Through a series of blogs based around the recent visit of our friend & partner Philip from Taiwan [which was fabulous and we are so grateful for] we are excited to share more about our collection of Taiwanese teas. In this blog and those that follow we will share information about some of our most popular teas intertwined with stories about the magnificent island & people they originate from. Our aim, as was Philip's in making his visit to us, is to bring Taiwanese tea to the world, make the teas, their stories & the island more well known & of course encourage you to explore! You won't be disappointed!
___________________________________________________________________
We are only able to bring you such unique tea events & share these insights due to the partnership & generosity of our partners - Comins is such a wonderfully collaborative community - we hope you enjoy the read!
___________________________________________________________________
.
Let's take a trip to this beautiful mountainous island. There are three ranges of mountains in Taiwan - two coastal ranges - East & West & a Central ridge. The island is also home to the highest peak in all of E Asia - 4000m in height - [& the highest road which you must take to reach one of the famous high mountain areas Lishan which we will come to talk about in later blogs]. As Philip shared - very few people live in the mountains - the bulk of the population all live in one area on a narrow band of land with population density equal to Bangladesh!
.
What about the teas from Taiwan? Although Taiwan is mostly known for Oolong tea all types of tea are made on the island & there is an interest to diversify types & styles of tea resulting in some really outstanding & unique profiles [many of which we serve at the Tea House & one of which we are discussing today]. In the Tea Houses our Taiwanese collection of teas are amoung the most popular but beyond our walls they can be difficult to find & explore. At our evening tasting Philip suggested that this was perhaps because because Taiwan was never a part of the 'British Empire' making it less familiar as an 'origin' than teas from India, Sri Lanka & India. So is there a link between the UK & Taiwan? Well, Philip shared how the British did have a base for the East India company in Hong Kong & Canton but there was also a small secondary posting of the British in the South of Taiwan dating into the 1700s for about 100 years. Moving on from that period, during the Japanese colonial years 1895-1945, the Japanese had developed a black tea industry on the model of the British tea industry & some famous British brands [Typhoo & Twinings for example] did indeed contain some teas from Taiwan! So perhaps some of the older members of your family already have a taste of teas from this fabulous region!
.
.
The first tea we were to taste at our evening of Taiwanese tea was a white tea & so that is the first we will discuss ; The objective in focusing on this tea? To really showcase the distinctiveness of Taiwanese tea. This is no ordinary white tea - it is one that is fairly rare in Taiwan & has been extremely popular since we started serving it in the Tea House. This tea perfectly demonstrates one characteristic of tea making in Taiwan - the many people involved in production. We have shared before when talking about Taiwanese tea vertically integrated tea models [operations where the tea is planted, grown & processed in the same place] are very rare. Tea making is a collaborative effort with many different people involved. Each has their own speciality - A tea grower who owns & tends the garden and takes care of the leaves - Tea pickers who in Taiwan often move from garden to garden & therefore have a unique insight into where the best teas are being grown - as Philip shared tea pickers often have a favourite garden & can lead you there - leaves are then sold to tea producers who own the tea factory - Then there are tea finishers - a very distinctive part of Taiwanese tea & tea culture - a tea finisher will take a finished tea coming out of the factory & will further transform it through baking, firing, charcoal firing & ageing.
.
Back to the tea we are showcasing in this blog : This fresh white tea, made just a few weeks before the date of this blog is made with a cultivar only found in Taiwan; T-18 or Red Jade. This cultivar was originally developed to make black tea but in this case the processing, which we explore below, delivers a different & delicious expression....
.
.
.
Firstly let's look at the colour ; it is is amber/red/orangey. Although it is commonly shared that white tea is un-oxidised we discussed how the opposite is true - most white teas, including this one, undergo a small amount of oxidation. The exceptions are those made with buds such as famous China Silver needle which do not undergo oxidation. In Taiwan Rob has seen & we often share how teas are made with leaves - virtually no teas are made in Taiwan where the bud is an important component apart from one; oriental beauty. Apart from this case the bud is not considered as important as in Taiwan as it is in other tea making countries.
Lets explore the cultivar ; The Red Jade T18 cultivar is a hybrid. The two mother tea plants used are a tea from the Burmese mountains (female parent) & a camellia formosensis (male parent) tea. Let's pause a moment to consider the camellia formosensis ; Most books don’t mention camellia formosensis; but Taiwan does have an endemic species. In 2009, Philip shared [and you can search further if you are interested] how a study conducted by Japanese botanical experts offered a DNA analysis of camellia formosensis & found the DNA of the Taiwanese endemic tea plant was a distinct species from both c Sinensis and c Assamica; very different in appearance and taste profile. And so the existence of a distinct Taiwanese species [wild tree]; named camellia formosensis; was confirmed. The camellia formosensis plants used in the Red Jade T18 cultivar hybrid originated from the mountains around Sun Moon lake not far from Nantou; it was in these mountains surrounding the lake that the Japanese developed the important black tea industry mentioned earlier & are thought to have planted cuttings of the native camellia formosensis. Camellia formosensis is a rare plant in Taiwan & Philip shared, to his knowledge, how there are only 12 small areas where this is still grown [800m +] & these are protected by law. He explained at our tasting that the reason for not drinking a pure Camellia formosensis tea is that there is not enough for a commercial production...but we have read of some very small lots being made so let's see on our next visit to Taiwan.... Another interesting snippet is that the Camellia formosensis leaf can become incredibly large - in the South of the island it has been known for Camellia formosensis to grow into trees of 35 metres +. For the tea we are focusing on here only small leaves of the T-18 cultivar are picked; older leaves are part of the support system of the plant
.
Turning back to this tea; the beautiful garden where this tea is from was planted three generations ago by the Li family. They have both specimens of the T18 red Jade plant introduced in 1999 in Taiwan. The leaves from this garden end up in the factory of our partners Philip & Yu Wen [4th generation tea family] Lets take a closer look at the steps that are then taken to produce this White tea....
Essentially white tea processing is the simplest main tea making process; the tea will undergo just two steps. The first is sun withering - leaves are left in the sun for a short period [if there is sun] - withering elimates the water in the leaves so that the leaf can be rolled. If it is raining or cloudy this step is bypassed & replaced with indoor withering - this involves laying the tea on the ground or in big trays. Over time the leaf will wither - during this process it will oxidises & changes colour. The next step is to then stabilise the tea; this is achieved by heating it to stop the oxidation process & drying the leaf to reach the finished product. The resultant leaf should hold only a remnant of humidity - between 2-5%. The next logical question - raised by our audience at the Tea House - was - is this measured? - Philip shared how this is where 'tea is an art & a skill' - it is the nose and the knowledge of the tea maker that makes a difference. Tea makers are dealing with a multitude of variables - humidity - barometric pressure - all of these can change the speed of the process. A good tea maker follows through the process by staying with the leaves - at one point the nose & the feel of the tea will tell them it is done. Another way of monitoring the transformation of the leaf is though tasting throughout the withering process. Just like a wine maker will taste what they is making at different stages of the process so does a tea maker. & this beautiful tea is the result of all that knowledge, all that expertise......why not taste for yourself. What will you experience in the cup? The infused leaf has a distinct camphor like tone while the cup is thick & sweet leaving a mellow tone & lingering coolness in the mouth : be patient - it takes a little time to get to know this tea!
