Five truths of tea

The mountainous Pingling Township of New Taipei City, is only a short drive from the urban hustle of downtown Taipei. It is an area renowned for growing some of the world’s finest oolong teas and home to The Pingling Tea Museum, a featured tourist destination for anyone interested in learning about the cultivation of some of the world’s most sought-after varieties. Serious tea cultivation began in Taiwan in the 1700s when varieties grown for millennia in China’s Fujian province were introduced. At BY-TeaMaster, Jacob Bai’s family has farmed award-winning baozhong mountain and oriental beauty oolong for five generations. Following a tour some of the surrounding fields and the astoundingly pristine production facility, these five Truths of Tea were learned:

Tea shrubs are short

The 10-year-old Camellia sinensis groves we walked through were 1 to 1.5 metres high, similar to a bay leaf bush. A vacuum-like mechanical harvester is used in the steep groves, held by two people at odd angles on slippery slopes. Tough.

Tea is super sensitive

“The slightest weather changes can affect the crop negatively and can damage the flavour,” said Bai. “In 2016, it snowed and the plants reacted by going into panic mode and putting out new shoots at the wrong time. We had to move quickly, but that year’s spring tea was exceptional.”

Tea is not fast

“We have plants here that are 40-years-old and new crops developing,” said Bai. “Nothing happens for the first four years. Like grape vines, you are always monitoring the growth until you can harvest.”

Tea is hands on

“A lot of the production process still has to be done by hand, from the harvest to the first stage curing in the warm air witherer tanks and later where you have to flip and sort the leaves by hand to avoid hurting them and affecting flavour,” said Bai. Tea time comes AFTER the harvest.

Tea merchants are crafty

Oriental Beauty, or White Tip Oolong, is a style of tea that is created by encouraging the common pest called the tea green leafhopper to feed on the leaves, stems and buds of healthy tea bushes. The plants respond by releasing chemicals which change the flavour and look of the tea. Apocryphal stories say that this now-highly prized tea originated out of a pest damaged crop which a farmer decided to process anyways. A local tea merchant thought the flavour appealing and gave it a catchy name to market it. Now it’s a global brand.