong tea also appears to have larger quantites of polyphenols which may attribute to the weight loss benefits of Wu Yi Oolong Tea.

Is Wu Yi oolong tea for weight loss supported by any scientific study? There are several recent studies which have suggested that Wu Yi oolong tea may increase the metabolic rate by as much as 20-25% when used on a regular basis. It appears to do this by increasing the energy expenditure, promoting the oxidation of body fat stores and inhibiting the absorption of carbohydrates and fat. Wu Yi Oolong tea has been shown to be more effective than green tea in promoting weight loss in the studies that have been performed.

The taste of Wu Yi Oolong tea is different from green tea, black tea and other Oolong teas. It is very robust in flavor and may take some getting used to. It is closer in taste to black tea than green tea. Other oolong teas such as Tie Kuan Yin are also very good but smoother in flavor.

Be wary of any company that has a " SO CALLED FREE TRIAL". Free trials are NEVER FREE and you have to read the fine print at the bottom of the page called terms and conditions to really see what you are getting into. The companies offering FREE 14 day trials are only trying to get your CC info so they can bill you over and over again. Many have associate companies that bill you monthy for Web access fees, e-books, Insider Secrets, Well Watchers MD, Living Lean, Fit Factory if you don't read the fine print.

One of these Scam companies is called Wu-YiSource and you will find 100's of complaints about this company on sites from the BBB, ripoffreport.com , complaintsboard.com , complaints.com , my3cents.com and a variety of sites.
If you have been taken by one of these companies, you can go to your local Attorney General in your state as well. These companies prey on innocent victims who may not always read the fine print.

There are a variety of other sites that sell Wu Yi tea that seem to be legitimate business's. Looks for a phone number that is readily available and in a prominent position on the website. If you call the number and cannot talk to a live person but get an answering machine, be wary. If the site has many testimonial with before and after pictures, most of these people are either paid models or the company has found the pictures on the web and or bought stock photos. If a site doesn't display pricing upfront, be wary. Many sites just want your information before you see pricing so they can harass you with multiple phone calls, emails etc. Click here to see if you " QUALIFY for a FREE TRIAL" is a scam and only intended to get your information so they can try to get your Credit Card info.

 

The name oolong (also called wulong or wu long, sometimes "blue tea") refers to a semi-oxidized type of tea that fills the gap between green (non-oxidized) and black (fully oxidized) tea. Typical oxidation levels of oolong tea range from roughly 10% (very green) to 70% (heavily oxidized). Oolong teas are generally considered to be the most complex type of tea, combining qualities of both green and black teas, creating a very different experience.

Processing

While the finest green and black teas are made from young, tender buds and one or two leaves, oolong teas undergo more mechanical stress during processing and more mature leaves are often used (3 or 4 leaves and a bud).
The processing of oolong tea consists of 5 main steps:

1. Withering & bruising: The withering is often done in the form of spreading the leaves out in the sun. Gentle bruising is induced by turning the leaves over or by shaking them in baskets. Since the leaf edges and stems are most susceptible for bruising, oolongs often feature a reddish-brown (i.e. oxidized) edge and/or stem on an otherwise green leaf. These processes start oxidation of the leaves which continues until the desired level is reached (short oxidation: greenish oolong, longer oxidation: darker, more reddish tea). This stage takes a number of hours during which the leaf is considered to be still alive.
2. First Firing (Roasting): To stop oxidation, the leaves are fired in large pans or mechanical roasters at very high temperatures. This heating process inactivates most enzymes and kills the leaf. Roasting usually takes a few minutes, the duration having an important effect on the flavour and aroma of the resulting tea.
3. Rolling: To give tea leaves their desired shape, they are rolled. Leaves for oolong tea are often wrapped in large pieces of cloth for rolling and can undergo multiple rounds of rolling.
4. Second Firing (Drying): The shaped leaves are heated to around 100�C to reduce moisture content to the storage level and completely stop enzyme activity.
5. Sorting & Grading: Finally, the leaves are sorted according to size & shape, then graded into quality classes.

Name and history of oolong tea

The origins of oolong tea date back to the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) or beginning of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), shortly after the discovery of black tea. Like black tea, it was first produced in Wuyi Shan, Fujian Province, China.
The beginnings of oolong tea were more discovery than invention since coincidence played a major role in its inception.
 As with most Chinese teas, there are multiple legends about how exactly oolong manufacturing originated. There are two general stories (and many variations thereof) that offer different explanations for the source of the name oolong (the Chinese name wu long literally translates to "black dragon" or "black snake").
According to one legend, a tea farmer picked leaves off a tea bush to make them into tea. He was scared away by the approach of a black snake and left the picked leaves behind. When he came back the next morning to collect the leaves, they had changed colour and were brownish-green. He took the tea home and processed the leaves into tea. He enjoyed this different tea very much and decided to name it after the black snake that had led to its creation.
Another legend tells the story of Wu Liang as the discoverer of oolong tea after whom the tea was named. The story goes that Wu Liang was on his way home with a large bundle of fresh tea leaves after picking all day when he saw a deer. He went hunting after the deer and brought it home. He was so absorbed in the preparation of this unexpected feast that he forgot about the tea he had carried. When he returned to his bundle the next day, he discovered that the leaves had changed colour and turned half-way brown. Worried about losing his harvest, he started processing the tea immediately like he usually would. When he tried a cup of his finished tea, he was amazed by the unique flavour and aroma of his tea. He shared it with his friends and neighbours and the word quickly spread about his unusual tea which eventually became known as Wu Long cha.

While oolong processing was a specialty of mainland China (and Fujian Province in specific) for almost two centuries, tea farmers brought the knowledge with them to Taiwan (then known as Formosa) at the beginning of the 19th century. Today, Taiwan is world-famous for its fragrant high-mountain (gao shan) oolongs.
In recent years, other tea-producing regions like Darjeeling and Vietnam have begun to produce oolong teas but the teas from China and Taiwan are considered to be superior.