Sunday, July 5th, 2009
Taiwan is an island located in East Asia off the coast of China. It is bound to the east by the Pacific Ocean. The island is approximately 245 miles long and 90 miles wide. When the portuguese explorers first saw the island, they were impressed by its beauty. Therefore, they named the island formosa. Oolong tea is mostly produced in Taiwan, Southeast China, Vietnam and Indonesia. Among them, Taiwan is the most improtant oolong tea production area. Taiwan Oolong tea has been popular worldwide for over 150 years. It is alos known as Formosa oolong tea. The finest quality and grade of oolong tea are mostly high mountain oolong tea which means the tea that grows from 1000 meters above sea level to approximately 2600 meters. As a matter of fact, growing tea on high mountain areas costs much more than planting on low altitudes. It is one of the reasons why prices of high mountain teas are proportional to its tea plantation altitude. One Taiwanese kg (1 Taiwanese kg is equal to 600 grams) of first grade high mountain oolong tea can sell between 60 USD to 300 USD or more in the Taiwan market. Although it is expensive, Taiwan high altitude tea is still loved by the local tea drinker in Taiwan as well as tea drinkers internationally.
High mountain oolong tea typically is more rich, smooth and fragrant and you can brew it more times before it loses its flavor. The popular representatives of Taiwan high mountain teas include Dayuling Oolong tea, Li Shan tea, Shanlinxi Oolong tea, Alishan Oolong tea and Wuling Oolong tea.
There are certain advantages for high mountain tea plantations such as great amount of sun light, sufficient amount of rain, extreme temperature difference between day and night and heavily fertilized soils perfect to grow tea. Also, the high potential of foggy afternoons hinders and makes the production of first grade high altitude tea difficult.
During regular days, it does not take extra efforts for tea farmers to take care of tea plantations. However, things are a lot tougher during the harvest seasons. Tea farmers often need to hire tea pickers which are paid by case by case basis with transportation included. Higher wages are paid as the higher the altitude of tea plantations. Normally, experienced pickers can collect around 3 to 5 Taiwanese kg of raw tea leaves per hour by hands. Tea picking begin really early in the morning. It is the best time for the tea pickers since raw tea leaves weigh more due to morning dew. However, the leaves picked during this time period is not the best in quality. First grade high altitude tea often requires raw tea leaves to be picked between 10AM to 3 PM. This is because the high temperature at noontime allows the leaves to hold less water. You may be wondering why doesnt the tea pickers pick during just this time frame? The reality is that tea pickers are limited in quantity and are paid by the number of cases they can fill. If they are allowed to work only during the best picking time zone, which is the hottest parts of the day, they will not be able to pick enough raw tea leaves to make enough money.
First grade high altitude tea is not abundant because tea planting skills, tea processing skills, weather, location of tea plantation and seasons all affect the taste of tea. In the high mountain areas, the afternoon weather usually becomes foggy. This allows for the withering of raw tea leaves, which is one of tea processing steps, to be more difficult and causes the leaves to be less fragrant.
The goal of growing tea in high altitude mountain locations is to produce richer and smoother quality teas. Even with the high labor costs and limited amount of quantities which seem unavoidable, the teas produced and picked from the high altitude locations is worth the added expense for the enjoyment and relaxation of the everyday tea drinker.
Ray Lee is the founder and webmaster of http://www.ishopo.com For more detailed information on Taiwan teas, please visit http://www.ishopo.com.
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Friday, July 3rd, 2009
High Mountain Oolong Tea
Oolong tea is referred to as semioxidized tea resembling a ball-like form produced from Qingxin Oolong varietals. Tea plantations located in The Central Mountains of Taiwan are major areas of production for the world famous oolong tea. Oolong tea gives off a strong unique varietal fragrance and tastes rich, smooth and is enjoyable. In addition, it carries a strong pleasant aftertaste.
The majority of first grade Taiwan high mountain teas are oolong teas. This is especially true for teas made from tea plantations located 1600 meter above sea level. Some of the most well known high mountain oolong teas harvested from the higher altitudes include Dayuling oolong tea, Li Shan oolong tea, Shanlinxi oolong tea, Alishan oolong tea and Wuling oolong tea.
Dayuling oolong tea mostly comes from tea plantations located between 2300 and 2600 meter above sea level. The plantations are located at one of the highest tea regions in Taiwan or arguably in the world. The unique tea growing environment allows Dayuling oolong tea to be rich and smooth in taste and is predominantly one of the finest oolong teas in Taiwan. Li Shan oolong tea is harvested from plantations between 2000 and 2400 meter above sea level. This tea growing environment also makes Li Shan oolong tea a first grade tea. Alishan oolong tea comes from plantations 1200 meter above sea level. It is one of the most famous oolong teas in Taiwan. Alishan oolong is extremely popular especially among foreign tourists from mainland China.
Milk Oolong Tea (Jinxuan Oolong)
Milk Oolong tea refers to semioxidized tea with ball-like form made from Jinxuan varietals. It comes with an unique delightful creamy fragrance and light refreshing milky taste. In addition, it leaves a satisfying milky aftertaste. The tea is highly recommended to be a great initiation to quality Taiwan Oolong teas.
Milk Oolong tea is produced from both high and low altitude tea plantations. High altitude milk oolong has a richer and smoother taste, but the low altitude allows the tea to be fresher and more economic. Milk oolong is particularly popular among female local tea drinkers in Taiwan and it is definitely a great choice for everyday tea drinking.
Four Season Oolong Tea (Sijichuan Oolong)
Four Season oolong tea refers to semioxidized tea resembling a ball-like form made from Sijichun varietal. It carries a smooth, floral and mild taste without any bitterness or dryness. The tea is highly recommended to be a great initiation to Taiwan tea.
Most of Four Season oolong tea comes from low altitude,1000 meter below sea level, tea plantations. The tea is fresh, tasty, economic and available in large quantities. All of these characterisitcs make the tea a great candidate to be an everyday tea to enjoy with friends and family. In fact, it is one of the best selling teas in Taiwan. The Mingjian tea region is where the majority of the production of the fresh Four Season oolong tea occurs.
Jade Oolong Tea (Cuiyu Oolong)
Jade oolong tea refers to semioxidized tea resembling a ball-like form made from Cuiyu varietals. It gives off a jasmine fragrance and tastes refreshing, mild and smooth. In addition, the tea leaves a sweet pleasant aftertaste. Jade oolong tea is highly recommended to be a great initiation to Taiwan teas.
Similar to Four Season oolong tea, the majority of Jade oolong tea are produced from low altitudes tea plantations ,1000 meter below sea level. The tea is fresh, tasty, economic and available in large quantities. It is highly recommended to be a perfect everyday tea. Jade oolong tea is one of top and best sellers among Taiwan teas.
Pouchong Tea
Pouchong tea is slightly oxidized and mostly produced in the Pinglin Township near Taipei, Taiwan. It is processed and rolled into stick-like form in contrast to oolong tea which appears in ball-like form. Pouchong is a popular and excellent choice of quality Taiwan Oolong teas. It gives off a floral fragrance and tastes rich, mild, smooth and pleasant. In addition, the tea carries a great reputation for its strong pleasant aftertaste.
Pouchong tea is known as wenshan pouching tea among locals in Taiwan. Wenshan tea region has been one of the most important tea regions for over a hundred years and it is still a popular and major tea producing region.
Wenshan pouching tea is prepared by strictly following old fashioned tea processing methods. Local tea farmers make sure every step of the tea processing is fully completed before moving on to the next step to ensure that the tea produced can be at its highest quality.
Wenshan pouching tea is old-fashioned in almost every aspect even when it comes to pricing. On the rest of tea regions in Taiwan, tea is sold mostly according to place of origin, season, and reputation of the tea. There is no doubt that these three can almost guarantee that the tea has to reach a certain level of quality. However, taste affects just slightly on its price. If the tea harvest came from a bad season of weather, customers may still have to pay the same price to enjoy the tea; simply because the tea is produced from a region with an excellent reputation. In contrast, wenshan pouching tea is mainly sold according to its taste and quality. You may see wenshan pouching teas coming from the identical place of origin and seasons are sold at different prices. Sometimes ten times the difference!
Many tea varietals are produced in the Wenshan region, such as Qingxin Oolong, Jinxuan, Sijichun and Tikunayin. After years of tea production experiences, local tea farmers realized that Qingxin Oolong is by far the best to make first grade pouching tea due to its unique fragrances. Qingxin Oolong has now become the most popular candidate in producing pouching tea.
When the attention is placed on oolong tea, do not overlook the pouching tea as well. The fragrances are preserved which allows the local tea farmers to enjoy the old fashioned methods of producing this type of tea. Give it a try for yourself and you will understand why pouching tea is popular among the locals in Taiwan!
Ray Lee is the founder and webmaster of http://www.ishopo.com For more detailed information on Taiwan teas, please visit http://www.ishopo.com.
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