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The fifth day of my time in Taiwan started with a visit to one of the most extraordinary tea estates I have been to. Nestled high in the mountains amongst breathtaking scenery and run by Master Chen and his son, this estate was very much worth the twisty precipitous journey. I was immensely fortunate that our visit coincided with a plucking day. A small swarm of pickers just happened to be close enough to the paths to experience  close up what an art tea picking is. The speed and accuracy with which they moved amongst the bushes was incredible. A...

Today's mini blog post is going to have to be smaller still as I am on a very short break from a day of tea processing. The day began at 8am with a trip to the beautiful tea estate shown in the picture, where I witnessed the tea I was going to process being picked. Sadly I wasn't  allowed to do the plucking as if it is done incorrectly it can not only damage the leaves to be processed but also the plant itself. Tea bushes are very sensitive. Once the tea had been picked and weighed I then travelled...

Day two of my tour of Taiwan's amazing tea started with a trip to a beautiful nursery, where cultivars are grown for the tea farms. Cultivars are simply a cultivated variety of a tea plant. Desirable variations in a plant have been noticed and this plant has then been cultivated (new plants grown from the original) to maintain these variations. At this nursery seven cultivars were being grown, all for farmers who wanted the best plant for their chosen type of tea. From the nursery we travelled to the Taiwan Research and Extension Station. This is a centre for the development of...

First Day in Taiwan. Today was an instant immersion into Taiwan tea and all its intricacies and quirks. By intricacies I mean such things as the many Oolong varieties, the rich history in using cultivars (cultivated variations) rather than seed planting to develop better teas and the dependency of one type of tea on the chemical reaction caused by the saliva of a small insect called a Green Tea Leafhopper. The many quirks include a different names for the same tea due to a very mixed language heritage, a different system for weight (the 'chin' = 600g) and the fact Pouching is pronounced 'boa-jong'. Confusing. The tea has...

This week a lovely couple who we met at the British Family Fayre came to see us at the Tea House for a tea tasting & afternoon tea.  They later shared this picture of their tea shelf at home on twitter.   Great to see loose leaf tea taking pride of place - we certainly believe that is is simple to create and enjoy your own tea ceremony at home.  Guests coming to tea  in this house are certainly in for quite a treat!