Our Taiwan tea trip in 4 photos + new oolong teas

Dear tea friends,

Happy fall! I have a lot of updates to share with you all since our last newsletter. First, as you may recall, in August, Fernando and I went on a personal + tea trip to Taiwan. Here is a quick photo recap from our time there:

We stayed with the Chou family and learned how to make black tea by hand with them. This is me with Cheng Yi, a 4th generation tea maker in his family. Their flagship tea is baozhong, which places at competitions every year. We chose one lot of their 2023 spring tea to bring back with us, which you can find here.

The two most popular cultivars used to make Taiwanese oolong teas today, jin xuan (left) and qing xin (right).

To taste and to better understand the difference between the jin xuan (Golden Lily) and qing xin (Green Heart) cultivars yourself, here’s a breakdown of which teas are made from which from our current selection:

Jin Xuan:

• 2023 Golden Lily *NEW*

• 2023 High Mountain Lily *NEW*

• 2022 Winter Alishan (from the same garden as 2023 High Mountain Lily)

• 1995 Remembrance

Qing Xin:

• 2023 Baozhong - High Fragrance *NEW*

• 2023 Baozhong - Natural Fragrance *NEW*

• 2023 Morning Sunshine *NEW*

• 2022 Afternoon Sunshine aka Winter LFX

• 2022 Red Oolong

I got sick at one point, so the tea maker I was supposed to meet with brought me samples to taste in our hotel room instead, along with their recommended brand of bottled water, cupping sets, and pineapple cakes. Did they pretty much secure my business for life? 100%.

We spent a morning driving through the tea gardens of Longfengxia (龍鳳峽), 1700-2000 meters above sea level. One of the most enchanting and dream-like landscapes I’ve ever seen. Also the steepness of the tea gardens here is absolutely insane.

The freshness of high mountain oolong teas from this terroir is simply unparalleled. While we did not procure any new tea from the Longfengxia region, we do still have a little of our 2022 Winter LFX left.

Online store updates

• All of the new teas from our Taiwan trip are now available in our online shop! Seven fresh oolong teas from 2023, and one 22-year old aged tea.

• Our 2023 Fresh Oolongs offers a little bit of everything and makes for a nice gift set or sampling set.

• Last chance on 2022 Winter LFX and 2022 Winter Alishan!

Corporate gifts

The holidays are just around the corner! As you start thinking about gift options for your team or your clients, please give us a shout. We would love to work with you to create the perfect tea gift.

That’s all for now. Enjoy the first cool days of fall!

-Yin