Dong Ding Oolong

Dong Ding is a ball-rolled Taiwanese oolong named for Frozen Summit mountain in Lugu, Nantou. Traditionally it is moderately oxidized and roasted, which gives a warm, toasty cup with orchid and stone-fruit notes. Brewed with water just off the boil, about 95°C.

Origin & Story

Dong Ding means frozen summit. It is the name of a modest mountain in Lugu township, in Nantou County, at roughly 600 to 800 meters, and of the roasted ball oolong that made the mountain famous. The tea's founding story begins in 1855, when a Lugu scholar named Lin Fengchi is said to have brought Qingxin oolong plants home from the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian and set them out at Dong Ding. Accounts of the date and the details vary, so read it as the tea's legend.

Qingxin is still the backbone of Taiwanese tea, about 60 percent of production, and Dong Ding has been rolled into tight green balls and roasted for as long as anyone can say. The traditional leaf is moderately oxidized, about 30 to 40 percent by two accounts, and then roasted in slow rounds, which is why the dry leaf smells of toast and the liquor runs amber.

In the 1980s Dong Ding sat at the top of the Taiwanese tea world, made in the hong shui, or red water, style, with fuller oxidation and long, slow roasting. Then lighter, unroasted oolongs from higher gardens took the prestige. The Lugu Farmers' Association has held a Dong Ding oolong competition since 1976, and its 50th contest in 2026 was expected to draw more than 5,000 entries.

Dong Ding is both a place and a style. Like Darjeeling, the name once meant tea grown on the mountain, but today it also names a roasted ball oolong made elsewhere in Nantou, so the label matters, and some modern lots skip the roast and are made greener in the high mountain way.

In the cup, a classic Dong Ding tastes of caramel and roasted grain, with orchid and stone fruit underneath, sweet and savory at once, with a nutty or sesame edge. It is warmer and rounder than the bright, floral high mountain oolongs.

Put 6 g in a 100 ml gaiwan with water at 95°C and pour off the first infusion at about 20 seconds, adding ten seconds a round; in a mug, use 3 g in 240 ml at 95°C for three minutes.

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