Whenever I’m asked which tea I prefer, I answer that I love them all but share special affinities with each of them. Oolong teas have earned a special place in my heart with their complex structure and tasting notes that remind me of French wines.
One year ago I was lucky enough to delve into the world of oolongs and combine my two passions of cycling and tea during a trip to Taiwan. After biking around the island (900 km/560miles), I embarked on a 5-day tea trip to central Taiwan. There, I discovered a region of high mountains, lush high plateaus and delicious teas. Read on to learn more about oolong teas and my travels through Taiwan, featuring local tea growers.
What are oolong teas?
Oolong teas come in a variety of oxidations, meaning there’s one for everyone’s tastes. Oolong teas are between green (no oxidation) and black (long oxidation) teas with an oxidation ranging between 10 to 80%. The name oolong means “black dragon” and the tea is shaped into either twisted open leaves or tightly rolled balls. The spiritual home of oolong teas is Fujian Province in China, but Taiwan has made it their own. The liquor can be light yellow to light brown and the taste profile goes from very floral and fruity to woody, zesty or even charcoal and chocolate.
In Taiwan, the cultivars, or variety of tea plant, are very important and often mentioned as a characteristic of the tea. The first ones were brought over from China but Taiwan developed their own at the TTES (Taiwanese Tea Experiment Station) and hence created their now-iconic oolong teas. A few examples are Qing Xin (green heart), Si Ji Chun (Four Springs) or Cui Yi.
Where are they grown?
There are many tea regions all across the country, including Hsinchu County and its famous Oriental Beauty, as well as Wenshan District and its Baozhong teas. However, the heart of tea country, which produces the best crus, is in Central Taiwan on the western slopes of the Central Mountain Range. On my trip, I decided to start in the north in Lishan (Pear Mountain, 1600m to 2650m elevation) then explore the Lugu area (Deer Valley) famous for its Dong Ding teas (500-800m elevation) and finish in the south in the area of Alishan (700m to 1700m elevation).
Getting to Central Taiwan and Starting Our Trip
After cycling around the island, we started our journey inwards towards the center of the country to explore tea country. First, we embarked on the high-speed train to Taichung on the West Coast where we rented a car and set off for the town of Puli. Puli is not only the geographical center of the country, but is also at the crossroads of Nantou County, the heart of tea country. Cycling around the country had familiarized us with traffic and signs, but we were not prepared for the narrow, winding, often one-lane hair-raising roads that we were embarking on! I comfortably settled into the passenger seat to take photos while my husband took the wheel.
Day 1: Drive to Lishan and Meeting Mingo Bo Tea Company
Driving north towards Lishan, we started ascending the mountains through the daily thick fog that forms because of the dramatic temperature difference between ocean and mountains. Prized for its high-altitude teas (Gaoshan), the famous tea town of Lishan clings to the mountain flanks and is surrounded by steep tea fields.
I later realized that this is normal for Taiwan, but I was still dizzy from the drive and shocked to imagine how anyone could tend to tea plants with such a level of incline. We arrived on time for a beautiful sunset and were invited into the Ming Bo Tea Company by owner Mr. Huang, who showed me the different stages of tea processing as they were starting the winter tea season.
Winter teas are made when the nightly temperatures go down and days are shorter. During this time, the tea plant is already gearing toward winter dormancy and yields sweeter and creamier teas. Mr. Huang showed us the leaves that had been picked that morning and were laid out on the floor and later on bamboo mats to wither. Withering is the technical term to describe loss of moisture in the leaves that will make them easier to process.
The next step and radical transformation of the leaves would happen after midnight, when the leaves would be rolled to start the oxidation (a process when the chemical compound in the leaf juice comes into contact with oxygen). Oolong tea processing is very complex and nuanced, as the oxidation needs to be stopped at exactly the right moment to obtain the optimal flavor profile.
Later in the night, the tea leaves are then fired in big drums to stop the oxidation and rolled in a cloth into a ball. This process of rolling and drying is repeated many times during the night until the stems and leaves are finally shaped into the small balls that are so typical of Taiwan oolong teas. I was invited to spend the night and observe the process, but I was too tired and watched the final firing of a previous batch.
We spent a restful night at the famous Fushoushan Farm Hotel further up the mountain overlooking the Lishan area. The hotel is famous for their tea, apple orchards, and magnificent views. We then went back to Ming Bo Tea Company to taste the tea that had been processed during the night. I was lucky to take home a small bag with me!
Day 2: Treacherous Roads to Sun Moon Lake
Intoxicated by the scenery and ready for new adventures, we decided to try the remote Route 89 to drive back to Puli. Even though we’d found the “normal” route challenging, we didn’t think much of choosing an even more difficult path. With stretches steeper than 20% and sections of road washed away by landslides, it might have been the scariest ride of my life.
But it was so worth it! There were tea fields everywhere surrounded by persimmon orchards and cabbages fields, framed by high peaks and gorgeous blue skies.
Back in Puli, we made our way to Sun Moon Lake, famous for its vistas but also for the eponymous black tea. We relaxed with a cup of tea by the lake, paid a visit to neighboring Wenwu Temple, and finished the night with tea cocktails.
Day 3: Meeting Katie Yen from K-Tea Organics
The next day, we drove back to Puli to meet with Katie Yen, owner of K-Tea Organics. I met Katie at the World Tea Expo a few years back and she generously offered to spend the day with me to taste her teas and visit one of her tea gardens. Along with her sister ShuLing who helps her run the company, we sat down in her office flooded by a warm morning sun and spent a few special hours enjoying a wide array of teas and listening to her approach to tea making.
Katie grew up in a tea growing family but only became interested in growing her own later in life. She has always been passionate about the impact organic food and tea have on the body and the energy they feed it. Inheriting tea fields from her father and grandfather, some of them with tea plants dating back to the Japanese era, she revolutionized their way to grow tea by adopting organic cultivation. Completely abandoning non plant-based fertilizer, she pushed even further by fertilizing the tea bushes with plants and weeds growing around the tea garden and nothing else.
Tasting her teas is an exercise in mindfulness as she invites you to observe not only the flavors but also the sensations in your body. She believes that a plant that has to struggle a bit will showcase more delicate and layered flavors. For that reason, she is personally involved in all the steps of the tea making along with her teamaker, from withering through the critical oxidation until the final drying and roasting.
Her teas remind me of French wines; the Oriental Beauty reminds me of Sauternes, her Sun Moon Lake makes me think of Bourgogne red wine, and her Ching Jing oolong brought to mind Chablis.
She now operates 7 fully organic tea gardens and took us to her tea garden close to Sun Moon Lake. The rows of tea bushes planted on gentle rolling hills are shaded by bethel nut trees and interspersed by orange trees. Her Sun Moon Lake Black Tea is produced using the Ruby 18 cultivar, a cross between a Taiwan wild tea and a large leafed Assamica from Burma. After eating oranges fresh from the tree and being attacked by mosquitoes, we retraced the beautiful road in the middle of a lush jungle with each curve offering breathtaking vistas and enjoyed a delicious lunch.
On the way back to her office, we stopped at her favorite potter because I had admired his work among the many tea artifacts she owns. This delightful gentleman even has a tea hut with a tree growing through it!
Day 4: Exploring Dong Ding Teas with Yoshan Tea Company
The next morning we had an appointment with Andy Chen of the Yoshan Tea Company in Zhushan. We started at their beautiful Tea Museum, an extremely elegant and informative museum reflecting the history of the Chen family tea business over the centuries and Taiwanese tea in general. After an elegant tea tasting we headed to the Dong Ding area, birthplace of the family and also of the eponymous famous tea.
Because of his family ties and the worldwide reputation of the tea, it felt important for Andy to explain to us the cultural roots and the original terroir. Thousands of tea gardens all across the Lugu area (Deer Valley) and centered around the three villages of Feng-Huang, Yong-long and Zhang-Ya are anchored by the picturesque Qilin lake. It was moving to see the original tree planted by Lin Fengchi in 1855. He was instrumental in shaping Taiwan’s most important tea region. Historically featuring a roasted finish imparting a nutty aftertaste, Dong Ding oolongs are nowadays frequently left fresh and fragrant as in the Dong Ding we now carry from Yoshan Tea.
Yoshan Tea Company specializes in Dong Ding teas as well as high elevation (Gaoshan) teas from Lishan, Shan Lin Shin and Ali Shan. After a fast ride (Andy loves cars!) through valleys and high mountain roads, we arrived at the bottom of their tea garden and took the monorail, usually used for supplies, to go and visit the high section of the garden. Just as in Lishan, tea gardens are everywhere and they all are very neatly planted in rows hug the natural curvature of the hills. The elevation is so high that these gardens are shrouded in fog and mist and produce teas with very light and floral notes and a light degree of oxidation to preserve that fresh taste of altitude. The views from up there were breathtaking!
Day 5: Finishing the Trip in Alishan
On our final morning, we woke up at dawn to watch the sunrise from the rooftop of our bed & breakfast in Alishan. Although many people take the historic train before dawn to watch the sunrise on Mt. Yushan, we went later in the morning. The view from the observation deck, accompanied by a whole family of monkeys and a cup of tea at the Mountain Teahouse at over 2400m/8000ft was a fond farewell to Taiwan.
This trip allowed me to deepen my knowledge and appreciation of Taiwanese oolong teas. Getting to know where teas are grown contributes so much to understanding their flavor profiles. I was so grateful to Katie Yen and Andy Chen for sharing their expertise and hospitality with me. If you’d like to explore the treasure of teas I brought back from Taiwan, consider trying Clair Thé’s Dong Ding Oolong, Ching Jing Oolong, Roasted Dong Ding Oolong and Sun Moon Lake Ruby 18 Black Tea.
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