We brewed our spring batch of Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong Tea alongside the freshly picked summer batch to observe the differences between these two consecutive harvests from the same source. These two batches exhibited the classic seasonal traits of spring and summer high mountain tea.
We went up to film on the first day of spring harvest by our source of Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong Tea. The early morning was sunny, but the fog rolled in early, and we were socked in by noon, diminishing our aspirations for getting lots of scenic drone footage! But this is representative of the daily weather — particularly in this micro-climate of a ravine that faces northeast.
Mr. Chen had initially intended to make a more heavily oxidized, traditionally made Dong Ding Oolong style tea from this day of harvest. But due to the conditions on the day of harvest, the degree of oxidation in the leaves fell short of what is optimal for making Dong Ding Oolong. We tasted it on the day after it was processed, and appreciated the character of significantly oxidized leaves that offer a substantial composition and very balanced flavor profile which makes a pleasant and satisfying, yet less pronounced alternative to the standard character of a High Mountain Oolong. So we offered to buy the day's harvest in full, given it was only a small fraction of what is normally harvested and processed in one day.
In the end, each seasonal crop has its own unique combination of contributing factors that give it a slightly different aromatic and flavor profile than other seasons. We really enjoy experiencing these seasonal variations from the same plot of tea processed in the same basic way. We encourage our High Mountain Oolong fans to follow suit in order to more fully understand this type of tea and how it can vary from season to season.
Wonder what makes Taiwan high mountain tea special? Find out as we take you behind the scenes in our latest sourcing trip for Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong!
Taiwan is home to some of the finest tea in the world, particularly in the Oolong category. Yet, not all Taiwanese teas are widely recognized or understood by name. So here is an overview of the top ten most famous teas from Taiwan.
Here's a simple Gong Fu brewing guide on how to brew the best tea using quality Taiwanese loose-leaf teas. From how long to steep oolong to how much to use, there really is no right or wrong when it comes to brewing tea. We just want to share how both tea pros and tea lovers in general brew Oolong Teahere in Taiwan. We offer this in hope that it will enhance the quality of brewed tea for tea lovers around the world.
The marketing trends of modern tea production in Taiwan have, for a number of reasons, resulted in a clear discrimination of the quality and value of tea that is harvested by machine compared with tea harvested by hand. These initial reasons have been conveyed to foreign purveyors of Taiwanese teas, who consequently represent the product as such today. Much less conveyed is the fact that tea production methods have evolved significantly in Taiwan in recent decades. This calls for a current assessment of the state of the industry today.
Taiwan makes some of the best teas in the world, especially of the Oolong variety. Given the breadth and scope of teas the island produces, it can sometimes be confusing exactly what tea to buy. To help you out, we've compiled a simple guide to Taiwan'sunroasted Oolong Teas to help you find your "cup of tea".
Above we see a local tea picker turning in freshly picked leaves to be weighed and recorded for commission. These new-growth, tender leaves were harvested on a beautiful sunny day at about 1500 meters elevation in the Shan Lin Xi tea growing region in southern Nantou County, central Taiwan.
We've been procuring High Mountain Tea from this region for over 20 years. And it has only been in recent years that we've discovered that quality batches of tea are produced from both summer and fall harvests — and at a significantly lower price than spring and winter harvests. While readily admitting that we, along with the majority of avid tea lovers in Taiwan, were perhaps snobbishly prejudiced toward spring and winter harvests — wanting only what has been promoted to be the best choices — we also happily acknowledge that there has been been progress in the production of High Mountain Tea.
Last weekend we procured our spring batch of Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong from our favorite farmer in the area. This farm also produced our current stock of High Mountain Concubine Oolong.
