The Yin Qiao Shan Fang studio was founded back in 1978 by Master Lee, who unfortunately passed away at the very end of 2023. Thankfully, the heritage he left for us is priceless, because the studio carries on the genuine lineage of royal porcelain from the ancient empire of China, namely the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is aiming to bring this heritage to the future with us.
When visiting the famous National Palace Museum in Taipei, visitors can find some of the most delicate and aesthetically refined porcelain art pieces in the world. These pieces were crafted by the royal standards of their time. They proved to be timeless classics in the world of porcelain art. As an ancient art collector himself who was also an often-seen guest in major auctions, Master Lee was inspired by these pieces he owned to create porcelain ware that bears the spirit of the ancient treasures he once touched and felt. In 1978, after years of learning and experimentation, Yin Qiao Shang Fang was founded.
The pieces made by the studio accurately captured the essence of what the royal craftsmen were actually trying to do – to make porcelain into a form of “jade.” This was why some of the earliest form of porcelain wares were in the color of celadon and white, because these colors were considered as the finest form of jade (even by today’s standards). From this inspiration, Master Lee’s grand journey of porcelain began, and eventually created the concept of “Playing with Jade” (玩玉). That is, appreciating porcelain is the same as appreciating jade. Master Lee thus established a unique charm no other material can offer.
We think the most important point is - the porcelain ware made by Yin Qiao does not only carry the high aesthetic standard a royal piece should have, but most importantly delivers the standard of how tea should be smelled and tasted. After serious industrialization throughout the globe, the world of today’s porcelain mainly consists of artificially composed glazes, which may look pretty and shiny at first glance, but could easily influence how the tea will taste when being used. Just like any great teapot or teacup made in Yixing, the value of porcelain of Jingdezhen is how the natural material is crafted and applied, and how this wisdom elevates the sensational experience for the world of drinking.
This is why we think an opportunity like this event is important for our supporters. We wish you to joyfully dive into the world of tea savoring with us and go beyond the pre-established boundaries of your senses.
Lunar New Year Give Away Program Details
Valid from 2/12/2024 to 2/28/2024
When you make an order on the Taiwan Sourcing website with the following values, you will receive as a gift one of these sets of porcelain items*:
Orders of $333 USD and Above:
White Glazed Porcelain Sniffer Cup Set (白釉聞香杯組) x 2 Signature Cloth x 1 Total Value $99
This basic set is the best companion to begin in the world of porcelain. In this set you will not only be amazed by how clear water tastes, but also how aromatic the scent becomes in the sniffer cup.
Orders of $555 USD and Above:
Macaron Cup Set (馬卡龍六色杯組 x 1 口布巾 x 1) Signature Cloth x 1
Total Value $164
This colorful set is a demonstration of how different glazes can be accomplished with natural elements applied. A tea lover can touch and observe what a natural glaze feels and looks like.
Orders of $777 USD and Above:
After-Snow Blue Glazed Tea Storage Unit (霽藍釉 大茶倉 x 1 小茶倉 x 1) 口布巾x 1 Signature Cloth x 1
Total Value: $199
This classic color “After-Snow Blue” is also called “Sapphire Blue.” It is a timeless color in the world of porcelain. Teas transform beautifully in naturally composed porcelain as well, giving them an elegant touch after months of storage.
Orders of $999 USD and Above:
Rouge-Red Glazed Cup Set (胭脂水羅漢杯 x 2 口布巾 x1 ) Signature Cloth x 1
Total Value: $453
This stunning glaze is a difficult combination of copper and true gold. This formula was developed in the late 17th century to capture a loveable tenderness. Water turns rounder and sweeter in it, and its finely grooved texture offers a delightful tactile experience. An heirloom classic to have at home.
*Orders in a given value range will only receive the gift for that range, not the gifts in the value ranges below it. E.g. an order worth $555 will receive the Macaron Cup set, but not the White Glazed Porcelain Sniffer Cup set.
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As we wrap up our production of organic Taiwanese teas for Winter 2021 and look back, we're delighted with the wide variety of teas produced. These teas have special qualities that cannot be found in any other teas on the planet. Once the charcoal roasting of our Baigushan (白姑山) Winter harvest tea has been completed, the number of teas available from this season will be 17. That is an impressive number of teas, especially considering the recent weather conditions. Winter harvests typically yield less than Spring and Summer, but frosts in Taiwan this Winter resulted in a much more limited yield. Visit our 2021 Winter Oolong Teas page and explore these remarkable new teas!
Treasures of the Collection
The teas from our “Jade” series are produced from a relatively uncommon tea leaf called Cui Yu (meaning “Emerald Jade”). Cui Yu oolongs are light and refreshing, almost minty, with a pleasant floral note. What makes Jade Dew unique is that it was produced in a season that experienced extensive green leafhopper activity across Taiwan. The resulting tea is a powerful and exquisite blend of the classic Cui Yu profile with a strong yet smooth bug-bitten flavor. We recommend this tea especially to anyone who enjoys our other Cui Yu teas such as “Aura Jade” or “Twilight Jade.” The brilliance of this tea is made especially clear when compared with its other Cui Yu cousins.
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The ratio of tea should 3 or 4 grams per 100ml brewing device. For a 200ml teapot we'd recommend 6 or 8 grams of tea. If a scale is not available, use your fingertip to gently grasp the tea for two times, by doing so you will get a rough 6 grams.
Now to the brewing part. Remember your water must be fully boiled, a drop in temperature will fail to deliver the full potential of a great tea. Once the water is fully boiled, pour it into your teapot as quick and precise as possible. Gentleness is not what we are looking for here, because we are not trying to hinder the possible unwanted part through brewing technique. We want to get everything from the tea by the end of the session.
Let the tea brewed for 3 minutes for its first steep, then you are ready to know its initial character. For second steep it will be another 3 minutes, then try it again. By now you should have a quite accurate profile of what this tea really is, but don't dump the tea yet! Third steep will be our final round, and this time your have to wait for 4 minutes before pouring the tea out.
Crucial reminder, all these three steeps will need fully boiled water to fulfill the task, so remember to make sure your water is hot enough!
This is our tip for meeting a new tea. It's like meeting a new friend, but sometimes the right approach is necessary so a misunderstanding can be avoided. We hope this post will help you all, and feel free to leave any comments or questions for us!
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In fact, if someone knows Taiwanese tea culture quite well, you will hear this term "Run Dry" very often. Its Mandarin characters are "走乾," which literally means "dry thoroughly." This process will have roasters involved, but it is not a roasting process since the temperature are relatively low. And unlike "roasting," "Run Dry" process will not create a roasting flavor to the tea, instead it simply refine the draft tea after their initial drying process in the A-machine. This final stage is normally referred as "refining," and only after the teas were being "refined" can they be sold to the customer.
This is the reason we kept emphasizing on the fact that all our oolong teas from the spring of 2018 went through a very sophisticated "Run Dry" or "Light Roast" process, because these process, especially the "Run Dry" process, were normally done by a electric roaster. We however, sent all our teas to a charcoal roasting room for the refining process without any electric roaster involved, which is an unusual move to today's market trend. Normally, tea that apply such method were either inferior tea or none-Taiwanese tea to enhance the flavor while covering the true quality up in order to sell it at a higher price. We are glad that all our teas were being "refined" by Mr. Zhuan, who is a master at applying charcoal roasting method to teas.
You might ask at this point: "Does it make a big difference between machine roaster and charcoal roaster?" Our answer is it certainly has a difference, and it is a huge difference. Lots of active element inside the tea tends to fade out when being refined by a machine roaster, while charcoal roaster will not only keep the activity but further enhance it. We did an experiment back in the winter of 2017 on our "Overlord" to see how big the difference was, because if the difference is not much, why bother applying a more costly method to the already costly tea?
That being said, we cannot not be more proud to offer the new teas from this spring, not only because the took lots of effort and time to create (we supervised most of the tea ourselves at the scene), but also the result from this spring is what we have been waiting for in the past three years. We have sourced lots of great teas, but this time, we are creating something of our own to the world, and no matter where you are at the world right now, we want you to join us with a cup of these teas at your side.
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Over the course of time this tea has transformed itself into one of the most expensive and luxurious varieties available, it's popularity bolstered in part by the Oriental Beauty Competition that is now being held annually in Taiwan. We share an intense appreciation and curiosity for Oriental Beauty, and as such we decided to travel to the birthplace of this tea and experience first-hand the processing of what is now a staple. Thus began our journey to one of the hometowns of the Hakka people - Er Mei (峨嵋).
To gain an understanding of a tea like this, it only made sense that the very first place we would visit is its plantation. When we arrived at the site it was a scorching midsummer day, and we were rather appalled by the temperature. We had left the "high mountain" regions and moved down into the hills. It was so extremely hot that without any shade to escape to, it felt as though it would be impossible for us to stay long.
From here we observed that the appearance and tools of these tea pickers were a little bit different than those from the high mountain region - their baskets were much smaller than the "high mountain baskets" we were used to seeing.
The baskets were smaller simply because they were being used to carry smaller, younger leaves. The material they were picking was a very different size than the material required to make a Jade Oolong or Dong Ding Oolong, both of which require fully grown leaves to process. Oriental Beauty calls for leaves that are extremely "tender", and it only gets better if bitten by the Jacobiasca formosana- type of mini cicada which loves tea trees very much.
The grandmother in this photo was in her 80s, and maintained diligence simply because there were not enough young people becoming involved to fill the need for labor.
A tea picking squad working under the extreme temperature of noon without complaint. Our fragile crew on the other hand, was suffering.
This was one of the plantations that was managed by Mr. Hsu's family. And no, that is not their castle in the background. The plantation might seem big in the picture, but after comparing it to what we saw in the Lishan mountain area, this plantation was quite "small" to our understanding.
One should not forget to mention the small best friend of any tea plantation - spiders, a great resident species that signifies a low pesticide environment.
After harvesting, material was sent to outdoor withering, a step shared by all oolong teas. Sunshine is a key element in this kind of tea processing, but since the materials are more tender and fragile at this early stage, an electric shade is used as needed to prevent "over withering." Also, since the sheer amount of material is lesser than with normal oolongs, the tea leaves are very thinly scattered on each tray.
The shade is pulled over the fragile, thin leaves so that they are not damaged by constant ultraviolet exposure.
The electric shade was located on top of the building, used to control the intensity of the sunshine. Once the outdoor withering was complete, the tea was sent to the indoor withering room.
Here we meet our young master, who is the fourth generation in this family-run tea operation. He was picking out any undesirable leaves in order to ensure consistent quality. Notice that the room lacks air-conditioning. This was to make sure that the tea would oxidize properly, for the Oriental Beauty requires higher temperatures than Jade Oolongs.
A gentle stirring of the tray was still required intermittently during the 4 to 5 hour period of indoor withering.
The tea leaves would gradually and elegantly transform from exuberant green to a faded, more earthy version of themselves.
Normally it would take three to four hours for this stage to be completed. The tea had to go through gentle stirring numerous times before it reached the final stage of "waving" to keep the water within the tea leaves for "oxidation".
Again, the quantity is significantly lesser than what we would expect from Jade oolong processing, so even the final waving, normally done by a waving machine, was now completed by hand as well with a crew of no more than five people.
The final "waving" had a focused feeling.
Once this step was done, the tray would be covered by another tray which partially concealed the tea leaves, creating an even warmer and more humid environment within.
After all of this, the crew could finally take a two hours rest without any interruption. The work was done . . . for now. And it was also time for dinner.
To add some more historical context, the Hsu family has been in the business of making Oriental Beauty tea since the very beginning of the 20th century. However, it was not until the 21st century that Oriental Beauty began to make a name for itself in the market. The prestige, desirability, and prices all surged after Mr. Hsu, the father of our young master, won a series of competitions from 2003 to 2005.
But there is always more to be done, so back to the factory. After a couple of hours in the tray, the tea takes on this "reddish" appearance. This is due to the oxidation of polyphenols.
Once the oxidation was considered finished, the tea tray would be placed on a scale. Scaling was critical for the accuracy of "stir frying," which we will see next.
The temperature would normally be controlled between 180 ~ 200 celcius degrees when stir-frying the tea. This process would not only stop the oxidation, but also further "mature" the tea to get rid of the "rawness" (青) character within.
The material was then tossed into the familiar "stir frying machine."
Temperature was the key element of a successful "stir fry," but beyond that our young master here was hesitant to share his specialized methods.
Young master here was covering the entrance of the machine in order to create an environment that would retain enough heat for the tea within.
Oriental Beauty exiting the stir-fry machine.
After "stir frying the leaves," we entered a very special stage for Oriental Beauty - "hand rolling." This rolling is heavily related to the "waving" process. If the tea is properly waved and rolled, the tea will carry a heavier taste than those which are not properly rolled. This is because the elements in the stems are all forced into the leaves. In short, waving serves not only the purpose of "keeping water," it is also a crucial step in balancing all of the different qualities inside the tea.
This process, "hand rolling" has to be done delicately even though it looks a bit brutal from an outsider's perspective.
After being rolled into shape using the material shown, the tea ball is then "de-massed" by throwing it against the ground. This process is repeated a handful of times, and the impact is notable. It allows the nuanced flavors inside of teas to come out more efficiently when brewing.
Roll, thump, roll, thump . . .
This "hand-crafting" step will repeat several times to improve the overall quality. In fact, when making even higher-end teas, machine rolling is not used at all. But since the production we witnessed during this visit did not belong to the high-end category, machine rolling was the logical next step.
This is a traditional rolling machine in a style that is seen at most of the other tea factories. Because we were not processing a very high-end tea, the final rolling would be done by machine. This also happened a bit differently than what we would observe at a normal oolong or black tea processing site.
This machine was called the "B machine," and it looks very different from the familiar "A machine" we often encounter. It is much smaller, quieter, and requires human involvement in a way that the "A machine" does not.
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Unlike the "A machine" which has a big and loud rolling tray, this machine requires that the tea be spread by hand, and resting in a way that allows for even heat distribution.
Once the tea was evenly paving the first tray, the operator (whom is the young master in this case) would "flip" the teas down to the heating sector at the bottom of the machine by switching the handle.
The machine has multiple handles to control the fall of the tea, which allow it to be dried by temperatures around 100 Celsius degrees. The lower levels get increasingly hotter. This machine was historically used in the drying process before the advent of the "A machine." It looks and operates primitively, but the nature of low quantity in the processing of Oriental Beauty makes this machine a necessity.
Normally the tea would be dropped to layer seven before it was pulled out. After the first stage of rough drying, it would be sent to the normal roasting machine for the final stage. It was already 2:30 AM in the morning, and all of us were longing for a good rest.
The labor intensive part of the process finally drew to a close once the door of the tea roaster was shut. It was finally the right time for us to take a rest and simply wait for the final product, which would be finishing inside of the roaster for the next couple of hours . . .
The next morning we got to experience the end result!
For very high quality teas, such as those that would be going to competitions, further hand-picking would then take place to enhance the overall consistency and character.
And so ended our long and fascinating journey through the world of oriental processing. It was finally the time to go home. There were many steps and processes that this tea shared with typical oolongs, and yet it carried something special to its own existence, and has done so since the beginning of the 20th century. With over one hundred years of tradition, many unique techniques have been preserved and passed down, as we saw with our friend the young master. The tradition is living on, evolving and finding a new path in this strange new world that is the 21st century! Under the effort of the new generation, with guidance from their elders, we can only hope that these traditions will continue to bring us teas as wonderful and unique as the aptly named Oriental Beauty.
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Different from the "hand-made stirring" (Yes, we just invented that term), this "waving" process involves the assistance of a modern machine in order to make sure the vein of the tea leaves were all properly damaged. By "properly" we mean heavy enough to break the spongy tissue inside the tea leaf to allow the enzymes to escape and interact with the polyphenols, carbohydrates, and amino acids.
A certain amount of tea leaves have to be dropped into this bamboo roller machine that is mechanized with the flip of an electrical switch. The machine might seem dated, but it's very effective, and with a capacity that's quite perfect for this tea factory..
Old mechanism, but not dated.
Although it's called "waving," the bamboo rolling cylinder does not roll crazily like a "wave", but instead rotates very gently and slowly such that it seems to be barely moving at all!
As the cylinder rolls slowly the aroma of the tea leaves begins transforming from "un-ripe peach" to "un-ripe banana". This transformation of aroma would be very subtle to most of the people, but to the seasoned tea processing staff this transformation signal a step in the right direction!
Once the "waving" is done, the tea leaves would be released to the ground for the very next process. A process that is crucial to all oolong teas.
Some of the tea leaves must be removed by hand since they tend to get stuck inside even after the door has been opened and facing down. Special care must be taken to avoid bruising the leaves.
Now we enter the stage of "oxidation". In Mandarin, this stage is actually called "fermentation" but using it in tea processing is actually inaccurate, since fermentation refers to an environment which is lacking oxygen.
Oxidation is a very simple process, the tea leaves are loaded back onto the trays and wait for four to twelve hours. The duration of time depends on objective factors and how the "master" would like the tea to be.
With lighter oxidation, the flavor of the tea will taste similar to the classical Bao Zhong oolong - fresh and non-roasted. If taking a heavier approach, the master roasts it and rolls it more heavily, just like the traditional Dong Ding.
Nowadays, we combine these two approaches together to create the so called "jade oolong" - lighter oxidation than Dong Ding, but heavier rolling than Bao Zhong.
After oxidation has been completed (when "the master" says so), the tea leaves will now enter the crucial stage to stop the activity of enzymes. This stage is called "kill-green" 杀青.
Below: The tea is undergoing the "kill-green" process inside this fast rolling machine.
Of course, the term "kill-green" does not mean really killing the tea. By the application of heat and agitation the enzymes in the tea will reach stasis, thus halting the oxidation of the tea, bringing it to it's final "finished" stage.
During the "kill-green" process, lots of moisture will be released from the tea leaves, causing the room to be hot and humid even during the middle of the night. And again, controlling the water content level in the tea leaves is the key to this process. Although the main purpose of this "kill-green" stage is to release most of the moisture from the tea leaves by raising the temperature, which also halts the degenerative activity of the enzymes. The tricky part is there must be a small amount of moisture kept inside the tea leaves to not only prevent overly dry and brittle tea leaves, but also using that last bit of moisture to produce the temperature need that brings the enzyme activity to a full stop.
What will happen if too much moist is kept inside the tea leaves? Good question! If the tea leaves have too much moisture, the enzymes will be reactivated again, resulting an unstable and possibly spoiled final product.
Below: The room is very hot and humid now although it's already 2:00 AM!
Once the tea is considered done, the machine front of the machine will face down to drop the material out.
The teas will now enter the final part of processing. After this part is done, the tea could be called as "minced tea" (茶臊), which is a normal term to refer tea that just finished the "kill-green" phase.
This part is called "Rolling." As we mentioned previously, tea rolling has two styles ─ light rolling for Bao Zhong with light oxidation; heavy rolling for Dong Ding with heavier oxidation. As we said before, our "Tall Tree Oolong" (and any other kind of usual high mountain jade oolong), is a combination of both styles, it is not surprising that this combined style will be "heavy rolling" and "light oxidation". Such a process is still relatively new compared to the traditional Bao Zhong and Dong Ding style of processing.
Below: 3:00 AM, everybody is still up working on batches of tea. The picture showed below is a basic rolling machine.
Rolling serves two purposes - first purpose is obvious, to make it into a smaller volume for logistics and storage; the second purpose being less obvious, is to break the cell wall of the tea leaf thus allowing the material inside the tea leaf to dissolve into the hot water when it's brewed.
To make a half-rolled oolong like Dong Ding, the tea will normally go through another process called "mass rolling" (團揉) to make a ball-shape like tea, which requires a machine that is designed specifically for mass rolling. Unfortunately, the factory did not have such a machine, so the only way to achieve a heavy rolling was to extend the rolling duration using the normal rolling machine.
Below is an example of the "mass rolling" machine in another bigger tea factory.
After rolling, we could finally entered the very last stage of tea processing to make the so called "draft tea" (毛茶). This is also, possibly the top one tea processing "term" most tea lovers know. Some of our wise reader probably already know what we are about to discuss right now, exactly, we are going to enter the "roasting" part of tea processing.
Like what we saw back at the historical black tea site, the roasting will require a huge machine to make it efficient. As a result, our mini bamboo roaster will certainly not be applied here. What was used instead, was this huge machine called "Roasting Machine Type A" (full name in Chinese is 甲種乾燥機).
Time to get some tea roasted.....
One thing must be made clear here. The concept of "roasting" demonstrated here is still a little bit different from the more common form of "roasting". The roasting that happened here was accomplished for the purpose of making the tea "fully dried". When the tea is fully dried, it can be referred to as "draft tea". "Draft tea" (aka mao cha 毛茶) means the material has now reached a stable condition as is considered to be a final product. How to further craft the flavor and style of the tea through the commonly known "roasting" is a very different story. Every tea roasting "expert" will bear a set of roasting philosophy of their own, which is very different from the "roasting to stabilize the tea" that we are seeing here. Since after rolling, the moisture within the tea leaves must be dried out below a certain percentage to finalize the tea products for the tea merchant who will then carry the responsibility of conveying the tea to their customers.
At last, by 5:30 AM, the first batch of draft tea is finally complete! The tea itself documented this three part series is a lovely tea and is available here: "Organic Tall Tree Jade Oolong".
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As we can see from the pictures, there is more than just one "master" participating in the process. As said in Part I, in order to be economically efficient, the quantity of the tea leaves being processed at any single time will most definitely surpass what a "single master" could handle. As such, most tea processing facilities employ a team of "tea masters".
The concept of "tea master" is inaccurate in real practice, instead we should use the term "team" (產銷班), since depending on the size of the tea factory, there might be anywhere from 5 to 20 people involved in the processing of the tea. Each of these people are "tea masters" in their own right and equally crucial in producing a quality finished product. In many cases the team will be divided into a couple of different groups to manage the work load.
Now back to the topic of indoor withering. Like outdoor withering, indoor withering is also a process to control the loss of moisture from the tea leaves, but with a more "gentle" touch.
This picture below shows how the tea is sent down a chute from the "outdoor withering deck" down to the indoor withering area.
Most of the tea factories will have this style of design wherein the outdoor withering deck is located directly above the tea factory's indoor withering area for convenience. Nothing is cheaper and easier than utilizing gravity! This simple design has been employed for decades, much like the "drop chute" employed in the historical black tea factory we visited last time. Some of the larger and more sophisticated tea factories will have multiples trays located right below this tunnel, as we can see in the next picture.
With more capital and more production, technological assistance is crucial. these very large stacked trays allow for a huge space and labor savings.
But since this is an "organic" tea factory, (much like the historical black tea factory) the total quantity of finished product that can be processed here will be relatively moderate.
Despite some modern conveniences there is some hard work to be done!
Once the leaves come through the chute from "upstairs", the material will then be evenly distributed to each bamboo tray for the indoor withering process. The leaves should be handled "gently" to avoid breaking the vein of leaves, but when the quantity of fresh leaves are a much as seen in the picture, it can be a slow process.
When arranging tea leaves on the bamboo tray, it is ideal to make a layer that is just thick enough so that the moisture will evaporate at the optimum rate, neither too fast, nor too slow.
Once the bamboo trays have been filled with tea leaves, the trays will be loaded into a slotted wheeled cart, and sent to an enclosed room that has a humidifier in it. The level and stability of humidity is an important factor of the indoor withering process.
Now we are sending the tea trays to the "indoor withering room"!
The room will be shut for a while once all the trays have been loaded inside.
The tea squad can finally rest for a while, but not for too long, because a very crucial part of the tea processing will soon require some heavy physical labor, which we refer to as "tea stirring".
Why is "tea stirring" a crucial part of the process? Well, because this step controls the factor of "aroma transforming". The key to oolong tea's mesmerizing floral and fruity aroma is decided by how the enzymes interact with the water inside the leaves. As a result, when tea leaves were being placed steadily on the tray for too long, the tea leaves will become less active as the water was continuously evaporating from it.
The only way to allow tea leaves becoming more active again was to transfer the water that was still inside the stem to flow back to the vein. To make this possible, the processing team has to stir the tea leaves on the bamboo trays gently several times during the withering process.
In the photo below, we witness the "stirring" of the tea leaves. You sort of grab the leaves from the tea mass, toss into the air then release it. The action has to be gentle, but precise.
A first person view might be more accurate...
All the tea leaves on the tray must go through this process, and it has to be done in a realtively short period of time. As such it would be quite impossible for a single "tea master" to complete the work by his or her lonesome unless the batch was very small.
If the force applied is too heavy, the veins (of the leaf) will be broken, cutting the path for water to exit the tea leaves, and causing the tea leaves to turn red. This is like choking the tea leaves, and must be avoided if at all possible!
This process took about 2 hours to complete! It's now 10 PM and the final stages of the tea processing remain uncompleted! The final stage of processing will be documented in "Tall Tree Oolong Tea Processing - Part III"!
Stay tuned!
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To discover how these two unique styles became unified into a new modern style we joined a tea processing crew and participated in the process ourselves. This was done entirely under the supervision of a tea master to ensure that the tea came out perfectly and that our experience was meaningful and educational.
We woke up early to make sure we would miss nothing. Normally the tea picking will begin at around 5:00 am to make sure the material will be enough for the later process. We began our picking at around 7:30 AM, which means the regular tea picking squad had already been in the field for two hours.
We thought the tea picking would be fairly easy based on our past experience - small bushes that are easily accessible by hand, only to prove that we were totally wrong. The tea garden we were visiting is an "organic" tea plantation, so the owner has minimized artificial interference by humans, by simply doing nothing to the tea trees. Since the tea trees were never pruned they had grown tall much like a tree, many higher than 2 meters. This lack of pruning makes picking laborious and slow, not to mention less leaves are harvested.
Below: none of the tea pickers could be spotted in this photo because they are covered by the tea trees. The only way to have known they were there was to hear their chatter in this green labyrinth.
Due to the organic nature of this tea garden, you'll find many spiders and other small insects everywhere!
Sometimes bigger predators, like this one (below) can be observed as well. For tea lovers with arachnophobia, an organic tea garden such as this might not be such a desirable place to visit.
Normally a tea leaf picker will use this small blade which fits over their finger to enhance the efficiency of tea picking. Picking and cutting the stems with bare fingers is very difficult and slow.
This tea material showing here is the classical "One Heart, Two Leaves" (1 bud, 2 leaves) With matured bud and fully opened first two leaves. This kind of material is considered the best for oolong processing.
Although the material in the picture above is considered the best material for Oolong processing, it is basically impossible for a tea picker to have perfectly formed and sized "One Heart, Two Leaves" sets to bill their basket. First of all, this type of perfectly grown material is only a small percentage of the tops of tea trees and bushes in the garden at any given time. Some buds are too tender while other parts of the tree or bush will have too many mature leaves.
Secondly, only picking the perfectly formed 1/2 sets is not practical or economically feasible. Tea pickers will not be able to make enough money for their living with "only" picking this perfect material, and even if they did so, the tea factory would not be able to process batches without enough quantity of fresh tea leaves. As a result, we won't be able to find any tea in this day and age that is processed entirely from "perfect material".
Since having the factory processing with 100% "perfect material" is impossible, a tea garden with around 80% of mature material and fully opened leaves would be considered more than ideal. Even so, a lot of high mountain oolong producers these days tend to favor more tender material that would traditionally be consider as "too tender" (or immature) in the pursuit of a more green-like tea with an emphasis on a vibrant super-green Jade profile.
So how inefficient was this morning of "tea picking"? Well, my four hours of work in the field resulted in just 300 grams of material, which after processing it would yield just 75 grams of tea. After this experience I developed an even deeper level of respect for tea pickers.
Once the fresh tea leaves have been picked they are sent to the "withering room" for the first stage of processing. This stage is called "sunshine withering" or "outdoor withering". Sunshine withering will allow the tea leaves to dry a bit in the sun lower their water content, which is key to the success in the coming stages. Withering helps eliminate the "grass scent" (菁味) , but also acts to activate the enzymes within the tea leaves, opening them up to the master's hand.
The thickness of the "tea mass" is a crucial element in the withering stage. The thickness and compaction of the mass will impact the temperature, moisture level, and ultimately how fast the withering stage needs to be.
During the first stage of sunshine withering it is necessary to regularly "flip" the mass of tea to allow for a uniform degree of withering and moisture content reduction. Moving the tea leaves around accomplishes this uniformity in exposure to the sun and the air. If tea leaves are clumped together to tightly the leaves on the outer part of the clump will wither at a different rate than the leaves in the middle. Moving or flipping them gently also speeds the evaporation of moisture.
A black netting can be used to cut down on the sunlight a bit if needed, too much sun and heat can accelerate the withering to such a degree that the tea leaves may inadvertently become over-done.
After the "sunshine withering" stage is completed, the tea is ready for the "indoor withering" stage. We will continue this in Part II. So stay tuned, and Merry X'mas to everyone who loves tea!
The tea from the farm that visited is available here:
Certified Organic "Tall Tree" Jade Oolong Tea - Winter 2015
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So what is Duan Ni? In written Chinese, there are two letters for it. The first character is "緞", which means silk. It has a very similar pronunciation with "團" (Tuan) at Yi Xing, so this name probably came from literai at the time who thought "silk" would sound more elegant.
The second character is "團", which means "mass". This name basically describes the geological character of it, indicating it is a "mass of different ores." These different ores could be "Zi Ni" and "Green Mud," or "Zhu Ni" and "Green Mud" (which very rarely happen). You might notice already, "Green Mud" plays a very important role in Duan Ni. The composition of Duan Ni must have Green Mud in it, and must contain more than the other ores such as Zi Sha or Zhu Ni to classified as "Duan Ni". Duan Ni is a type of sedimentary rock that's a combination of Argillaceous Siltstone and Silty Mudstone. This gives Duan Ni an almost a clay-like texture on the surface when contact with skin, unlike Zi Sha's rocky/hard feeling, but still relatively more robust when compared to Zhu Ni.
below - The ore on the right is the original ore of Duan Ni, which is basicall white-grey in hue. The ore on the left is also Duan Ni ore after kiln firing at 1200 c. You might notice that the ore on the left shows some apparent signs of other ores as well.
below - Another closer look.....
below - Now we have introduced the "Duan Ni," it is time to reveal the identity of the green spot of the Di Zao Qin. Exactly, they are "Duan Ni." (緞泥)
below - And that's why it turns yellow after kiln firing.
Now let's discuss the final part of the mystical Yi Xing Ore - Zhu Ni. Some readers might already know what type of rock Zhu Ni is by now since we had discussed two types already - Argillaceous Siltstone and Silty Mudstone. These two types of sedimentary rock represent Zi Sha and Duan Ni respectively. Both have a very tough quality although Duan Ni tends to be softer and will mostly be found with Zi Sha in the same ore.
Zhu Ni, unsurprisingly, is is type of "Clayey Mudstone" and is not only a sedimentary rock, but some of them would also be a type of concretion rock. It is very unique to craft a teapot out of such an ore, and this is also one of the reasons why Zhu Ni teapots are so special.
Zhu Ni ore disintegrates easily in hand and when it makes contact with water, it is also very smooth and has a "baby powder" like texture. Despite its fragile structure, when fired it has the highest contraction rate of any Yi Xing clay (between 25% to 50%), and is also the most durable after firing.
Since the ore is extremely fragile, most of the older Zhu Ni teapots (Before 1950) were actually made from "Qing Shui Ni", (清水泥) a type of natural Zi Sha we mentioned in the previous article which was really common ore mined in Yi Xing. This type of "ancient Zhu Ni teapot" will have a Zi Sha as the structure, and applied Zhu Ni pulp as coloration for its exterior. By using this dual layered ore process, a teapot will not only have the Zhu Ni look, but will also has a high success rate after kiln firing.
Besides examining the geological aspect or ore to understand it, we can also find some references in the ancient texts by literati from Ming Era. The ancient text wrote as such: "石黃泥,出趙莊山,即未觸風日之石骨也,陶之乃變朱砂色. (Stone Yellow Mud was born from Zhao Zhuang Shan, and it was the "stone bone" which was untouched by wind and sun. Turn to Red or Pearl Sand after fire). Due to the ambiguity in ancient Chinese, the character "Zhu" (朱) has two meanings in the modern understanding - the first one is red obviously, since most of the Zhu Ni in the market has a red appearance. The second meaning is less heard of - "pearl". This means that such kind of ore has a pearl-like quality after fired. We will find out how pearl-like Zhu Ni is compared to Hong Ni (紅泥) in the later part of this article.
Most of the Zhu Ni came from two locations at Yi Xing. The first location is also where Zi Sha could be found the most - the Huang Long Shan (黃龍山). The second location is where most people know - the Zhao Zhuang Shan (趙庄山). Both locations have good quality Zhu Ni, however Zhu Ni from Zhao Zhuang is more desired today in the market because the place has been turned into a scenic tourist site, and also with proper extraction from the ore and firing temperature, Zhao Zhuang Zhu Ni will have more "colors to choose from" and better "water color" (水色) than Zhu Ni from Huang Long.
Let's stop the talking at this point and begin looking at the actual ore of Zhu Ni. By looking at it you would understand its fragility, the "colors" we mentioned, and how it is different from Hong Ni in the finished product.
below - The ore on the right is the original ore of Zhu Ni. This is the common type of Zhu Ni at Yi Xing, which local called "Little Hong Ni" (小紅泥), even though it is very different from Hong Ni (紅泥). After fired at temperature 1100 c. This type of Zhu Ni was not only found at Zhao Zhuang, but also at other locations in Yi Xing as well.
below - The concretion ore on the right is the "stone bone" that was mentioned in the ancient text, in which we can observe the yellowish color inside the hard and rocky exterior "as the bone" and numerous layers next to each other. Since it is like a rock at the exterior, the yellow interior was naturally "protected from wind and sun" as described in the ancient text. After firing, the yellow and other parts of the interior will turn more colorful like one on the left. Not every part of it is red, some other colors such as blue and yellow can also be noticed.
below - Here is how colorful the interior becomes after firing, (this was also our featured photo for our Yi Xing collection)
below- Such a kind of ore is also known as "Yellow Stone Yellow" (黃石黃). It is extremely rare and difficult to process into a teapot. It has an extremely low firing temperature at 1007 c, and has a 50% contraction rate. The darker layer of the ore can be processed into blue or yellow material for teapot making. This rare and special ore can only be obtained at an extremely high cost. So this type of Yi Xing ore was only used as "coloration" during the ancient times.
below - The picture here shows the interior part inside the yellow ore. The core is the oldest ore, and the further apart from the core the younger the mineral is.
At this point you might notice that all the Zhu Ni photo we have taken show some small fractures fallen off from the ore. These fractures reveal the ore's "fragility" which we have already discussed.
below - This Zhu Ni ore in the picture is known as "Di Zao Qin" type of Zhu Ni. It can only be found at the bottom part of the Zhao Zhuang Shan seam (more than 100 meters deep in the mine).
below - Here is the difference between Zhu Ni and Hong Ni. From color to texture they demonstrate totally different characteristics, although both look reddish after firing. Hong Ni (on the right) is a sedimentary rock, while the Zhu Ni ore on the left has a stone-like appearance.
below - Even the finished product shows a very different character. The Zhu Ni teapot (on the left) has a better "water color" (水色 / water color, a term used to describe the glossiness of the finished product). The glossiness shown here does not come from "tea seasoning" or any artificial material, but is the original texture from the ore itself. To achieve finished product with such a glossy "water color" appearance and texture not only requires patience and craftsmanship, but also good luck! (The teapot on the right is a Hong Ni product.)
In conclusion, Zhu Ni is a type of Clayey Mudstone which is a concretion ore. Not only does it have a soft and a "talcum powder" like texture, it also is relatively fragile and rare compare to other ores mined in Yi Xing. Despite the fragile character of the ore itself the clay itself when fired has a very high contraction rate and low firing temperature. The finished product is naturally glossy and silk to the touch.
We hope the following articles would help everyone who loves Yi Xing teapot to have a better understanding of this great gift from mother nature.
We hope you have enjoyed reading our Yi Xing article series!
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To answer this, we must first understand the term "double porosity." This term basically indicates chain structure between the granules and the natural structure of granules itself. Thanks to these two charateristics, Yi Xing clay allows air and some moisture to pass through from both inside and outside. But is Yi Xing clay the only kind of ore clay which has "double porosity"? Probably not! As we know, "double porosity" will allow the teapot to grow shinier as it absorbs oils and other elements from the brewed tea leaves, which is not unique to Yi Xing Clay alone. Clay such as Lin's Ceramics "Lao Yen Ni", as well as Nixing Clay (Guangxi) and Jian Shui Clay (Yunnan) will also develop the same patina as well after repeated usage. This means that "double porosity" is not a "patent" of Yi Xing Clay at all, but a commonly found "feature" among different clays. As a result, we conclude "double porosity" is a trait which although it improves the function of Yi Xing Clay, but is not unique to it.
So what is so magical about Yi Xing clay then?
Another tricky question! If we do not use the actual ore to demonstrate, it would be impossible to answer. Yi Xing clay, processed from Yi Xing ore, has some truly special characteristics that are hard to find in other types of clay. First of all, it is able to transform itself into many different colors after firing. Secondly, it is able to form an incredibly lustrous surface unlike any other clay, which we refer as "water color" (水色). This is the glossy feeling we would normally find on most Zhu Ni teapots, or Zi Ni teapots after the "feeding". Third, different types of Yi Xing clay will bear a different "tuning effect", which we covered in Part 1.
Now we are going to enter the most confusing part of the Yi Xing world - the clay, and the ore itself.
Yi Xing clay (or ore) can be divided into three basic categories - "Zi Sha (Purple Sand)," "Pearl Mud (Zhu Ni)", and "Group Mud (Duan Ni)" (Some people might use Green Mud instead of Group Mud, but since Duan Ni is a mix of Zi Sha and Green Mud, we will just use Duan Ni) and knowing some geological terminology as well. First of all, Yi Xing is a sedimentary geological environment that was form between 540 to 190.4 million years ago. From this environment we can find sedimentary rocks such as Argillaceous Siltstone , Silty Mudstone, and Clayey Mudstone.
From here we begin the exploration of Yi Xing ores, and the very basic concept we should realize about Zi Sha, Zhu Ni, and Duan Ni, is that there are a lot of subcategories under each of these main categories.
For Zi Sha, we will encounter different types such as "Pin Zi," "Tian Chin", "Qing Shui," and so on. As long as the original ores fit the geological classification as "Argillaceous Siltstone," these ores will be considered "Zi Sha" clay. This type of ore is very hard like a stone, It also has a rough texture when held in the hand. In short, Zi Sha ore is very "rocky" looking and feeling.
below - This is a "Tou Zao Qing" (頭糟青) and "Er Zao Qing" (二糟青) ore were mostly used as the material for "Pin Zi Ni" (拚紫泥) or "Qing Shui Ni" (清水泥). It is a very common material for Yi Xing teapots, making it a foundational ore, which supports the economy of Yi Xing production even today.
below - this is "Tou Zao Qing," which means "First Layer Green". It means that it is located at the top of the seam. The rock on the right is a "Er Zao Qing," which means "Second Layer Green". It literally means that it locates at the middle part of the seam.
below - This is one of the most famous ore among Zi Sha - the " Di Zao Qing." (底糟青) The name basically came from its location in the seam, which is the bottom. This ore is considered to be one of the best Zi Sha available on the market for teapot crafting due to its pure quality and delicate texture. It is a cliche, but still worth mentioning - "Di Zao Qing" is famous teapot master Jin Zou Gou's (顧景舟) favorite ore.
below - The ore on the right shows a more reddish color due to kiln firing. This is what the ore would become after the firing in the kiln at a temperature of 1180c. You might also notice the greenish little block on this ore, the true identity of it would be revealed in the later installment of our Yi Xing blog series.
below - This is the ore that started the modern Yi Xing craze - "Five Color Mud". It contains multiple types of ore, such as Zi Ni, Hong Ni (紅泥), and even Duan Ni, hence the name "Five Color". You can still find some ancient teapots that used this type of ore, since at that time there were no advanced modern techniques for separating the different clay types from the ore (as are available today)!
below - Let's have a closer look to see if you can find the "five colors" in it...
below - This last ore we are going to introduce is probably one of the most confusing ore in Yi Xing. This is a Hong Ni (紅泥). The name literally translated as "Red Mud" in Mandarin. As a result, the color after firing will have a red color. But it is not Zhu Ni, although some Zhu Ni will have the red color as well, the texture is very different from Hong Ni. We will demonstrate such difference in our next article.
below - As you can probably feel from the picture, Hong Ni ore has very much a rock-like quality, which makes this ore very different from any of the Zhu Ni ores we will see in the next article. The red ore on the right is the ore after kiln firing at a temperature of 1100c. It has a red-orange hue!
In conclusion, Zi Sha ore is a type of sedimentary rock that is called "Argillaceous Siltstone". As long as the rock fits the characteristics of such, it will be categorized under the Zi Sha category. We will further discuss the other differences it has from Zhu Ni in Part III.
The discussion of "Zhu Ni" will continue in-depth in Part III, which should be fascinating for thos people who are attracted to Zhu Ni's unique quality.
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Our first response is the obvious one, to make tea of course! But we can also make tea in a mug, a bowl, a pitcher made by Georg Jensen, or even a simple porcelain gaiwan. With all these options, what makes Yi Xing clay teapots so special and why are we so fascinated with them?
Frankly speaking, we found this article pretty hard to compose due to the vast information on the internet. Most of the article discuss things such as porosity and so on, but very rarely any article attempts to express the true concept of Yi Xing teapot's role in the hand of a character, or even more, showing the raw material behind all this secret. So in this series, we would like to invite everyone - whether you consider yourself a passionate Yi Xing clay lover, or just a curious admirer of Yi Xing tradition - to explore on a different level. We hope this article will provide a unique perspective that will enrich your knowledge and understanding of the Yi Xing pot.
So let's head back to the question we asked at the beginning - "What's the purpose, or to be more specific, what role does Yi Xing teapot play in the process of tea drinking?"
To answer this question more specifically, we would like our readers to imagine themselves as an audiophile who loves classical music from piano sonata to symphony - imagine music that conveys layer and depth which could be savored on a quiet night. The music is akin to the teas you and I are drinking, music is experienced through our ears, and tea by our palate. As an audiophile you must have some of the best equipment at hand - source, amplifier, and speaker. Our tea plays as the role of source here - it is already processed but not fully released. To increase its signal, we use our "amplifier," which is our teapot in this case to increase the audibility. The "tea signal" coming out from the teapot will be the increased and being perfected tuned if the right teapot is applied.
The tea cups we use to drink our tea are much like the speakers. They "play" tea just like a pair of speakers play music. Different types of tea will act differently in the tea cup you use, which many people would not notice since they probably use the same cup most of the time and rarely do a side-by-side comparison drinking the same tea in different cups. But this "speaker" effect of tea cups has been widely acknowledged among tea enthusiasts for centuries! Try using a tall skinny cup and a wide shallow tea cup to drink the same tea and I think you'll notice a difference.
In conclusion, teapots play the role of "amplifier", because with a teapot we are able to "amplify and tune" our tea to the best condition we want. Just like an amplifier can process and manipulate the source material and elevate it to a higher (more appreciable) level, a teapot according to it's shape, ore type, firing temperature, pour rate and many other factors will act in a similar way.
A teapot is the fine tuner for teas we drink. So to get the best result, we should pick the most appropriate equipment for the task.
(Picture below is a Zhao Zhung Zhu Ni Standard Teapot)
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Tea material would be sent to another rolling machine which has the function of applying downward pressure. Since the tea leaves were already properly crushed at the first stage of rolling, it would be difficult for the machine to crush the cellular structure in the leaves without applying quite alot of pressure. As a result, applying pressure from the top down is the best solution.
Since everything was antique at this place, we didn't find an automated method of doing this, instead we saw a very ancient "chain drive" mechanism that was hanging from the ceiling.
The transmission will drive the pressuring mechanism in the most classical way.
This factory name we saw on this machine is said to still exist, but who knows? It has been more than sixty years since this machine was manufactured!
After the rolling process another mass breaking would be commenced again. As you might notice in the picture, the tea material at this stage had turned darker in its appearance taking on a brown and yellow-gold color (yellow-gold being the buds).
If that was not clear enough, here is a picture of the "blacker" tea.
Clean hands were still required for the final stage of the mass breaking.
The tea tray would be placed on a rack like this, which is very common in most of the tea factory in Taiwan.The adequate amount of moist would be applied to the material, this is the stage probably most people were most familiar with - the oxidation.
The oxidation will again take quite some time until it was ready for drying. So we decided to explore the other corners of the factory while the daylight sun is strong enough to illuminate even the darkest corners of this near-ancient tea factory.
This place was the only Taiwanese established and run factory in the Japanese Era, and was the only factory that was able to compete with the Japanese-run factories (in Taiwan) . Tea was mainly exported to the US, the UK, and even Japan. More than 580 tons of black teas were exported annually, which is still an astonishing number even for today's standard. Before 1965, this factory was not only the largest private company in Nantou, but also collaborated with the Nantou Agriculture Academy to educate talented students by providing internships.
After 1965, due to the competition from Ceylon and India, and Taiwan's exit from the United Nations, the export market shrank dramatically, leaving only Taiwanese and Chinese consumers. Unfortunately, at this same time the local Taiwan tea drinkers were increasingly enamored with the "High Mountain Oolong" teas,leading to a further decline in the consumption of Black tea. The whole company was forced out of business in the early 1980s, only making its revival in 2012.
And now here we stood, the old past was still waiting for its glory. This was the filtering machine for the final product.
After years of stepping, the edge of this stair finally collapsed.
It's hard to imagine this place used to have more than 100 employees working 24/7 and 400 others working in the tea field. Now only the structure was left for most of the place, while the third generation of the Guo family was working diligently below.
A corridor to another part of the compound.
This place suffered from a devastating fire in the 1950s which burned down a lot of the structure, but thanks to the founder's patience and love, it was rebuilt to an even better condition. Today what we saw were mostly covered by steel sheet. Since the cost of repairing and renovate this place would be extremely high. A single window would not cost a lot, but with over 200 windows to repair, that's where the costs began to skyrocket.
Some people might be wondering how did the tea get to the second floor in the morning (see Part 1 of this article)? As the fresh leaves are brought from the adjoining plantation in the morning, the bags are loaded onto the mechanical "stairs" which allows the bags of tea to be transported to the 2nd floor without too much effort.
The tea will go directly to the withering room on the 2nd floor. To ensure proper withering conditions the room is large and full of windows. The newly installed fan will accelerate the process as well. This was probably the best improvement for this historical place so far.
It was already afternoon by the time the tea was done with oxidation, at which time it was sent to the specially designed "automatic dryer" to dry out the tea. The machine was not only big, but also noisy and hot when it was running. This is the final stage of our tea processing today.
With the tray moving inward and the teeth-like wheel rotating, the tea would be evenly distributed on the tray while being dried up by the heat. Another machine on the right served as the purpose of final drying.
Now we see the tea has turned black with some golden or white bud on it. Ruby 18 would not have this character due the it being predominantly leaf (with few buds). The tea we see in the picture below is Wild Elephant.
At this stage, the tea is completely dried and is ready to packaged and sold to the public. It took us around 7 to 8 hours to complete the batch of black tea today. The more the tea the longer time it takes to finish the tea, so apparently there was not much to material to process today.
The tea plantation adjoining the tea factory was abandoned more than thirty years ago and only reclaimed in 2011. We decided to have a look around to see how "organic" it could be. No weed killers or other herbicides have been applied to this land for more than 30 years. The result is a superbly organic tea garden, with tons of bio-diversity, which makes harvesting and picking a little slower. Good things require patience!
After 30 years of.....well, not managing anything, this place has decided to be its own master.
And the tea trees simply decided to grow sporadically in the field. Might look unprofessional, but definitely happy and healthy!
After another drive we reached the other side of the mountain and encountered the plantation for Ruby 18. This was also once the experimental field for Ruby 18 development as well, but thanks to the shifting taste of the market 30 years ago, Ruby 18 was a failed product to the market, and hence most of the Ruby 18 planted back then was demolished. Today only a few of them were left in the field - like the proud survivors.
The recently developed tea plantation was of course more orderly looking. This was the Ruby 18 organic tea plantation.
Here is a happy Ruby 18 with a sad and dead tree behind.
After we left the Ruby 18 plantation we drove further on to find the Wild Elephant tea trees. The Wild Elephant was at the other side of the mountain where there were nothing but tea trees and the forest birds chirping delightfully.
A closer look to the Wild Elephant tea tree. It features the primitive tea vein appearance like the old Yunnan tea trees.
Deep in the woods, there were tea trees to be harvested.
After our tour of the tea factory and adjoining wild plantations, we were both excited and hopeful for the future of this operation. This old tea factory thanks to the growing Black tea drinking population was back producing these Black teas again! However, despite our optimism, the Taiwanese are facing a harsh economic environment that is (arguably) tougher than that faced 40 years ago. With extreme competition from the outside world and a weak national economy, it's a uncertain whether this very special place and it's teas will be able to survive financially in the coming years.
Our hope is that people continue fall in love with Black teas from Taiwan, and that this historic tea factory and plantation will be able to continue improving its facility and teas with the support of customers worldwide. The path to full restoration is still long and rough, but with your help and support this age-old tradition will be preserved for generations to come!
The glorious past might return one day, we just have to drink and wait.
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Our journey began at 7:00 AM so we could arrive early enough to see the work done by our master Black Tea processor. Our hope was to witness the entirety of black tea processing done in the traditional manner. Although the drive was not as crazy as the Da Yu Ling trip, waking up early is still not an easy task. After driving for about fifty minutes, the once glorious Black Tea factory was finally in front of us. The whole compound looks very old, and it somehow feels a bit abandoned due to the lack of restoration.
However, despite being rather old and somewhat dilapidated, the factory is in reality a historical treasure! What's more, the factory is active again, producing some great large-leaf varietal Black Tea!
The raw ingredients were in the withering trough when we arrived. In the old days, withering was a process that could be mostly ignored when processing commercially produced Black Teas. The tea we were seeing today will go through the withering process first, which allows the acceleration of hydrolysis inside the tea leaves to transform the micro-elements like polyphenols and carbohydrates.
The withering trough we were seeing here would allow warm air to blow from below if the overall environment it is too humid.
This withering process would not take too long. After it was done the withered tea leaves would be "sent" directly through the tunnel which was installed on the floor sixty years ago. Most of the tea factories today still use the similar method to transport their tea material to the next stage, just with newer material such as metal.
The shiny wizened wooden floor is quietly indicating the age of this place......
This long cloth was the tunnel for our tea so that it could be sent down from the second floor conveniently.
The tea material drops into the tray of the huge rolling machine, and began the rolling process. This process crushes the cell walls of the mesophyll (the "tea muscle"). This rolling process allows the soluble substance inside the tea leaves to released more easily when it's brewed with hot water!
To give you a better idea of the size of this rolling machine, here is a full picture.
Here is a clearer picture of the whole process in the case the description is still confusing. The tea is continuously pushed down through the cloth tunnel and drops into the rolling machine as it spins. This is how the Black Tea was made more than seventy years ago (this processing style could be even older than that), and this is how the revived tea factory still does it today. Quite magical, isn't it?
The rolling process will be divided into two parts, and it will take quite some time until it was fully done. Simply sitting there watching it would be time wasting. This tea factory has a lot of little corners to visit. Many decades ago this tea factory was one of the biggest Black Tea exporters in Taiwan. As such, the scale of the compound was quite astonishing even for today's standard.
Here is another rolling machine in front of the still broken window. This one is currently unused.
More waiting to be used machines in the other section. The morning sunshine shooting in will slowly revive the place totally one day as long as more people start drinking more tea.
Here are some very old filtering machines at the rear section of the factory. Most of the wall and roof were gone, so the metal hut became the best replacement for it. Well, for now.
Let's get back to the rolling machine. After the tea leaves were properly rolled during the first stage, the bottom part will open which allows the tea material to be dropped into the cart below.
The rolling process will crush the cell of mesophyll, but will also create the "tea mass" or "tea ball". Larger tea leaves will take longer time to roll compared to smaller and tender tea leaves, and it will also wrap all them together. To avoid uneven rolling and oxidation in the material, separation and classification was needed. As a result, we are sending the material to the mass breaking machine with that cart.
Our tea maker is preparing to throw the teas into the machine.....
Off we go......
This machine continuously shakes the tray, moving the tea forward to the end of the tray while the rest of the smaller tea leaves will naturally dropped through the filtering tray. The design and the execution are simple, and this decades old machine works perfectly! In fact, most of the machines in this tea factory are 40 to 60 years old!
The smaller tea leaves and buds will be filtered to the bottom part, while the larger leaves will make it to the end of the conveyor tray.
A closer look at the sticky tea mass.
The machine will help the "mass breaking" process, but eventually it still requires human labor to break the mass. The tea at this stage will carry a scent that is very is similar to the scent of cherry skin, and since all the juices have been release by the rolling process, it will have a sticky texture. This will form a mass of tea material that sticks together, which then requires hand separation.
At the end of the conveyer tray, our tea maker is breaking up the tea by hand.
The more hands the better! The owner of the hand at the back of this picture has been working at this place since the existence of this place. He is the uncle of our tea maker today, and according to him this was how tea was made back in the old time. He is quite happy to see things going again!
So what will happen after the tea is hand separated? What else could be found at this magical place? And where did all this tea come from? The answers will be revealed in our "Trip to a historical black tea processing site - Part II"!
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Step 1. Prepare a glass beaker (or cha hai) which is twice the volume of whatever teapot you are using. This teapot's volume is 125 ml, so our beaker's volume is 250 ml.
Step 2. Have your beloved tea ready. The amount of the tea should be "doubled" from what you normally had with the hot tea brewing procedure. For example, if you use 8 grams of tea for a 125 ml teapot normally, use 16 grams of tea in this case.
Step 3. Insert the tea into the teapot, then pour boiled water into the teapot and wait for 10 seconds to wake the tea up.
Step 4. Pour the "tea water" that was in the teapot for 10 seconds into the glass beaker. The aroma molecule will now attached to the wall of the beaker.
Step 5. While the tea water is still inside the beaker, pour the boiled water inside the teapot and wait for around 3 minutes.
Step 6. During this three minutes wait, it is time to put some ice into our glass beaker which already has the aroma molecule attached. Remember to discard the "tea water" inside the beaker before the ice is placed inside!
Step 7. This is not an actual step. But we can definitely feel the cooler temperature as this 3 minutes passed by. And of course, if stronger tea is needed, just applied more minutes to the brewing time.
Step 8. The three minutes is here! Now let's pour the tea essence into the beaker that is filled with ice!
Step 9. As the tea is being poured, the ice inside the beaker will start to melt. Don't worry, the end result will be cool enough for everyone.
Step 10. Ta-Da! It's all done! Now here is our healthy homemade ice tea for everyone!
Everything just got a whole lot cooler this summer with our homemade ice tea technique. Now it is time for you to share yours with us!
As an old dog that got shaved due to the hot weather in Taiwan, this shall be the best treat for a tea lover and tea loving dog. An old dog's satisfied facial expression will tell it all.
Like our post? Let's grab some great and refreshing Taiwanese green tea here!
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The good news is, you don't have to pay 16666 NTD ($540 USD) for our refined Lalashan (since we bought it pre-competition)! For a fraction of that price you will enjoy one of the most exceptional Jade Oolongs of your life.
It is the right time for some high-end Lalashan Oolong Tea. Photo taken at Lalashan Plantation.
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(Below: Landslide is a common "scenery" on Route #8.)
(Below: Sometimes the aftermath was just right above our head.)
There were no apparent tea plantations in sight while driving back to the (mythical?) Da Yu Ling area, so we decided to keep driving until we were back to where we started. After another long and curvy ride we finally made our way back by passing through the narrow tunnel which is the only way in or out of the Fushoushan and Da Yu Ling area. We decided to stop for a while at the 3-Way crossroad where the resting station (actually just a lavatory) was located. There is also a sign for Da Yu Ling here.
(Below: a picture is worth a thousand words.)
We were a little bit lost when driving along the cliff. We were here for tea plantations, but there were simply none in sight, even after we had driven through the whole route. It was confusing and a bit frustrating especially being tired and feeling the pressures of (wasted) time. Where is the tea plantation anyway?
Feeling confused and frustrated, we decided to drive again from where we had just came from. This time, we also decided to pay more attention to the green kilometer marker signs on the road. And yes, the number sign that probably everyone has heard of being the "105K" sign.
(Below: this is the number sign thing everyone has been talking about.)
(Below: very close to the famous 105K. We were one kilometer away. The safety railing looked like it was in serious need of repair!)
So what are these green number signs, and what do they mean? Well, their function is to tell us which kilometer section we are on. The signs have been used by tea enthusiasts over the years to describe which section of Da Yu Ling their tea came from. As you head deeper into the mountains the numbers decrease.
At the 105K marker section we finally found the "tea plantation" we had been looking for...
(Below: The tea plantation after government took it back.)
(Below: R.O.C government is gradually taking back the land from tea industry.)
It is very true that the government is taking back the land around Da Yu Ling. At 105K we could see the deserted worker dorm that was left in a mess when the plantation close. This place used to be one of the most prosperous and renowned tea harvesting area in Taiwan. It was a pity to see the tee trees gone from the slope, but in some regards it was a fortunate for the preservation of this unique high mountain eco-system.
Since we had found the actual location of the tea plantation, it was time for us to commence our true purpose of being here, which was to brew some Da Yu Ling tea at Da Yu Ling with some authentic teaware. The Da Yu Ling tea was of course from last year.
(Below: This is the abandoned workers dormitory right above the tea plantation.)
We found a tea plantation that was accessible by foot, so we decided to scout around (carrying all of our tea brewing gear) and see whether this place was a suitable location for tea brewing. The tea plantation we found was so green and orderly that it looked like magnified algae growing on microscopic hill. We were overjoyed to finally have a respite from endless driving and searching, not to mention we were with this tea plantation's vibrant exuberance that contrasted dramatically with the neighboring defunct plantations.
The steepness of the hill was beyond our expectation. Carrying the tea brewing gear and other equipment made our vertical plodding quite tortuous. Even after our difficult trek we didn't find any spot that was appropriate for our little ambition. Admitting our failure, we returned to our car for a rest.
(Below: We were trying to find a spot for tea brewing here, but no good result.)
Once we got back to our car we hurried our pace to find a proper spot before the weather turned bad. Weather in the mountains change rapidly so you never know when the rain would drop in the mountain, since we already found a spot that was ideal for our purpose before we visited this tea plantation, we decide to drive back there and began our tea ceremony immediately.
The path was very inconspicuous for outsiders, but we manage to find it anyway and began our search for a way "up". This place we were visiting was a tea plantation field once, but now with every single tea tree uprooted by the government it had became a perfect spot for picnic and hiking. Despite the lovely environment, we were the only people here!
(Below: the secret path required some physical fitness to climb and descend. Our Chinese friend here is the best proof.)
After the climb it was a huge and wide field. The quietness up here is mind soothing and a bit nostalgic. It was the dream we all had when we were children - running in the field like this in the mountains. To Taiwanese, this kind of "true nature" is very rare to find, most of the "natural scenery" was like what we saw earlier on, with the development of parking lots and hotels.
In other words, it is probably a good thing to see the government begin taking the land back to preserve the true nature. We might be losing some great teas to drink, but in exchange we earn a brighter prospect for all the people (present and future generations) who live and visit these lovely mountains. After all, there are many other great tea regions in Taiwan (Alishan, Li Shan, Fushoushan, Lala Shan). To be crazily obsessed with Da Yu Ling tea seems somewhat unnecessary in the colorful world of Taiwanese tea.
We were probably the first group to ever prepare a tea ceremony at one of the now empty Da Yu Ling tea fields. We feel it's a good way to commemorate this place. "Da Yu Ling" will gradually become a historical term in the world of tea, and only after that will it turn into a true "legend" in the mind of tea lover.
(Below: With tea trees uprooted, the nature is back.)
(Below: We could have climbed higher, but the weather might have turned ugly.)
(Below: This iron kettle was one of the reason why it was so difficult to climb the hill.)
(Below: It is a wonderful experience to have all this joy at Da Yu Ling, just a bit heavy though.)
After brewing a couple of teas, we packed up our equipment and made our way back to the car. On our way back we saw an accident at the entrance of the narrow tunnel, again proving that Taiwan Route #8 is a particularly dangerous route to drive on.
(Below: Accident just happened couple minutes ago before we took the shot. The truck was there to help.)
It is time to say goodbye to the beautiful mountain and fresh air. This trip has been both exhausting and exciting for us, but the experience was priceless.
We had experienced some of harrowing mountain roads at midnight, we saw mountains being over-developed for profit, we discovered tea plantations disappearing from Taiwan's most beloved tea growing region, and finally we were able to brew some Da Yu Ling tea at a now barren Da Yu Ling field, which no one had ever done before.
We were also fortunate to acquire some of the best Spring 2015 Da Yu Ling available from one of the last remaining Da Yu Ling plantations! You can learn more about (and purchase) that tea here. Please enjoy this Da Yu Ling like we do, and commemorate this great place with us while seeing it returning to its true nature. To a true tea lover, the disappearance of Da Yu Ling tea is not a sad news at all, but rather a delightful one. We understand the need to preserve Taiwan's high mountain natural heritage so that it can be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike for generations to come!
(Below: Thank you Da Yu Ling tea plantation for all the delightful memories!)
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The noise that we heard was coming from the air compressor pump that was spraying the pesticides right next to the parking lot where our car was parked overnight. With our windows slightly opened all night and into the morning, we had probably inhaled some of those pesticides, providing us with a perverse "breakfast in bed". This was our signal to get going and we walked across the parking lot to wash up in the hotel bathroom, which was too posh for our meager budget. After all, money is for buying tea!
After our brief wash-up in the hotel bathroom we headed back to our car and began our exploration of the Fushoushan area. "Wait a minute!" You might ask, "I thought you guys were looking for Da Yu Ling? Why are you at Fushoushan?" Well, the things is, there were no resting areas like the pesticide parking lot in the Da Yu Ling Area, so we had to drive an extra 40 minutes to Fushoushan area for a night's rest. That's why we ended up starting our "Da Yu Ling Journey" at Fushoushan.
( below: The entrance for Fushoushan area began with a hilarious start - a tacky yellow animal statue of an unknown mythical? species!)
It was a very sunny day in the mountains, and it didn't take long to find a "scenic spot" on the side of the road, although the "scenery" was not exactly what we were expecting.
(below: A scene at Fushoushan area.)
Most Taiwanese mountains will look like this with the flattened ridge and buildings sporadically erected on the top of the ridge. These idyllic scenes are popular images in the minds of tourist from the bustling cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung. As we went deeper into the Fushoushan area, tea trees began to be replaced by something else, that very something that terrified us yesterday on the road. Yes, the cabbage, and some other crops.
(below: This is a commonplace scene in Fushoushan)
We saw more vegetables than tea as we pushed deeper into the mountain area, which did not surprise us at all when just yesterday we saw a multitude of vegetable trucks along this very stretch of road.
Some of the tea processing factories were surrounded by the vegetable plantations in a village we drove by. Compared to the other buildings around they look bizarrely modern and new, some even four or five stories tall. The area is scenic in some regards, but has an artificial feel in places lending to it's over-development and lack of ecological considerations.
(below: The "village" in the mountain with tea factories and vegetable farming)
(below: While this little village had a new feel to it, we can see it's been here for a long while.)
The rough road was hard on our mini hatchback, and as we drove by the police station in this village, we could tell the police officers stationed here were 100% bored by their job. Not a whole lot going on!
As we drove the mountain road we gained altitude and just as the vegetable farms started to disappear we found a tea plantation that looked amazing and bio-diverse. It was also the highest point on the hill which afforded us a better view of the whole area. We climbed excitedly to the top to see what was below, only to find out the disappearing trees and greenery at the valley below later on.
(below: The mountain was comforting after all.)
Part of the tea plantation was recently cultivated, and there were grannies working in the field. The tea factory right next to the plantation was about to process a new batch of tea ingredients when we were leaving. The pitiful part was that we were not allow to observe the tea processing, and to be honest we did not have enough time neither as we were still not quite to the Da Yu Ling area.
We spent some more time on the top of the hill to enjoy breeze and fresh air while trying to find if there were any other tea plantations in the area, only to come to a disappointing conclusion that there none, just more vegetable farms. So, with a heavy heart we began heading back from whence we came.
On our way back to the Fushoushan resting area we finally encountered a tea plantation terrace right next to the road. We pulled over and parked on the side of the narrow road. After turning off the engine the the only thing that could be heard was the chirping of birds and silence.
(below: The plantation was covered by a line of trees, so it is easily missed.)
(below: There were more plantations at the bottom of the hill)
(below: Was this the tea heaven we had been looking for?)
As we kept going we encountered even more tea plantations on the side of the road. Some of them even had electric fans installed to avoid the possible frostbite that can afflict the tea trees during the extreme cold temperatures that occur at these high altitudes in the winter and early spring.
(below: The tea varietal here are all Qing Xin Oolong. The electric fans were not activated when we were here.)
A lovely natural high altitude tea garden, but not the "Da Yu Ling" we were looking for! After all, this is considered the Fushoushan area. It was close to Da Yu Ling, but it isn't Da Yu Ling! So after taking some more photos, we jumped into our car and continued our journey back towards the Fushoushan rest area.
The legendary "Taiwan route 8" of Central Cross-lsland Highway.
(below: On our way back we saw even more signs of over-development, with parking lots and hotels all over the place.)
Continued in Part 3 soon!
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But is it really that "holy" in reality? What are those "105K, 102K" terms we will hear when talk about Da Yu Ling? To find out, Taiwan Sourcing did a special report to find out the true face of Da Yu Ling, and that journey began at 12:00 AM.
That was not a typo, we headed to Da Yu Lingat midnight to avoid the unwanted traffic on the narrow road, only to find out the more horrifying thing ahead which will be revealed later.
(below: It was extremely beautiful to take this photo at 12:00AM, meanwhile it was also extremely cold. Photo taken when driving by Hehuanshan Area)
(below: Clouds coming down from the ridge due to cold air. Photo taken when driving by Hehuanshan Area)
The road was narrow and twisted ahead at every corner as we climbed in elevation. Night time comforted the exhausted driver with its deep but tender darkness which cloaked the sheer drop as we drove along the edge. The road continued endlessly mountain after mountain and hill after hill, but that's not the most scary thing when driving to Da Yu Ling at night...
20-tons trucks that frequent this road at night with their colorfully shining LED lights are what scared us the most. These trucks are not only huge and wide, but also relentlessly tried to pass us even on blind curves. We had no choice but to squeeze to the side (with a sheer drop only a foot away) to allow them to pass.
(below: This is the beast that stressed us out - the "Crazy Night Vegetable Truck" that roared at night. It is hilarious to witness by daylight parked unassumingly by the side of the road.)
So why do we call it the "Crazy Night Vegetable Truck"?
That is because in the high mountains of Taiwan are not only tea producing areas but also provide the perfect climatic conditions for growing temperate vegetables (like cabbage). The extreme diurnal amplitude in high mountain environment stimulates carbohydrate production, which results in a sweeter and more crunchy cabbage. The same thing applies to tea as well, and that is why Taiwanese kept growing their teas with higher and higher elevation.
So here comes the question. Is it a really good thing to grow teas at an elevation this high? Is there something missing in these teas compared to a lower elevation like Alishan?
(below: Driving at 2:00 AM in the mountain isn't easy. This picture was taken under a relatively safer condition)
We finally arrive at the Fushoushan Farm Resting area at 3:00 AM with a snoring co-driver and an exhausted driver who was driving desperately in the absolutely silent and darker path. Sleeping in the car was not particularly charming (or comfortable), but that was all we had, and rest came easily after such a tiring experience driving on these mountain roads!
(below: The moon is extremely bright and friendly at elevation of 2600 M. The parking spot is definitely not so friendly for people who sleep in their car, which we discovered the next day.)
(below: Hehuanshan was solemnly stunning at night, any attempt to describe it with words would be inadequate. Photo taken when driving by Hehuanshan Area)
Stay Tuned for The True Face of Da Yu Ling - Part 2 (Coming Soon!)
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There are two main kinds of Catechins present in the stem of the oolong plant. The first being epicatechin and epigallocatechin. The second being , epicatechin-3-gallate and epigallocatechin-3-gallate. The former type is "free form" or "simple catechin", while the latter type is "ester form" or "complex catechin".
These two different kinds of catechins each create a different feeling on your palate. The simple catechin will be less astringent and is present in higher quantities in the the mature leaves and "stem". The complex catechin is more astringent and is present mostly in the bud or immature tea leaves. The crucial reason to keep the stems while picking the tea leaves is that during the process of indoor withering the simple catechin in the stems can be distributed to the leaves not just to make the tea less astringent, but also assist the "aroma molecule" inside the leaves to be released more easily, which helps (later) during the oxidation process to create a better more complex tasting tea.
Stem is an important part of tea processing, do not miss it!
It's really a matter of style. The modern low-oxidation "green" Anxi Tie Guan Yin is picked with the stem and processed with the stem so that the afore-mentioned catechins will be imparted by the stem. Then after processing is completed, sometimes days or weeks later the stems are hand-separated (挑梗). Since modern-style "green" Anxi Tie Guan Yin is appreciated for it's strong aroma and green taste the stem counters that with a mellow sweetness which is aesthetically undesirable.
However, the traditional Anxi Tie Guan Yin is processed with 50% oxidation and heavy roasting techniques requires the stem be retained even after processing is completed. There is a saying in Chinese that reminds us the traditional form oolong tea should take; "toad skin; froggy leg; dragonfly head, Rice Dumpling leaves shape" (蟾蜍皮,青蛙腿,蜻蜓頭,粽葉蒂). The froggy leg part indicating its form of having "stem".
The modern very green Anxi Tie Guan Yin is processed using an "air-condition" withering instead of the traditional "sunshine withering". Additionally modern Anxi processing techniques don't use the traditional "tea-shaking" (浪菁) step anymore, so while the tea has a very high level of aroma it doesn't have the body that is required for the traditional Tie Guan Yin (which includes the stem).
In conclusion, the tradition of keeping the stem in Taiwan has been retained. The roundness and sweetness imparted by the stem is enjoyed from start to finish. Modern Anxi Tie Guan Yin is processed to the finished product with the stem, but then the stem is removed before drinking so that it's mellow character doesn't interfere with the pungent TGY aroma and vegetal green taste. In other words, it's a matter of style. Just as it's hard to imagine a high grade Li Shan oolong without the stem, it's also hard to imagine an Anxi Tie Guan Yin with stems!
We will still find stems from some traditionally processed Anxi Tie Guan Yin.
Taiwanese oolong still has stem picking process, but it is not as heavily picked as Anxi.
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As we already knew, winter tea is "with winter tea you craft water" (冬茶作水), so the character of spring tea will be the reverse of winter - "with spring tea you craft aroma" (春茶作香). In the spring due to the fog and mists that shroud the tea mountains the overall exposure to sunlight and high temperatures are often lower than the sunny winter days.
To make matters complicated, the spring weather in the mountains of Taiwan is rather unstable with temperatures and precipitation fluctuating to day to day and week to week. One year can be cold drought, the next year warm and rainy. These challenging climatic conditions make the processing (especially the withering process) of spring tea more difficult. An experienced tea processors' job is to create the proper aroma from the raw tea leaves, while maintaining the sweetness and the body of the tea at a balanced state, but without the bitterness.
Fog will block the sunshine, which impacts the withering process. This photo was taken at Shan Lin Xi tea region. (photo below)
With Sacrifice Comes Reward
The weather of spring with it's varying precipitation, sunlight and temperature does help increase amino acids and carbohydrate levels in the tea tree, which results in a sweeter body and aftertaste in the final product. In most cases this gives spring tea a sweeter taste than winter tea, but sometimes with the right processing and weather conditions winter tea can be very sweet too.
Withering is the very first key to a successful tea, and bright sunshine will make it a whole lot easier. (photo below)
Tea processing is not easy, and it requires an experienced team to produce the best result. (Photo below taken at Lalashan)
So what makes this year's (2015) Spring High Mountain Jade Oolongs teas so good?
First thing of all, as a lot of tea lovers already knew, there was a drought this year that seriously decreased the production quantity. This drought was so serious that it forced some counties to limit their water usage just like California did. However, this serious limitation of production and the lack of humidity in air enhanced the overall quality of tea because the tea leaves didn't suffer from excessive water content. Excessive water content in the tea leaves makes the tea harder to process and often results in a watery taste that puts a damper on taste and aroma.
Some tea plantations with an elevation above 1200 meters suffered from frostbite this April. If you have no idea what a frostbitten tea bush looks like, please click here.
As we can see, teas that suffered from frostbite will turn dark. This kind of ingredient is not qualified for tea production. Normally the frostbite will mostly happen in winter. It is extremely rare to see it happen in April. This natural disaster affected many growers whom were unable to produce any teas at all this spring. Combine frostbitten tea bushes with the drought conditions later in the season, and you've got a spring tea harvest with historically low harvest quantities. The good part is that the tea bushes that survived both the frost and the drought have produced incredibly aromatic and complex teas!
Although weeds and bamboo will contend with tee trees for nutrition from the soil, it's a good sign that herbicides have not been used. (photo below)
In short, this is a crazy season for Taiwanese tea, it's like a roller coaster ride, but it creates a satisfying result for most of the tea lovers (not tea farmers). We are fortunate enough to obtain some of the best teas of the year from Wu She, Alishan, Lalashan, and especially the Special Tie Guan Yin from Lishan. The 2015 Spring tea collection is beyond awesome, and we couldn't be more proud to offer it to tea lovers around the world.
Tree will absorb the nutrition that tee tree need, but it helps conserving the soil especially at steep hill. Plus, it looks nice in the picture. (photo below)
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The very first thing you might notice about our 2014 Winter collection, is that there are more Roasted Oolongs than Jade Oolongs. This is because Roasted Oolong can be stored for aging if it's stored in a vacuum sealed pack or in an airtight container. The other reason is that, Roasted Oolong is better to drink it after the roasted taste (normally referred as to huo wei / 火味 ), has become smoother for our palates. This freshly roasted "huo wei" taste will fade after a few months, so right now is a great time crack into a bag of roasted Winter 2014 Roasted Oolong!
You might be thinking: "Does that mean Jade Oolong cannot last beyond a single season?" That is certainly not the case thanks to modern packaging techniques, such as the deoxidizer we previously mentioned, and vacuum packing. Jade Oolongs will easily keep fresh for one or even two years (depending on their processing style) while in their vacuum sealed package (or airtight container). Although we do recommend drinking Jade Oolong and Green tea in a "Beaujolais" style - as fresh as you can, it does not necessarily mean that Jade Oolong will go stale quickly or easily . That being said Jade Oolongs have a unique quality when enjoyed young and fresh.
So what's so special about Taiwan Winter Oolongs?
First of all, it's the quantity. For example, in the higher elevation tea growing regions like Long Feng Xia which only grows Qing Xin Oolong varietal, can only be harvested three times in a year because of the cool temperatures. During the winter-time these high mountain regions are especially cold, so the harvest yield in the winter is very low.
Therefore, the quantity available on the market is less than spring tea, which in some cases results in prices as high or higher than Spring harvest.
Another significant point that distinguishes winter tea from spring tea, and this is the most important one, is that Winter teas have a more obvious aroma than spring tea thanks to the extreme climate condition and shorter sunshine exposure. But this benefit does not come without sacrifice, Polyphenols and amino acids, which are the two key points in creating the sweetness and the body for oolong tea, will decrease dramatically in winter. As a result, winter tea will tend to have a stronger aroma but a slightly thinner body than spring tea.
It is very cold here. Very!
Does that mean winter tea will always have a weaker or more unpleasant body? The answer is, it depends. The level of body present depends not only on the day to day weather during the growing season, the weather at the time of picking, but most of all depends on the tea master's ability to process the fresh tea leaves into the finished product. With proper care, technique, and probably some luck, a well-made Winter High Mountain Oolong can become the most prized and sought after Jade Oolong of the year.
The hill is actually pretty steep, every pick of the high mountain material deserves attention.
This is the reason why despite many excellent teas made available from the Spring 2015 harvest, we also wanted to include some stellar Winter harvest teas as well. They are aromatic, taste great and each one has it's own unique character. Let's enjoy them, shall we?
Picking teas on this kind of plantation is certainly not that easy, same thing goes with the photographer.
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As you may know, the preservation of tea is all about "humidity". At the last stage of the tea processing, it is very important to make sure that the teas are properly dried. Normally, at the final stage of processing for oolongs, the tea will have about 3~5% water content, although some really experienced processors will be able to keep the water content level even lower.
During the final stage of oolong tea production some level of roasting or baking is done to further limit (and lower) the water content in the tea so that it can be packaged and kept without spoilage. In addition to vacuum sealing these oolong teas, we also insert an "o-buster" packet inside the vacuum sealed package to ensure that the tea remains dry and fresh. This little thing will help absorb the remaining oxygen inside the package, and therefore prevent the tea from the unwanted oxidation.
But here is a very important part and knowledge about this little thing. Once the package is opened, what should you do with the "o-buster" packet? Should I keep it inside? Or should I just throw it away? The best answer is to simply throw it away. This is because the "o-buster" packet will generate heat when it makes contact with oxygen, and it will continue do so until the oxygen is fully absorbed. After opening the tea bag, unless you have a vacuum sealing machine, it is impossible to separate the oxygen entirely in the air anymore. As a result unwanted heat will be continuously generate inside the tea bag, leading to loss of freshness due to over-heated tea. Additionally the tea once opened should be kept sealed or in an airtight container and stored in a cool dry place away from strong sunlight.
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