Hand picking Red Jade Tai Cha 18
August 18, 2020

Red Jade Black Tea Upgrade

Red Jade Tai Cha 18 harvested by hand

Our source of Red Jade Black Tea (Tai Cha 18) is a success story in progress. And his most recent advancement in his operations has been to optimize the quality control of his Red Jade production. He is only using his prime summer produce for making his Red Jade Black Tea, and designating the early and late harvests for Ruby White Tea making. He has also begun to be more precise in timing of harvests, and picky (no pun intended!) about the selection of hand-picked leaves by reaping only the proper degree of maturity in the new leaf growth. 

Tai Cha 18 Red Jade Black Tea at prime growth stage

In addition to his own certified organic tea farm in Songboling, he has contracted this plot of Red Jade 18 for several years. He started by committing to procure a third of each harvest, and now procures the entire annual produce — allowing him to manage harvest times more efficiently.

Beyond these factors, while our friend only noted the two above factors of optimal seasonal harvests and prime growth, we have observed his own progress over the last seven years as a professional tea maker. In a word, we are proud of our youngest source of specialty Taiwan tea! We not only source our Red Jade Black Tea from him, but last year also added two new teas to our menu produced by him: Eco-Farmed Four Seasons Spring Black Tea and Eco-Farmed Four Seasons Spring Oolong Tea.

In sum, we are excited to both support our friend in his development as a recognized professional on the local scene, and to offer a higher grade of Red Jade Black Tea to tea lovers around the world!

Red Jade Tai Cha 18 hand-picked in Sun Moon Lake Taiwan

Tai Cha 18 is a hybrid of the Assam tea plant with the wild tea tree that is naturally occurring on Taiwan. It is recorded that the Portuguese were the first to discover this wild tea tree hundreds of years ago. When the Japanese came to this area in the early 1900's bringing with them the Assam plant, this wild tea was being cultivated by early Chinese settlers. So this hybrid  strain existed by default long before the Tea Research and Extension Station registered and promoted it in 1999.

Red Jade Tea - also known as Tai Cha 18, brews a rich, full-bodied tea with subtle hints of clove, cinnamon and mint in its complex composition. The flavor profile of Red Jade is unique among black teas, while still possessing a classic black tea character. It is another exemplary selection on the Eco-Cha menu in that it is naturally farmed with zero use of chemical farm products. If you are a Black Tea lover, you deserve a sampling of this distinctive Black Tea. Get some here now!

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