Highlights:
Harvest: Spring, 2011
Growing Area: Jenai Township, Nantou County, Taiwan
Elevation: +/-4,000 ft (1,200 M)
Varietal: Jin Xuan
This unique Spring Harvest 2011 green tea comes from a 4,000 ft elevation (1,200 M) tea garden in the Aowanda area of Jenai Township in Nantou County, Central Taiwan. This green tea is made from a tea cultivar known as Jin Xuan, which is usually processed into a mildly fragrant oolong tea.
The Jin Xuan… Read more
Highlights:
Harvest: Spring, 2011
Growing Area: Jenai Township, Nantou County, Taiwan
Elevation: +/-4,000 ft (1,200 M)
Varietal: Jin Xuan
This unique Spring Harvest 2011 green tea comes from a 4,000 ft elevation (1,200 M) tea garden in the Aowanda area of Jenai Township in Nantou County, Central Taiwan. This green tea is made from a tea cultivar known as Jin Xuan, which is usually processed into a mildly fragrant oolong tea.
The Jin Xuan plants were planted in the mid-1980’s and have grown into very healthy & robust specimens. They have been grown using strictly natural agricultural methods since this producer carries MOA certification. (Important Note: MOA is a non-government sponsored organic agriculture certification widely used in Taiwan that is not recognized as a USDA organic certification according to US laws, so these teas cannot legally be referred to as organic in the US.) The age of the tea plants and the careful, natural cultivation methods employed have enabled these plants to grow to very healthy and hearty plants which, in turn, produce tea with excellent body and a more robust character than their younger counterparts.
This Jin Xuan green tea was hand picked and processed in mid April, 2011. The finished tea was rolled into the ball-shape style typical of the oolong teas that this “high mountain” region is famous for. The ball shape is actually a bonus for us because we can vacuum seal this green tea without breaking the leaves in order to maintain freshness much longer than if we packaged it without vacuum.
As with other green teas, the flavor of this tea is fresh, slightly grassy and somewhat vegetal, but, unlike most green teas, there is a very mildly sweet and floral character present in the aroma and flavor that balances beautifully with the more typical “green tea” type flavors.
Steeping Directions: Green tea should be steeped at about 175 F (80 C) in order to avoid extracting astringent flavor compounds or scalding the leaves. I like to steep this tea Gongfu style in a Gaiwan, and if you are careful with water temperature it can be infused several times. It also works perfectly to steep this tea in the western manner.
