What is Winter Sprout Oolong? It is a rare and uniquely textured tea. Taiwanese tea is typically harvested four times a year: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Normally, after the winter harvest, the tea bushes enter a dormant period until they sprout again in spring. However, due to warm winters, they sometimes experience a second
Winter Sprout Oolong is a rare and uniquely textured tea. In Taiwan, tea is generally harvested four times a year: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. After the winter harvest, the tea bushes enter a dormant period. However, due to warmer winters, they sometimes flush once more before the winter solstice—this is what we call Winter Sprout Oolong.
Located in Ren’ai Township, Nantou County, Taiwan, the traditional Dayuling tea region spans tea gardens situated between the 100 km and 105.5 km markers of the Central Cross-Island Highway. In the past, elevations reached as high as 2,650 meters, making it Taiwan’s highest tea-producing region. However, following large-scale clearings of tea plantations in 2015, the
[Netizen Question]: I bought Dayuling tea at a tea shop for NT$8,000 per 600 g, but home shopping channels sell less than 1.8 kg (3 jin) for NT$4,000. Did I overpay? What is a reasonable price per 600 g? Dayuling Tea Price: What is a Reasonable Market Price? For Dayuling tea priced at NT$8,000, it
Taiwanese tea is primarily centered around partially fermented oolong tea, with Dongding Oolong and Wenshan Pouchong being particularly famous. In addition, Taiwan also produces various other tea categories such as green tea and black tea. Below is an introduction to Taiwan’s top ten famous teas, including: Wenshan Pouchong, Dongding Oolong, Oriental Beauty, Songbai Changqing, Muzha
Tea leaf harvesting is the most crucial step in tea production. The weather, timing, and growth condition of the tea leaves (cha-jing) during harvest play a vital role in tea making. Harvesting determines the quality of the raw leaves, which accounts for over 70% of the final tea quality. Weather is the first consideration when
Cloth-wrapping and rolling is one of the essential steps in making semi-spherical Pouchong tea (commonly known as oolong tea). The goal is to shape the tea leaves into a semi-spherical form, which not only looks appealing but also makes the tea easier to store and transport. This easy-to-transport and store semi-spherical shape is a major
Once tea leaves are harvested, they immediately enter the withering stage. The main purpose of withering is to reduce moisture, encourage fermentation, and trigger chemical changes in the leaves that enhance their aroma and flavor. The withering process is divided into outdoor (solar) withering and indoor withering. Outdoor Withering: The freshly harvested tea leaves are
After withering and fermentation, tea leaves undergo the fixation process (also known as “kill-green” or pan-firing). The purpose of this step is to use high heat to halt the fermentation process. In addition to stopping fermentation, it also eliminates the grassy odor of the tea leaves, breaks down the stems and leaves, and makes the
After the kill-green (fixation) process halts fermentation, the next crucial step in tea making is rolling. Tea rolling is extremely important; its primary function is to break down the tea leaves, allowing the juices inside to coat the surface, while shaping the leaves into a tight, twisted form that prepares them for the subsequent cloth-ball
Tea fermentation broadly refers to the oxidation of catechins, which drives the oxidative cleavage of unsaturated fatty acids and amino acids, creating the aroma and sweetness of tea leaves. The tea fermentation process begins right after harvesting. However, because freshly harvested tea leaves contain too much moisture, tea makers first perform outdoor sun withering, followed
Tea leaves are categorized by their degree of fermentation into non-fermented, semi-fermented, fully fermented, and post-fermented teas, and by their roasting level into light-roast (raw), medium-roast, and heavy-roast (cooked) teas. Taiwanese tea is primarily semi-fermented, with small amounts of black and green teas also produced. Below are the fermentation and roasting levels of common Taiwanese
Tea production costs include land, management, harvesting, processing, and sales. It’s common to see tea marketed as hand-picked Taiwanese tea selling for NT$500 to NT$600 per 600 g on the market, but looking at the actual production costs, that doesn’t really add up. Today, we’ll start by breaking down the harvesting costs so consumers can
Once raw tea leaves are processed into semi-finished loose-leaf tea, an additional step known as tea roasting is sometimes applied to improve storage longevity and enhance flavor. The principle behind tea roasting is using heat to induce chemical changes in the leaves, reducing moisture and grassy notes while transforming the overall flavor profile. Depending on
There are two main types of Taiwanese black tea: Honey Black Tea and SunMoon Lake Black Tea. Honey Black Tea is grown in Hualien, New Taipei City, and Nantou, while SunMoon Lake Black Tea is produced around the SunMoon Lake area in Nantou. The tea cultivars used include Qingxin Oolong and TTES No. 12 JinXuan
