Oolong Tea Concentrate
Oolong tea concentrate is an aqueous extract of partially oxidised Camellia sinensis leaf, concentrated to a high solids liquid and used as a beverage base for ready to drink and food service tea products.
Oolong sits between green and black tea in oxidation, typically 20 to 70 percent, and its extract composition reflects that. It retains a substantial proportion of the monomeric catechins found in green tea, principally epigallocatechin gallate and epicatechin gallate, while also carrying the theaflavins and thearubigins formed when catechins couple during oxidation. Caffeine runs at 2 to 4 percent of the extract solids, and the aroma fraction includes the floral and stone fruit volatiles that develop during the bruising and firing stages of oolong manufacture. Colour ranges from pale gold to amber brown according to oxidation level.
Concentrate reaches buyers as a clear to lightly hazy brown liquid at 10 to 40 percent solids, filled aseptically or held frozen or chilled, and also as a spray dried powder. The defining formulation problem is tea cream, the haze and sediment that forms when caffeine and polyphenols associate as the extract cools. Controlling it through enzymatic treatment, cold clarification or pH adjustment is the main technical distinction between one concentrate and another.
We source bulk Oolong Tea Concentrate from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Zhejiang. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Beverage ingredient
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Clear to lightly hazy liquid, free from leaf particles and sediment |
| Colour | Pale gold to amber brown according to oxidation level |
| Flavour and odour | Characteristic oolong, floral to roasted by grade, no musty or burnt note |
| Total soluble solids | 10.0 to 40.0 percent, declared per grade |
| pH | 4.8 to 5.8 |
| Total polyphenols on dry matter | 25.0 percent minimum |
| Caffeine on dry matter | 2.0 to 4.0 percent, regular grade |
| Cold haze after 24 hours at 4 degrees Celsius | None visible, cold stable grade |
| Lead | 0.5 mg/kg maximum on dry matter |
| Arsenic | 0.5 mg/kg maximum on dry matter |
| Total plate count | 1000 cfu/g maximum |
| Yeast and mould | 50 cfu/g maximum |
| Escherichia coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Grades are set first by oxidation level and by leaf origin, since lightly oxidised Taiwanese and Fujian style oolong gives a green and floral extract while heavily oxidised and roasted styles give a darker, woodier one. Roasted oolong extract, made from leaf given a charcoal or oven firing, is traded as a distinct specification with a pronounced toasted character. Strength is quoted as total soluble solids or as the dilution ratio at which the extract reaches drinking strength.
The second distinction is cold stability, between a standard extract that will haze on chilling and a cold stable extract that has been tannase treated or cold clarified so that it stays bright in a chilled bottle. Decaffeinated extract is traded separately, as are extracts standardised on total polyphenol or on epigallocatechin gallate content for supplement use. Liquid concentrate, frozen concentrate and spray dried powder are the three physical forms, with powder specified on moisture, solubility and bulk density rather than on Brix.
Applications
- Ready to drink bottled and canned oolong tea, the largest outlet
- Milk tea and tea latte bases, where the extract stands up to dilution with dairy
- Tea shop and food service dispensing systems, dosed as a syrup in place of brewing
- Fruit tea and flavoured tea beverages, where oolong provides the tea backbone
- Instant tea powders and sachet drinks, using the spray dried form
- Ice cream, jelly and dessert bases carrying a tea flavour
- Bakery, confectionery and chocolate fillings with an oolong profile
- Alcoholic ready to drink mixes and tea based cocktails
- Dietary supplement liquids and capsules standardised on polyphenol content
- Savoury applications such as tea smoked preparations and marinades
China Manufacturers of Oolong Tea Concentrate
Top Oolong Tea Concentrate manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Tea and tea extracts are conventional foods in the United States rather than food additives, and tea extract used to give flavour falls within the framework for natural flavourings. Manufacture is subject to the preventive controls requirements for human food. Green tea catechin extracts marketed as supplements at concentrated dose levels have attracted regulatory attention over liver effects, which is a consideration for highly standardised extracts rather than for beverage strength material, and caffeine content must be considered where the extract is used in products outside the tea category.
In the European Union tea extracts are foods, and where they are prepared specifically for flavouring purposes they fall under the flavourings regulation as natural flavouring preparations. Beverages with elevated caffeine outside the tea and coffee categories carry a mandatory caffeine declaration. The European Food Safety Authority assessed green tea catechin preparations at high dose levels, and some member states attach conditions to them, which again bears on standardised supplement extracts rather than on beverage concentrates. Codex covers tea through its commodity standards and its general contaminant standard, and pesticide residue limits are the routine specification point for tea because residues concentrate into the extract along with the solids.
Manufacturing Process
Processed oolong leaf is received, cleaned and, where a coarser cut is needed, milled to open the leaf structure. Extraction is carried out with hot water in a countercurrent column or in a battery of percolators, with the strong first extract drawn forward and weaker later extracts recycled onto fresh leaf so that yield rises without over extracting any single charge. Water temperature and contact time are held within a narrow band, because over extraction pulls through the astringent and bitter fraction while under extraction leaves solids in the spent leaf.
The crude extract is separated from the spent leaf by pressing and screening, cooled, and centrifuged. Many lines then run a cold clarification step in which the extract is chilled so that the tea cream precipitates and is removed, or dose tannase to hydrolyse the galloyl esters that drive cream formation, which keeps the finished drink bright. The clarified extract is deaerated, aroma is stripped and recovered where the process allows, and the body is concentrated by vacuum evaporation, reverse osmosis or freeze concentration, with membrane routes preferred for aroma retention. Recovered aroma is blended back, and the concentrate is pasteurised, cooled rapidly and filled aseptically, chilled or frozen, or taken forward to a spray dryer.
