The appearance of the dry oolong tea is much closer to black tea rather than green tea. Oolongs are semi-fermented in that after rolling, the tea is allowed to ferment only until the edges of the leaves start to turn brown. When the leaves have reached a precise stage in the natural fermentation process, the fermentation is stopped by firing the leaves in a pan. This arrests the fermentation and captures the unique fragrance and interesting character associated with Oolong tea. When steeped oolong tea produces golden or light brown liquor with a very unique sweet flavor that resembles neither black nor green tea.

The Fujian province of China and Taiwan are the largest producers of Oolong teas. Some of the best Oolong teas are grown on the steep slopes of the mountains.With tea trees growing up to 90 feet in height tea leaves can only be picked by trained monkeys. Those teas are nick named " Monkey Teas". India's provinces Assam and Darjeeling also produce organic oolong teas. The flavor and aroma of India's Oolong teas are different from its counterparts in China. Many of India's teas are hybrids of Assam and Chinese native tea plants.