Batch 58 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is a Hong Shui Oolong made in the traditional fashion by our friend in his home factory in Phoenix Village, Taiwan. He let his family plot of tea behind their traditional 3-sided farmhouse continue to grow after spring harvest in April until the last few days in July. This allows the tea trees to rejuvenate by growing naturally during the most vegetative phase of their annual cycle. He then harvested just the tops of the new growth before pruning his trees for fall harvest.
The truth is, our favorite batches of traditionally made Taiwanese Oolongs have come from this community of family owned farms in the foothills of Phoenix Mountain in Lugu Township. We've been told it's the soil, and the mid-elevation climate that is most conducive to making a traditionally made Oolong Tea. But in our own perception, it's the expertise that comes from generations of tea making that results in the character of tea that we love the most.
We recently visited Mr. Liu when we hosted a visitor from Italy who was keen on experiencing the local tea culture. Our guest was truly elated to be served tea by a true artisan of the trade. Mr. Liu served us three different teas that were all locally harvested this past spring. They varied only in their degree oxidation and roasting. And the one that was sufficiently oxidized, but only lightly roasted, immediately impressed us.
We spent several days over the last couple weeks filming in tea country (Lugu) and in Taichung City with the Buddhist-based Da Ai Television station. It will a while before the program is aired, but for now we can share some behind the scene shots. Here we are at Tony and Lisa Lin's tea table playing with tea design ideas.
Read all about this amazing celebration of Taiwanese Tea Culture. We've got stories and photos to share from this year's event, which was called 春山沐月 or, "Spring Mountains Bathed In Moonlight".
Last week, in the first days of the Chinese New Year, I didn’t have a chance to visit my friend who provides us with our Dong Ding Oolong Tea. So today, I made a point of making it to his home during these final days of the holiday. When I arrived, my friend – who chose the English name Young, was holding the first draft of his English translation of a poem that a friend posted on his FB page. This poem was written by a friend in response to a photo that Young had taken on the ninth day of the Chinese New Year when he went to the local temple to make traditional offerings.
