Caopingtou Natural Farming "Ruby Belle" Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea - Spring 2023

This tea was inspired right on the day when we were processing the Tieguanyin and Buddha Hand for this spring. We have long known that Mr. Chang had TTES #18 （Ruby 18) planted in the Caopingtou area, but had never before imagined this brilliant idea: making this common and seemingly mundane varietal into a Oriental Beauty.

What a bold concept. Especially when there were two other teas we had to take care of at the same time. 

Processing Oriental Beauty requires extensive manual labor to deliver that special touch, and this is rarely done using big leaf varietal material, not to mention Ruby 18. At Taiwan Sourcing, we have created Oriental Beauty teas from big-leaf varietals such as our "Assamica Ruby" and "Assamica Obsidian." We had a rough idea of how this tea might turn out, but did not expect it to be this similar to the ancient arbor material. 

The finished tea shares a similar sensation as to when drinking teas made with ancient arbor material. It is thorough and powerful, on top of being very enjoyable. The creation of this new tea made us wonder why we had not thought of such a plan sooner. This "Ruby Belle" opened a new possibility for this already known varietal from Taiwan with its unusual but delicious profile.

Harvest: Spring 2023 / 春 貳零貳参

Varietal: TTES #18 Ruby / 台茶十八號 紅玉

Elevation: 1200 M / 壹仟貳佰 公尺

Region: Xinyi Township Caopingtou / 信義鄉 草坪頭

Fermentation Level: 85% / 分之 捌拾伍

Roast Level: Run Dry / 走乾

 Still Savouring.......

A Ruby 18 oriental beauty! Curious indeed. The scent from the beginning was bit not what I expected. I had thought it would still have the classic minty ness of the varietal. But the initial scent was juicy tart and strawberry, some herbal vegetal quality too. I brewed 8 grams 100ml and got 5 good rounds. By the second I was really surprised and taken aback how much it felt like a wild tea. Maybe more like an echo, gentler a bit, but really similar. By the third round I felt like a could really taste the varietal expression, I’m now more curious with aging and resting how it will mature and taste alongside that clear “feel”. The effect is great if you’re aiming for borderline wild tea experience. Such a fun and successful experiment.

 Still Savouring.......