Nanpu Natural Farming "Topaz of the South" Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea - Spring 2021
Nanpu Natural Farming "Topaz of the South" Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea - Spring 2021 Nanpu Natural Farming "Topaz of the South" Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea - Spring 2021 Nanpu Natural Farming "Topaz of the South" Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea - Spring 2021 Nanpu Natural Farming "Topaz of the South" Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea - Spring 2021
$ 29.50

After the success of "Crimson of the South," we knew that this small abandoned plantation was a special place to work with. The lack of production from the Tianhu area forced our friend Mr. Chen to call his workers to this plantation at Nanpu (a subdistrict of Beipu) to harvest more material from a single day of labor. 

 

Like the plantation at Tianhu, this land was abandoned by its owner for decades now. The owner was simply too old to work on their land, so it was rented to Mr. Chen for him to manage. Mr. Chen took care of the surviving tea trees on the property, not realizing how special the tree varietal was until we consulted our other good friend Mr. Hsu. According to Mr. Hsu, who has a great deal of experience with different varietals in the Emei and Beipu areas, this is an already extinct varietal called "Red Heart Dah Pan" (紅心大冇). This varietal is closely related to and appears similar to Qing Xin Dah Pan, but the taste of the tea made from these two varietals is quite different.

 

This varietal was widely used as the maternal lineage for new varietals developed by the Taiwan Tea Experimental Station to make black teas. For unknown reasons, Red Heart Dah Pan has now disappeared from the market for decades, so when we realized we were dealing with an extinct varietal, it was hard to describe our surprise and excitement. Compared to Qing Xin Dah Pan, Hong Xin Dah Pan has a more feminine character, so it will have a more stimulating profile than the Qing Xin varietal. Like "Huang Gan" and "Huan Xin," this is another legendary varietal we discovered growing in its original place. Sadly, those two varietals were eventually destroyed for other developments.

 

Due to another extremely low harvesting quantity, we were able to pay full attention to every detail of the tea, and therefore deliver the most authentic Beipu experience available. 

 

 

Harvest: Spring 2021 / 春 貳零貳壹

Varietal: Hong Xin Dah Pan / 紅心大冇

Elevation:  300 M / 參佰 公尺

Region:  Beipu / 北埔

Fermentation  Level:  74% / 分之 柒拾肆

Roast Level: 1 / 壹

 

 

 Waiting for it!

 

 Rich and deep perfume on the nose, scent of aged oolongs, grains and leaves one curious. Taste is similar to older dry stored oolongs, deep and slight fruity grainy rich body. Lasting character, woody and sweet, beguiling. It gets deeper and deeper with brewing, something lost and found, lingering in mood.

 

 As an old dog is typing this word, he became melancholic. All these abandoned varietal were unique to their own traits. Most of them have the flavor and rhythm no other varietals may recreate. Seeing the revival of this varietal in our collection was both touching and sad. An old dog does not need to describe the exact taste and flavor to let you know how precious this tea is to us as a Taiwanese. Sometimes tea like this should be preserved rather than consumed.