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Flavor: Fresh floral, savory pastry aroma. Balanced, sweet and vegetal notes. Lingering, delicate flower, clean/dry finish.
Garden: This farm is managed by an innovative farmer who inherited his family farm, and has continued to expand his farm management to other plots of tea in the Shanlinxi region. Mr. Chen has been a professional tea judge for over 20 years, and continues to hone his skills as both a farmer and professional representative of specialty Oolong tea.
In recent years, he has focused on cultivating tea, and works in cooperation with a local colleague with whom he contracts the processing of his tea. We also know this colleague – Mr. Zhang, who is younger, but very skilled and sought after as a contracted tea maker. A great deal of the tea that he supervises the processing of is procured for entry into the Lugu Farmers' Association's Dong Ding Oolong Tea Competition. Mr. Zhang is also a professional tea judge who is highly motivated in his career.
Harvest: Hand-picked, singular medium batch, fall 2023. Shan Lin Xi, Nantou, Taiwan.
Elevation: 1500m
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One of the prominent qualities of Taiwanese high mountain oolong is the fragrance that exudes from the freshly brewed leaves. Especially after the first and second brews, hold the un-lidded teapot near your nose and inhale slowly to experience the volatile aromatic oils that are being released from the freshly moistened and heated leaves. From there you can enjoy the evolving aroma of each successive brew. The fragrance is the most intriguing and subtle quality of a fine high mountain tea.
This tea carries distinct qualities of relatively minimal oxidation of the leaves during processing. This is evident in its fresh, floral/vegetal aroma and smooth, balanced flavor. In addition to this, Mr. Chen put our leaves in his roasting oven for several hours at approx. 80°C to remove any remaining moisture in the stems of the leaves. This cures the leaf more thoroughly, stabilizing the flavor profile and prolonging shelf life. It also subtly mellows the flavor further to offer a softer, sweeter, more balanced brew.
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Our friend who manages the plots of tea that produce our Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Tea had not significantly pruned this smaller plot of tea for 3 years until after the previous summer harvest. Tea trees benefit significantly when they are allowed to periodically just behave like trees. Leaving them alone to grow naturally for a few years will maintain their health and longevity. The current fall batch was the new growth that sprouted following the pruning. This delayed fall crop has resulted in forfeiting the winter crop — a significant cost for the farmer. We truly feel that the level of management and skill that is employed from this source is the of the highest standards we've seen in our 20 plus years of research. It's a privilege to source this tea.
Our source of this tea is firmly committed to the practice of transporting the freshly picked leaves to a factory at about half the elevation of the tea farm in order to provide ideal climate conditions for processing. Specifically, there is more sunshine and less fog at lower elevation, along with more available outdoor space to provide an optimal environment for solar withering - the initial an pivotal stage of Oolong Tea processing. It is this level of professionalism combined with the more environmentally friendly aspect of using a factory located in a residential area rather than on a remote high elevation tea farm that makes us committed to this source of quality Taiwanese High Mountain Tea.
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Mug: 8g tea in 300ml 100°C water. Steep for 4 minutes. Re-steep. Adjust to taste.
Cold Brew: Use 5g of tea per liter of water. Brew tea at room temperature for 2-3 hours, and enjoy. Or you can put your cold brew bottle in the fridge to brew overnight and be ready to drink the next day.
Gong Fu: We recommend a 1:15 leaf to water ratio, so 10g of tea for 150mL of water. Use boiling temperature water and brew for about 50 seconds. Increase brewing time with each successive brew. The leaves can be brewed 5-6 times.
