We had a very hard time naming this tea as the taste and style is so unique. Somewhere between a white and light oolong tea, it was produced in an out of the way corner of Pinglin by a family that has been growing tea organically in that area for generations. This tea has a depth and flavor that is full of history. Originally agrochemical free because the family couldn’t afford added chemicals, they moved to organic certification without trouble many years ago and struggled with it for years before finding their niche as the organic market grew in Taiwan. The tea processing is still guided by a 80+ year old grandfather. When we visited this spring he was out cutting weeds.
The taste of this tea is somewhere between a milky boazhong and a floral white tea with some of the clearest, brightest liquor we have ever seen in a boazhong. Because of the slow, traditional processing style all the buttery, floral, fragrant notes of this style of tea are in full clear force, especially the full thick milky mouthfeel so famous with the Jinxuan cultivar. It truly is a taste of history!
This year the price for this tea is a little higher than usual as the weather was terrible this spring. The farm was only able to produce about one quarter of the usual harvest. Although the price was higher than usual, the tea is of very high quality this year. We still bought tea to support our partner farm at the higher cost. We hope you don’t mind.
Elevation: 300-500m
Status: Certified Organic
Cultivar: Jinxuan
Season: Spring 2019
Method: Hand picked, processed on site, very small batch
Oxidation: 5%
Region: Pinglin, New Taipei City
Recommend Brewing Style: 3-5g per 100ml, ~95C water, 30, 45, 1 min then add 5-10 seconds steeps in gaiwan. Lasts 5-6 steeps.
Western Style Brewing: 3-5g per cup, ~95C water, 1-2 minutes, lasts 3-4 steeps