Why Tea In Taiwan
Because of Taiwan's ideal terrain and climate, the eastern side of the island is facing to Pacific Ocean, the Tropic of Cancer, which marks the boundary between the tropics and the subtropics, winter temperature ranges from 16 to 20 degrees Celsius. The average summer temperature is 17 to 29 degrees Celsius. In addition, the mountains and sea that surround the area protect it from the heat of western Taiwan, therefore it is a gorgeous climate specific for tea plantation.
Honey Black Tea...........One day, when I travelled in Taiwan, accidentally found a very special black tea named ‘Honey Black Tea’ which only grown in eastern part of Taiwan Island. This high quality Taiwan Honey Black Tea is all natural, handpicked, handcrafted and produced from Qingxin Dapa varietal, the tea leaves used to produce Oriental Beauty. This tea has an intense natural honey aroma and taste, very pleasant and enjoyable. The taste is a mixture of black tea and oriental beauty oolong. This tea is very rich, complex, smooth and delectable with almost no bitterness and astringency. The aftertaste is very sweet and long lasting and makes you want another sip.
Honey Black Tea is produced from the little Empoasca, they're living at the bud of the tea leaves, when they are staying and living at the tea bud, they are sucking the bud juices of the leaves and ‘re-honeyed’ back to the leaves, this transformed into pleasant honey flavor, natural smooth fragrant scent when roasting. In order to attract Empoasca, the tea plantations require to be pesticide free. You can be sure that the tea is all natural!
A History of Tea in Taiwan
Qing Dynasty (1796-1895)
Two wild, indigenous tea subspecies, Taiwan Mountain Tea and Red Sprout Mountain Tea, were discovered in Taiwan as early as the 17th century. However, they had little economic value and were not widely used due to their bitter taste and thin, brittle leaves.
During the Qing dynasty, different tea varieties were imported from the Fujian area and cultivated in northern Taiwan. During his 1865 visit to observe Taiwan’s camphor industry, British merchant John Dodd discovered the Taiwanese tea market. The tea he exported to New York became a surprise hit, making Taiwanese tea famous internationally and attracting other exporters to Taiwan. Thus began the prosperity of Taiwan’s tea industry and its role as a major industry in northern Taiwan.
Japanese Colonial Period (1895-1945)
During their occupation of Taiwan, the Japanese expanded Taiwanese tea farms and encouraged the cultivation of local varieties including the four main varieties: Qingxin Oolong (green-hearted oolong), Qingxin Damo, Daye Oolong (big-leaf oolong), Ying Zhi Hongxin (“hard-stemmed red-hearted”). In addition, a tea research institute was established to advance the cultivation and production of black tea.
In 1926, the Japanese introduced the Assam variety to Taiwan and experimented with its cultivation in Yuchih Township, Nantou County. The successful results gave birth to the now renowned specialty tea of Sun Moon Lake.
Retrocession to the Present (After 1945)
In the 1980s, the tea-drinking population and tea consumption rose sharply in Taiwan as its economy advanced. Coupled with the active promotion of tea culture, consumers began to place more emphasis on the art of tea and became selective about its quality. Consequently, the tea industry in Taiwan shifted its focus from export to internal consumption.
Tea Processing
In the Taiwanese dialect, tea leaves are referred to as “tea rice” because of the rice-sized, semi-spherical or spherical shapes of fermented tea leaves. The processing of tea requires a complex, intricate procedure to produce the perfect cup of tea in colour, aroma and taste. The following are the eight steps of tea processing:
Tea-leaves nowadays are picked either manually or with machines. Hand picking, however, has always been the exclusive way to harvest premium leaves. In the past, tea farmers would harvest the leaves by clamping the stem using the index finger and thumb and breaking the leaves off with a quick flick; today, many farmers have adopted the time- and labour-saving method of attaching a blade to the index finger for snipping the stem.
Tea-leaves are harvested mainly as buds and young leaves. Depending on the variety, there is the choice of harvesting “one bud one leaf”, “one bud two leaves” and “one bud three leaves”. The intactness of the leaf surface is critical to the quality of the final product, so close attention must be paid to not damage the leaves when harvesting.
Because of Taiwan's ideal terrain and climate, the eastern side of the island is facing to Pacific Ocean, the Tropic of Cancer, which marks the boundary between the tropics and the subtropics, winter temperature ranges from 16 to 20 degrees Celsius. The average summer temperature is 17 to 29 degrees Celsius. In addition, the mountains and sea that surround the area protect it from the heat of western Taiwan, therefore it is a gorgeous climate specific for tea plantation.
Honey Black Tea...........One day, when I travelled in Taiwan, accidentally found a very special black tea named ‘Honey Black Tea’ which only grown in eastern part of Taiwan Island. This high quality Taiwan Honey Black Tea is all natural, handpicked, handcrafted and produced from Qingxin Dapa varietal, the tea leaves used to produce Oriental Beauty. This tea has an intense natural honey aroma and taste, very pleasant and enjoyable. The taste is a mixture of black tea and oriental beauty oolong. This tea is very rich, complex, smooth and delectable with almost no bitterness and astringency. The aftertaste is very sweet and long lasting and makes you want another sip.
Honey Black Tea is produced from the little Empoasca, they're living at the bud of the tea leaves, when they are staying and living at the tea bud, they are sucking the bud juices of the leaves and ‘re-honeyed’ back to the leaves, this transformed into pleasant honey flavor, natural smooth fragrant scent when roasting. In order to attract Empoasca, the tea plantations require to be pesticide free. You can be sure that the tea is all natural!
A History of Tea in Taiwan
Qing Dynasty (1796-1895)
Two wild, indigenous tea subspecies, Taiwan Mountain Tea and Red Sprout Mountain Tea, were discovered in Taiwan as early as the 17th century. However, they had little economic value and were not widely used due to their bitter taste and thin, brittle leaves.
During the Qing dynasty, different tea varieties were imported from the Fujian area and cultivated in northern Taiwan. During his 1865 visit to observe Taiwan’s camphor industry, British merchant John Dodd discovered the Taiwanese tea market. The tea he exported to New York became a surprise hit, making Taiwanese tea famous internationally and attracting other exporters to Taiwan. Thus began the prosperity of Taiwan’s tea industry and its role as a major industry in northern Taiwan.
Japanese Colonial Period (1895-1945)
During their occupation of Taiwan, the Japanese expanded Taiwanese tea farms and encouraged the cultivation of local varieties including the four main varieties: Qingxin Oolong (green-hearted oolong), Qingxin Damo, Daye Oolong (big-leaf oolong), Ying Zhi Hongxin (“hard-stemmed red-hearted”). In addition, a tea research institute was established to advance the cultivation and production of black tea.
In 1926, the Japanese introduced the Assam variety to Taiwan and experimented with its cultivation in Yuchih Township, Nantou County. The successful results gave birth to the now renowned specialty tea of Sun Moon Lake.
Retrocession to the Present (After 1945)
In the 1980s, the tea-drinking population and tea consumption rose sharply in Taiwan as its economy advanced. Coupled with the active promotion of tea culture, consumers began to place more emphasis on the art of tea and became selective about its quality. Consequently, the tea industry in Taiwan shifted its focus from export to internal consumption.
Tea Processing
In the Taiwanese dialect, tea leaves are referred to as “tea rice” because of the rice-sized, semi-spherical or spherical shapes of fermented tea leaves. The processing of tea requires a complex, intricate procedure to produce the perfect cup of tea in colour, aroma and taste. The following are the eight steps of tea processing:
Tea-leaves nowadays are picked either manually or with machines. Hand picking, however, has always been the exclusive way to harvest premium leaves. In the past, tea farmers would harvest the leaves by clamping the stem using the index finger and thumb and breaking the leaves off with a quick flick; today, many farmers have adopted the time- and labour-saving method of attaching a blade to the index finger for snipping the stem.
Tea-leaves are harvested mainly as buds and young leaves. Depending on the variety, there is the choice of harvesting “one bud one leaf”, “one bud two leaves” and “one bud three leaves”. The intactness of the leaf surface is critical to the quality of the final product, so close attention must be paid to not damage the leaves when harvesting.
Step 1 [Picking]
Picked leaves are placed in bamboo baskets and “sun-wilted” or wilted in a hot air blowing machine to remove the moisture in the leaves and oxidize (ferment) them. The leaves turn progressively darker as they wilt under the sun and soften from moisture loss.
When the baskets are relocated indoors for “indoor-wilting”, the leaves are gently stirred to rub against each other and bruise their edges-in order to fill their cells with air and facilitate fermentation. This stirring action is called “waving the leaves” and can now be performed using a machine.
Picked leaves are placed in bamboo baskets and “sun-wilted” or wilted in a hot air blowing machine to remove the moisture in the leaves and oxidize (ferment) them. The leaves turn progressively darker as they wilt under the sun and soften from moisture loss.
When the baskets are relocated indoors for “indoor-wilting”, the leaves are gently stirred to rub against each other and bruise their edges-in order to fill their cells with air and facilitate fermentation. This stirring action is called “waving the leaves” and can now be performed using a machine.
Step 2 [Wilting]
Picked leaves are placed in bamboo baskets and “sun-wilted” or wilted in a hot air blowing machine to remove the moisture in the leaves and oxidize (ferment) them. The leaves turn progressively darker as they wilt under the sun and soften from moisture loss.
When the baskets are relocated indoors for “indoor-wilting”, the leaves are gently stirred to rub against each other and bruise their edges-in order to fill their cells with air and facilitate fermentation. This stirring action is called “waving the leaves” and can now be performed using a machine.
Picked leaves are placed in bamboo baskets and “sun-wilted” or wilted in a hot air blowing machine to remove the moisture in the leaves and oxidize (ferment) them. The leaves turn progressively darker as they wilt under the sun and soften from moisture loss.
When the baskets are relocated indoors for “indoor-wilting”, the leaves are gently stirred to rub against each other and bruise their edges-in order to fill their cells with air and facilitate fermentation. This stirring action is called “waving the leaves” and can now be performed using a machine.
Step 3 [Fermenting]
Fermenting is the oxidation process that takes place when the cells of tea leaves lose part of their moisture content and come into contact with the air. If the moisture loss during wilting is too rapid, the cells will die without sufficient time to ferment - this is called “dehydration” and produces tasteless tea. On the other hand, once moisture has dissipated from the leaf edges, excessive force in stirring will prematurely turn the edges red, preventing the leaf cells from releasing moisture to complete the fermentation process—the resulting tea leaves are “bloated” and give a bitter, “pucker” taste.
In addition, the intactness of the tea leaves is also key. Any scar or bending or breakage of the leaf will affect the ideal fermenting conditions and result in inferior taste.
Fermenting is the oxidation process that takes place when the cells of tea leaves lose part of their moisture content and come into contact with the air. If the moisture loss during wilting is too rapid, the cells will die without sufficient time to ferment - this is called “dehydration” and produces tasteless tea. On the other hand, once moisture has dissipated from the leaf edges, excessive force in stirring will prematurely turn the edges red, preventing the leaf cells from releasing moisture to complete the fermentation process—the resulting tea leaves are “bloated” and give a bitter, “pucker” taste.
In addition, the intactness of the tea leaves is also key. Any scar or bending or breakage of the leaf will affect the ideal fermenting conditions and result in inferior taste.
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To stop fermenting, tea leaves must be steamed to destroy the enzymes responsible for the fermentation - this is called “killing” or “steaming” the leaves. This step eliminates the leaves’ grassy odor to form an aroma. The stems and veins of the leaves become flexible and slightly viscous as moisture dissipate from the leaves, leaving them less susceptible to breaking in the next step.
Step 4 [Steaming]
To expedite steeping, fired leaves are moved into the roller, where they slowly curl up and tighten as they roll around. The sap released from the rolling action adheres to the leaves and during steeping, quickly dissolves into the hot water to produce a fragrant cup of tea.
Different tea varieties require different levels of kneading. For example, semi-spherical Pouchong tea acquires its shape from an additional kneading step-they are wrapped in cloth to form a ball and then kneaded and pressed manually or with a machine. Throughout the process, the cloths must be periodically unrolled and the leaves spread out to release heat; the more frequently this is repeated, the more tightly wrapped the end product.
Step 4 [Steaming]
To expedite steeping, fired leaves are moved into the roller, where they slowly curl up and tighten as they roll around. The sap released from the rolling action adheres to the leaves and during steeping, quickly dissolves into the hot water to produce a fragrant cup of tea.
Different tea varieties require different levels of kneading. For example, semi-spherical Pouchong tea acquires its shape from an additional kneading step-they are wrapped in cloth to form a ball and then kneaded and pressed manually or with a machine. Throughout the process, the cloths must be periodically unrolled and the leaves spread out to release heat; the more frequently this is repeated, the more tightly wrapped the end product.
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Step 5【Kneading】
To expedite steeping, fired leaves are moved into the roller, where they slowly curl up and tighten as they roll around. The sap released from the rolling action adheres to the leaves and during steeping, quickly dissolves into the hot water to produce a fragrant cup of tea. Different tea varieties require different levels of kneading. For example, semi-spherical Pouchong tea acquires its shape from an additional kneading step-they are wrapped in cloth to form a ball and then kneaded and pressed manually or with a machine. Throughout the process, the cloths must be periodically unrolled and the leaves spread out to release heat; the more frequently this is repeated, the more tightly wrapped the end product. |
Step 6【Drying】
To completely stop fermentation and reduce volume for easy storage, kneaded leaves are machine dried, using high temperature to destroy any remaining enzymes and decreasing the moisture content of the leaves to less than 5%. Kneaded leaves are laid out flat on trays, which are and loaded one by one into the dryer. To ensure thorough drying, the leaves are usually dried twice: 70-80% of drying is done during round one, after which leaves are removed from the machine to cool, and then dried for a second time. Dried leaves are called “rough tea” or “base tea”.
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Step 7 [Roasting]
Refined leaves are slowly roasted to release their natural fragrance. Depending on the leaf variety, light roasting (raw tea), medium roasting (raw-ripe tea) and heavy roasting (ripe tea) are used.
“Raw tea” gives off a rich fragrance and produces lighter-colour liquor; “Ripe tea” may not compare to raw tea in fragrance but offers a unique taste.
Step 8 [Piling & Packaging]
Roasting completes the processing of the tea. Finished tea leaves are usually stored in large cans at tea shops, ready for customers’ to select. One final step remains after a customer has selected his or her desired tea - packaging. There are many packaging methods, most commonly using a plastic bag, either sealed with an elastic band or twist tie or vacuum-sealed. Vacuum-sealed tea keeps longer, but if the tea is to be used right away the packaging method is not particularly important.