News
A Fine Fall Harvest Of Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Tea
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.
Inaugural Dong Ding Tea Making Workshop In Phoenix Village
The Yonglong Fenghuang Community recently conducted its inaugural local workshop emulating the Lugu Farmers' Association's model of a Traditional Dong Ding Oolong Tea making practicum. This community is the historical heart of Dong Ding Oolong Country. It is where this specialty tea originated and continues to represent the most traditional methods of Dong Ding Oolong tea making.
Preliminary Tea Judge Training In Taiwan
Thirty local residents within a given township are accepted into this course offered annually, where they attend four days of classes in preparation for the national exam at the Research Station's HQ in Yangmei, Taoyuan County. Passing this exam is prerequisite to attending advanced training courses in tea judging that are regional specific and focus on the competition standard for the tea type produced in that area. For example, to qualify as a preliminary tea judge for the Lugu Farmers' Association, graduates from this basic training must pass the much more rigorous course designed and conducted by the Lugu Farmers' Association
Taiwan's Living Art Of Tea Club (生活茶會)
Since 1992, the Lugu Farmers' Association has sponsored a course in Tea Art. The purpose of this educational program has been to provide local residents with an aesthetic understanding of tea art and culture. It is meant to provide a foundation that participants can innovate upon and develop their own embodiment of Tea Art. After attending both practical and theoretical classes, participants take a written exam and do a tea brewing demonstration of their own design in order to receive the Tea Art Award.
Eco-Cha Oolong Tea Class
We were honored to have our friend and skilled tea artisan, Young, in attendance for the inaugural Eco-Cha Tea Class. He played the role of attendee until we (surprise) announced that he grew the tea we were all drinking.
Geographical Indicators For Taiwanese Tea
A meaningful article was recently published on the World of Tea site about the challenges of verifying the authenticity of tea via the use of geographical indicators. The author made a valid point about how the methods of employing geographical indicators are not foolproof, particularly when tea is exported outside of its local industry and market. His article prompted us to research geographical indicators here in Taiwan, which we have observed the development of over the last decade or so, but have not been directly involved in the use of them.
Summer Harvest Of High Mountain Tea: The Sustainable Choice
We are happy to announce the arrival of this year's summer harvest of Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong. Only since last year have we begun to offer the summer harvest from this source of high mountain tea, and we did so for a few specific reasons. First of all, it's considerably cheaper than spring and winter harvests, and while there is a noticeable difference in quality and character, it's still a fine high mountain tea. And for the price, it's a great deal!
The World's Largest Oolong Tea Competition Spring 2016
Now over 40 years running, this spring's Lugu Farmers' Association Dong Ding Oolong Tea Competition consisted of 6,441 entries. This pioneering tea competition was designed to maintain and promote a standard of high quality in the production of this traditional type of Oolong Tea.
Spring Tea Harvest 2016: A Journey To Lishan
Eco-Cha is dedicated to finding the farms that are smaller and independently run from start to finish in the making of quality tea. This is what we have learned to be worth supporting and promoting here on the ground, at the source.
Spring Ride To Alishan's "Village Of Great Peace"
Eco-Cha's pictorial post on spring tea harvest 2016, received a lot of compliments in appreciation of our sharing snapshots of our tea adventures in Taiwan. This inspired us to take a few extra moments to stop and enjoy the view on our third ride into 太和村 or "Great Peace Village" in the last couple weeks. Here are some photos from that ride. Our readers know that we've tended to focus on an in-depth perspective of the tea industry in Taiwan. Now we feel like it's time to share some simply pleasurable sight-seeing in the country where all this wonderful tea is produced.
Central Taiwan Spring Tea Harvest 2016: A Pictorial
Our visit was too short, but we left feeling good after an overdue visit with an old friend. As we rode back down from his family's highest settlement on the mountainside above Zhangshuhu, we saw many crops being harvested under clear sunny skies — perfect weather for harvest. The tea produced on this mountain has become renowned due to its ideal climate and environment. But like many areas, it has expanded a great deal, and finding farm and factory operations that suit our style is becoming challenging, but still possible. We appreciate it all the more when we find a family run farm that has not expanded into high volume production, and this exploration of rural tea country has been our labor of love for decades.
10 Tea Blogs To Help You Learn About Tea
One of the best things about learning about tea is learning about tea; the subject is immense and there is always more to learn. There are so many great resources out there, too many to list in this post, so here's a great starting point.