This week we are extremely happy to tell you a story we’ve been waiting two years to tell you.
On our first visit to Taiwan, we met with a tea competition judge in Pinglin village on Wenshan mountain. He introduced us to several tea farmers who produced outstanding teas in their category: competition winning Baochongs. At the end of a long day he asked us: “Do you have a little more time to visit one more farm?” Now, when you’re on a tea buying trip and you’ve already had a lot of luck meeting some great people, and someone asks you to do something a little mysterious, that’s when you know things are probably about to get very very good. We traveled even higher up Wenshan to Anxi area to a Buddhist monastery. There, we met a group of farmers who are farming tea organically. They produce 4 types of tea. A traditional Baochong, a rolled oolong, a GABA oolong, and a red tea.
Red tea is usually a summer harvest, and since there are more pests in summer, usually summer harvests are known for needing more pesticides than other harvests and are generally disregarded. But…. when you farm organically, that pesticide issue is eliminated, leaving the question – how does it taste? That question was quickly answered when I was presented with a tea cupping opportunity. All the teas were quite good, but one stood out above the rest. The red tea they produce was beyond compare. When I inquired further, I learned that in fact the red tea was a hand rolled small test-batch to see if the tea was ready for harvesting and processing. Is it available for sale?
The answer was no and it was no for two years. So, we have carried a beautiful batch of the machine processed red tea we are very proud of and continue to sell. But I was compelled to keep requesting this hand rolled tea, and did every spring and fall harvest season for the next two years.
I kept wondering: what would it say about a farm, about a community, about a country that had the presence of mind and respect for tea traditions to hand process tea from start to finish? Would the general American tea drinking public, albeit foodies, get it? Let me elaborate a little about the depth and breath of what we’re talking about here. What does hand processing involve? Skill to pick the leaves when they are at their prime. That takes patience and scientific knowledge and an intimate relationship with the land a farm community works. And the processing? Time. Lots of time. Once the tea is picked, it takes an hour and a half to produce 2 ounces of this tea. One man, two hands, a bamboo basket to roll the leaves in and 90 minutes. Repeat that last step over 100 times, and you have not just tea but Art. 2 kilos of high art. Leaves that embody a love of the traditions, people and a respect for the mountains and people that give us tea.
Last week, we finally got the answer we were hoping for. “We have made your hand rolled tea.” I couldn’t believe it! We received a sample of the tea in advance of the whole shipment, and it bore out my highest hopes. This is a phenomenal tea. The depth of character and complexity that is evoked comes directly from the human spirit connecting with the tea plant on it’s most personal level.
What does it taste like? This is a Burmese Assam varietal grafted onto an indigenous Taiwanese varietal to produce what is referred to as Red Jade #18.
The Assam lends a malty sweet potato note. Rich and smooth, when steeped properly, with extra hot water and for only a few exciting seconds, this tea has almost no tannins. Middle notes of juicy sweet tangerine peel and a soft whisper of an unpredictably delicious cooling minty top note mingle together in perfect harmony. Technically, this tea is perfect. The color is flawless, the leaves are expertly oxidized to their fullest potential. This tea was no novice effort.
This tea is important on so many levels, for its integrity of flavor, for its organic farming methods, and most importantly it is a symbol, a paragon, heralding a new spirit of direct connection between growers and tea drinkers. And most of all, it is a lucky omen that portends the rebirth of traditional tea processing. Hand processed tea is not history, is not something of the past that we can only dream and wonder about, it is here to be appreciated and enjoyed today.
We have also chosen to make sure that over 80% of the proceeds of this tea go directly back to the farm, to continue to support organic farming in Taiwan.
Check out this tea here on our Rare Tea page. This tea is for available pre-sale, and will ship in 2 weeks.
We were served a medium grade of Baochong just to whet our palate. It was grassy and green, a little too hay like and drying to the tongue to be a competition grade. How was the harvest this year we asked? This year’s harvest was early because there were an extra 15 days in the Taiwanese Farmer’s Lunar Almanac. Picking for spring Baochong began on April 10th, early. It was dry in February, but there was too much rain in March. If it had rained in February it would have been better. There was a lot of rain this year and not at the best of times. So, we were told, this year’s tea is not as strong as last year’s tea and we found that was true in the brew as well.
We’re back from our vacation and on the hunt for tea again.
We also learned that Shi Feng, Lion’s Peak, has a unique kind of white sand that occurs naturally mixed in with it’s yellow soil. This contributes greatly to the slow absorption rate of the mineral content in the soil. This means there are two reasons high elevation Dragon Well tea is better than other Dragon Well tea: first, high grown tea grows slowly, resulting in higher fragrance taste. That’s a great start for this tea, then, on Lion’s Peak, the sand acts as a barrier to slow erosion thus more minerals are retained the soil delivering them to the tea plant completely nourishing it. 
Thirdly, cultivating, processing and tending the plants also plays a critical role.
Spring processing is very interesting. The leaves are picked at daybreak. It is important that they are picked with the dew on them, and left to wither and absorb that dew. Then they are wok fried. Wok frying requires a very light coating of tea oil (less than ¼ of 1 teaspoon) in the wok.
We met a farmer who is using wood charcoal which he says for convenience. If the power goes out, and the tea is ready, he can still process his harvest. With the charcoal bricks, he can work for 1 hour, 8 hours, or 10 hours, as the harvest requires. See right: the little air vent at the bottom of the wok stand.
And left is the little smoke stack that he uses to control the heat of the wok. When the lid is lifted, it draws air from below, increasing the heat. Covering it means he is able to maintain a constant temperature.
Today we visited with Ms. Lee, a friend of our teacher. She’s a farmer, and a little more than a farmer; she’s also a judge of sorts. There is no formal tea competition for Dragon Well tea, nor are there names for the different grades of Dragon Well so you need an “official taster” or authenticator to tell you exactly what you’re drinking, where it was grown and what day it was picked.
About 15 minutes later we arrived at Long Jing Village to see the 18 famous Shi Fung Long Jing shrubs that Qian Long drank. To make a long legend short: Qian Long was an emperor from a few years back who while visiting the countryside grew tired and stopped at a temple to rest where he was served a lovely tea. “What tea is this?” he asked the monk. The monk, knowing he was serving the emperor replied: “Long
We drove a little further down to Mei Jia Wu and there we looked at two varietals. We saw the traditional varietal and a new Mei Jia Wu Dragonwell varietal called #43.
Yes, but how does it taste? I asked. 
We splurged and ate lunch at a high end restaurant called Lo Wai Lo. I discovered a new favorite food. It’s like a Chinese version of Tabouli. Its chopped greens, fresh and grassy, a little dry, but not as dry as cilantro, and not minty at all. It’s also has a soft quality from the toasted pine nuts tossed in. It’s refreshing and clean, not too heavy to eat, delicious!
Later today, we checked out the Pearl, a horrific building that would soothe the soul of any troubled French person still loathe to embrace the Pyramid. Staggeringly tall and with neon fuchsia reflective glass windows, a pearl she might be, a beauty she is not. I was a little sad that this was the star of Shanghai… or so I thought… then, a taxi ride changed my mind. A short while later, we taxied over to Shing Wang Temple. A beautiful and breathtaking collection of hundred plus year old traditional buildings that once held hotels and restaurants and shop, today is home to all three: cheap, (Think Dairy Queen- seriously) moderately priced (Taiwanese octopus dumplings) and fabulous (Shanghaiese) restaurants all in a small group of buildings clustered together. 
We ate Xui Long Bao, or little pork buns with broth in them, a speciality of Shanghai and one of my favorites. It is served with vinegar and julienned ginger.