I did not understand oolong when I first encountered it.
It seemed unnecessarily complicated.
Green tea was green tea. Black tea was black tea. I understood where they stood.
Oolong seemed determined to remain somewhere in between.
Perhaps that was what initially kept me from appreciating it.
Over time, however, I began to realise that the space between things can be where the interesting things happen.
Oolong does not belong neatly to one category. Its range is remarkably wide. Some are light and floral, others dark and roasted. Some feel almost delicate, while others carry a depth that develops over several infusions.
There is no single oolong experience.
That is precisely what changed my mind.
I began returning to the same leaves, brewing them differently, paying attention to how they changed from one infusion to the next. What I had initially mistaken for inconsistency began to feel more like character.
Oolong does not always reveal itself immediately.
It asks you to stay.
I think tea lovers understand this instinctively. There is something satisfying about a tea that does not give everything away in the first cup. The aroma changes. The texture shifts. A sweetness appears where you did not notice it before.
Even the leaves themselves tell part of the story.
Tightly rolled leaves slowly unfurl in the pot, revealing more of themselves as they open. It is difficult not to find something quietly satisfying about watching that happen.
Perhaps this is why oolong eventually became one of the teas I return to most often.
Not because it is the best tea.
I no longer think there is such a thing.
But because it reminds me that tea does not need to fit neatly into a category to be worthwhile.
There is value in the middle.
In uncertainty.
In the things that take a little longer to understand.
Oolong changed the way I think about tea because it taught me that the space between two familiar ideas is not necessarily a compromise.
Sometimes, it is where the character lives.
With quiet regard,
N. P. Lim
To the Tea Lovers and the Tea That Holds Us
I want to write a letter, not to anyone in particular, but to the quiet ritual that has accompanied so many of our days. To the tea in our cups and to the people who take the time to notice it. Tea is patient. It waits for us when we are rushing. It sits quietly…
-
What Is Rooibos Tea: Red Gold in Your Cup, the Science and Benefits
There is a certain hour when the day loosens its grip. The coffee has long gone cold. Black tea feels like too much. And yet the kettle still calls, because the ritual matters more than the caffeine. This is where rooibos often arrives. A deep russet red pouring into the cup, warm and unhurried, carrying…
-
The Cup I Always Return To
There is one tea I always return to, even after tasting countless others. It is not rare. It is not expensive. The leaves are ordinary, the aroma familiar. And yet, it has a way of anchoring me, no matter the day or the mood. I first drank it years ago, during a week that felt…
-
Where to Buy Turkish Tea: Finding Authentic Çay for the True Turkish Tea Experience
The first time I understood Turkish tea, I was not drinking it in a café. I was standing in a small shop, watching a man refuse to sell me the wrong thing. I had pointed at a shiny box of flavoured black tea, and he shook his head, quietly, the way someone corrects a friend…
-
Why Tea Might Be the Break You Didn’t Know You Needed
Scrolling through my feed this morning, I realized how easy it is to forget what a quiet moment feels like. Notifications, stories, messages- they all seem to arrive at once, asking for attention I don’t always want to give. And yet, in the middle of it, I poured myself a cup of tea. It wasn’t…
-
A Golden Sip of Serenity chrysanthemum tea
There is a pot on many kitchen tables in Singapore that no one talks about much. Pale yellow gold in the glass, with a few small chrysanthemum flowers or flower buds drifting at the bottom. It appears after a heavy meal, at a grandmother’s house, or in a hawker centre when the weather turns unbearable….
-
Tea in a Scrollable World
I often think about how tea fits into a world that moves as fast as ours does. Every day, there are notifications, updates, trends, and posts competing for attention. Memes, videos, tweets, they all demand a response, a like, a share. It is a constant motion that leaves very little space for pause. And then…
-
Marriott High Tea 1 for 1: Indulge in Luxury at Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel
I almost didn’t go. Hotel afternoon tea always felt like something you did for a birthday or a special occasion with loved ones, or when a relative flew in and you wanted to seem like you had your life together. Expensive. A little performative. The kind of thing you photograph more than you eat. If…
-
Why Some Teas Feel Like Company
I’ve always thought of tea as a companion of sorts. Not a person, not a friend, but something that sits quietly beside you while the day moves forward. A cup of tea doesn’t interrupt your thoughts. It doesn’t demand attention. It simply exists, warm and steady, while you figure out what comes next. Some teas…
-
A Refined Afternoon Tea Experience at the Pan Pacific Atrium High Tea
Pan Pacific Atrium High Tea is the afternoon tea experience at the Atrium Lounge in Pan Pacific Singapore: a refined, unhurried sitting with TWG tea or Lavazza coffee, elegant seating pods above the reflection pool, and a menu that pairs classic English tea traditions with Peranakan flavours. For couples, friends, families, and tea lovers looking…
