GABA Oolong from Taiwan’s “Frozen Summit” (Dong Ding Mountain)

A high mountain Taiwanese tea, Dong Ding (冻顶) "Frozen Summit” is renowned worldwide for its exceptional flavor profile and unique growing conditions at 1600 meters. This is a GABA-enriched tea: GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter that can induce relaxation and a remarkable sense of focused calmness, and diminish anxiety. The taste is aromatic and floral, like perfectly ripe fruit, with less astringency and metallic taste than most GABA oolongs. The tea “liquor” is bright and golden in color. In the 1980s, tea growers in Japan developed special GABA-enriched/fortified teas, known simply as GABA teas, through an oxygen-free fermentation process. These enriched teas contain 800% as much GABA as a regular cup of oolong tea. Several studies tested GABA oolong teas, in particular, with an Australian study concluding that its consumption led to a significant decrease in the immediate stress score and a significant improvement in heart rate variability,