Taiwan High Mountain Oolong
In Taiwan tea community, the term High Mountain Oolong is strictly defined as oolong grown at an elevation of 1000 meter (or 3000 ft.) or above. Our products named with High Mountain Oolong all follow this definition.
Habitats of such high elevation are featured with large day/night temperature difference, high mountain mist (which results in less direct sunlight and high humidity), and overall lower annual average temperature. Such natural conditions enable the tea tree to grow slowly and accumulate extraordinary amount of fragrant biomolecules.
Dry leaves of high mountain oolong are usually tightly curled. Therefore a 1-2 minutes interval between the warm-up infusion and the first infusion helps allow the leaves to uncurl and release flavor more easily. Some high mountain oolongs are hand-harvested, some are machine-harvested. Either way, the spent leaves should be relatively in shape and have certain thickness (which is a result of slow growth at high elevation).
Taiwan high mountain oolong products are mostly green style oolong. This is largely because high mountain oolong has a natural fresh flavor that is found in no other tea. Green style oolong processing minimizes the oxidation level and retain such unique fresh flavor to the largest degree. Some renowned tea makers also make lightly roasted high mountain oolong. Lightly roasted high mountain oolong is usually a hit-or-miss, and not as commonly seen as green style high mountain oolong.
Da Yu Ling High Mountain Oolong (temporarily out of stock)
Brewing method: follow Quick Notes 1a
Li Shan High Mountain Oolong
Brewing method: follow Quick Notes 1a or 1d
We have received quite a few questions about why our Li Shan is so "inexpensive". Although this price is probably already costly for average tea drinkers, here is some explanation why it is not as high as some other Li Shan products. Li Shan tea is from Li Shan mountain region of 1700-2300m (5100 - 6900 ft.) above sea level. With some measurement and conceptual variation, some would say it is 1200 - 2500m (3600 - 7500 ft.) above sea level. The higher the elevation, the more famous the producer, the higher the price. Our source farm ranges between 1800-2200m (5400 - 6600 ft.). The tea is harvested twice a year (spring and winter). The farm is relatively new and started tea production in 1998. We choose this producer for its good quality, stable production and its eco-friendly practice.
Cui Yu (Green Jade) Oolong green style
Brewing method: follow Quick Notes 1a or 1d
Story about origins of the name Cui Yu and the name of another Taiwan oolong...
