Generally, 2.5 grams of tea per 8 ounces/240 ml of water should be used. Oolong teas should be prepared with 180°F to 190°F (82°C-87°C) water (not boiling) and steeped 3-4 minutes. High quality Oolong can be brewed multiple times from the same leaves, and unlike green tea it improves with reuse. It is common to brew the same leaves three to five times, the third steeping usually being the best.

An additional widely used method of brewing Oolongs in Taiwan and China is called gongfucha. This method utilizes a small brewing vessel, such as a Gaiwan or Yizing clay pot, with a large tea to water ratio. Multiple short steeps of 20 seconds to 1 minute are done and are often served in small tasting cups about the size of a thimble.

In Chinese tea culture, semi-oxidized oolong teas are known as qīngchá (Chinese: "blue-green tea"). Oolong tastes more like a green tea than black tea- it does not contain the sweet smell of black tea but, at the same time doesn‟t have the grassy, earthy flavours that are associated with green tea. Oolong is usually prepared to be strong and bitter, but leaves a sweet aftertaste. Many types of Oolong, and among those the famous „Wuyi‟ produced in the Wuyi Mountains of northern Fujian and in the central mountains of Taiwan, are a few of the most famous Chinese teas.

The English name, Oolong tea, comes from the Chinese name which is pronounced as O-liông tê and is translated as "black dragon tea". There are three ideas about how the Chinese name happened:

The "tribute tea" theory suggests that Oolong tea descended from the Dragon-Phoenix Tea Cake tribute tea, which Oolong tea replaced when loose tea came into fashion. It was called the Black Dragon tea because the tea appears dark in colour, long and curled, like the mystic Black Dragon.

The Wuyi story says that Oolong tea came from Wuyi Mountain. Poems written in the Qing dynasty, such as Wuyi Tea Song (Wuyi Chage) and Tea Tale (Chashuo) describe this type of tea.

The third theory is that a man named Wu Liang discovered Oolong tea accidentally when he was distracted by a deer after a hard day's tea-picking, and by the time he remembered about the tea it had already started to oxidize.