An old Chinese proverb says that for Taiwanese, tea is 1 of the 7 needs of daily life. This indicates the importance of tea. Taiwan’s tea culture can be called rich, although it does not go back as far in time as those of countries like China and Japan.
Taiwanese tea is world famous and loved by many tea connoisseurs. With each infusion you will discover different aromas. The wide range of flavors also makes tea from Taiwan popular.
âFormosaâ â literally âthe magnificentâ â was the name given to Taiwan by the Portuguese when they discovered the island at the end of the 16th century. The tradition of tea production started a century afterwards, with varieties of the Camellia Sinensis tea plant, brought in from mainland China, by a trader. The cultivation turned out to be a success; the plant felt at home in Taiwan. Around that same time the wild tea plant was also discovered.
Soon the cultivation of tea was taken up by the colonial rulers of the island. It was a Brit who really saw its potential and pursued its development on a larger scale. Consequently, from 1866 onward, half-products were no longer being traded all over the world, but processed on the island itself. During the Japanese occupation, later that century, further investments were made in new machines and new varieties, with an emphasis on the production of black tea, in order to meet the demands of the domestic (Japanese!) market. In accordance with the focus on this fully oxidised tea variety an important new development took place 20 years later in Nantou: the introduction of the Assam tea plant.
With the departure of the Japanese after World War II the great demand for black tea decreased and the emphasis shifted towards local demands. All efforts became directed toward oolong tea, which, due to wage increases, offered better financial prospects than black or green tea. Of all tea produced in Taiwan some 85% remains in the country for local consumption; the rest is for export. Large-scale factories have been replaced by self-producing and self-processing tea farmers.
Not only the island has rightly been named âFormosaâ, the magnificent; its tea is also magnificent. Taiwan is known for its world-famous teas, most of it oolong tea. This semi-oxidised tea now makes for almost 95% of the islandâs total tea production. And half of that is High Mountain â or âGaoshanâ â tea. In addition green and black tea is being produced, but in much smaller amounts, although certainly not of a lesser quality. The smallest share in the islandâs production consists of white tea; one may come across some very unique lots of these, if you know where to find them.
Among tea experts around the whole world Taiwanese teas are widely known and often favourite. Moreover the Taiwanese mostly drink their âownâ tea. Nevertheless Taiwan is a very small player in the tea market. In Asia Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia are the big players, although their focus is mostly on mass production.
With a view of maintaining the exclusive position of the islandâs special teas the unique and professional Taiwan Research and Extension Station (TRES) has been set up. Its task is to support tea plantations across the whole island. To this effect TRES carries out research and experiments, offers education and further develops the growing, production and processing of tea. Varieties developed and studied by TRES can be recognised by the two codes that have been assigned to them. Part one consists of the characters âTTES# [plus an assigned, unique number]â and part two is a four-digit number, representing the experimental code. The Jade Oolong, for instance, has been given the official code TTES#13; 2029. (TTES stands for Taiwan Tea Experiment Station.) So far, 24 varieties have been registered by TRES and were shared with the tea farmers.
The tea culture of Taiwan may well be called rich, but is actually not so very old yet, compared, for instance, with China. The number of Taiwanese that prepare and drink tea in the form of tea ceremonies is small; ever bigger grows the number of those who know tea from the trendy Bubble Tea drink. The âTea Masterâ is a typical Taiwanese phenomenon. A Tea Master has often gained many years of experience and knowledge in the world of tea and conducts the tea ceremony, which in many ways resembles the Chinese Gong Fu Cha ceremony. A âbig smileâ is the goal of this ceremony. With the beautiful teas that Taiwan has to offer this is not hard to achieve.
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Due to the high quality of our loose leaf tea, the infusion has a lot of flavor. You can brew several cups of tea, usually 2 to 6, with one unit, depending on the type of tea. Each infusion brings a different taste experience. Dosing the amount of tea for your cup or teapot is a great advantage when you make tea with loose leaf tea. You can adjust the amount precisely to your desire and taste. Finally, some people also consciously choose loose leaf tea because it is seen as sustainable since no packaging material is needed to wrap the individual servings of tea. Read more in our blog .
Our tea comes in a resealable stand-up pouch. If you seal the bag airtight after use and keep it in a constant dry, cool (room temperature) place, the tea will keep its taste for about 2 years. After that, the intensity of the aromas may decrease somewhat, but the taste will never really change. Avoiding (sun) light is also important to preserve the flavour. Tea can easily take over aromas. If you want to store the tea in a jar or can, make sure that there are no odors left over from other teas or other foods.
Loose tea can be brewed in different ways. It is important that the leaf is given room to open during infusion so that it can release more flavor. You can use 2 grams of tea for a cup of tea and 6 grams for a pot. The pulling time is on average 1 to 2 minutes and the water temperature between 80 and 100 degrees. Consult the brewing advice for the tea in question. A stainless steel or paper tea filter is very suitable for brewing loose tea. But also a teapot with a (built-in) strainer, the frenchpress and magic teamaker make a nice cup of tea.
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