Taiwanese green tea wasn’t produced for the global market until the mid 20 century. An American tea trade company opened a new office in Taiwan and aimed to market Taiwanese green tea to the global market. Since most Taiwanese tea farmers had little knowledge of how to produce green tea, the company introduced Chinese green tea masters to Taiwanese farmers, and let them teach the Taiwanese the green tea making methods. In the beginning, green tea was only produced in the North of Taiwan, including Taipei, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu city.

By the 1950s, Taiwanese green tea was shipped and sold around the world. North Africa alone, the main buyer, imported up to 3500 tons of Taiwanese green tea per year. Surprisingly, Japan was one of the most important Taiwanese green tea buyers. In the 1960s, the population of green tea drinker was bulging in Japan, and the production of domestic green tea couldn’t match the consumption. High quality Taiwanese green tea became the best alternative to Japanese green tea. At the same time, the famous Japanese green tea strain, Yabukita, was transplanted to Taiwan to make Japanese style green tea. In fact, Taiwanese green tea was deeply affected by China and Japan. However, to distinguish Taiwanese teas from others, Taiwanese tea farmers have produced many high quality green teas with Taiwanese characteristics.

This Taiwanese Green Tea comes from Pinglin District, New Taipei City, near the Feitsui Reservoir area. For centuries, the environment has been strictly protected in this area. Mr. Chen, the fourth generation of his tea family, earned the organic certification in 2010, and became one of only 22 organic tea farmers in this area.

Unlike non-fermented Japanese Green Tea, Mr. Chen’s Taiwanese Green Tea is lightly fermented, about 5%, making the tea less pungent and less bitter than Japanese Green Tea. After it is picked, the fresh leaves go through a short withering process. Unlike other green tea makers who pick immature tea buds, Mr. Chen only picks the well-grown tea leaves, which contain sufficient nutrition to generate exquisite flavors. After harvest, the fresh tea leaves were naturally withered under the sun and gentle breeze. Compared to blower withering, natural withering keeps the tea’s innate aroma. Next step, the stir is the key for making excellent green tea. Insufficient stirring would make tea smell moldy and fusty; over stirring would lose the freshness of green tea. Only an experienced tea master can adjust the amount of time and temperature during stirring, extracting the correct notes from the fresh leaves to impart a wonderful sweetness.

The leaves of Taiwanese Green Tea have a natural bright jade green color with a white color on the tips. When brewed, the tea liquor has a clean and light green color with vivid freshness and subtle green grass smell. The tea brings you a very brisk feeling, mixed with a savory dried nori palate and a sweet herbaceous taste. After drinking, the fresh feeling and nori palate changes to a sweet sugar cane flavor. This exceptional tea demands a delicate brewing method to reach its full potential. The water temperature should be between 176 to 185 Fahrenheit or 80 to 85 Celsius to avoid any astringent taste  being released from tea leaves. Apart from hot brewing, the cold brewing method is believed to retain more natural nutrition and more sweetness is gained from tea leaves. Put 6 grams of dry leaves into 1000 ml of room temperature spring water, and store in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours. It is a perfect fresh beverage for everyone!

When ordering 75 grams of Taiwanese Green Tea, the tea will be shipped in its original package, sealed by the farmer.

Origin

• Style of Tea: Taiwanese Green Tea

• Harvest Date: July, 2024

• Oxidation Level: Light (5%)

• Roasting Level: None

• Location: Cuku, Pinglin District, New Taipei City

• Picking Style: Hand Picked

• Cultivar: Jin Xuan (No. 12)

• Farm Elevation: 500 meters

Brewing Guidelines

• Water Temperature: 176-185 F degrees / 80-85 C degrees

• Steep Time: 1st/3 mins, 2nd/5 mins, 3rd/8 mins, adding 3 mins for subsequent infusions

• Suggested Serving Size: 3 grams / 240 ml water

• The same tea leaves can be steeped 5 times.