Organic Tea in Mucha

In January of 2010, I spent a lovely afternoon with two friends hiking around the Mucha (木柵) area of Northern Taiwan. During the hike I was delighted to see many small tea farms growing organic tea. I also saw a great mix of native plants, bamboo, herbs, trees and shrubs in the area.

Wild areas near the trail.

Newly transplanted bamboo.

A newly planted grove of tall bamboo.

Strolling among the tea bushes.

Nitrogen fixing cover crop sown between rows.

This plant looked different from the others and had recently endured quite a bit of nibbling. The flower is bigger and fancier too. Perhaps this is more of an ornamental tea plant?

This is a much more traditional looking tea flower in my experience.

Spiders webs are wonderful things to see among healthy tea plants.

The Flavor of Mucha - 木柵的味道

On January 22, 2010, my two new friends and I spent a wonderful day hiking and drinking tea in the hills southeast of Taipei. We were either at Maokong (貓空) or Mucha (木柵)*. These two tea producing areas are very close to one another and I'm not actually sure how they differ. (Maybe some of my readers could tell me?)

The weather was cool and misty and everything was wet, green and sweet smelling. It definitely reminded us all of the Pacific Northwest. After we got off the bus, we took a deep full breath of clean air and began our search for some good tea.

While poking around one of several abandoned outdoor tea houses all with incredible views, an old man spotted us and called us over to his pretty little tea shop. It seemed to be the only one around that was opened for business at the time. We greeted the man and asked to sit outside and brew tea. He brought us a menu, but I didn't need it, I knew that only one tea would suit us on this crisp, drizzly morning so I said "We would like to drink your best Mucha Tie Guanyin tea (木柵鐵觀音)." He sounded pleased, seated us, and rushed off to set up the tea service. When he returned he asked who would be making the tea and if they knew how. I told him I'd be brewing the tea and I confidently assured him that I knew how to pao cha (泡茶) (brew tea).

I can brew tea.

The dry leaf looked and smelled very nice and the steel kettle was steaming hot so I began to brew the tea. It was OK, but not great. The taste was weak and lacking complexity. I kept trying to make it taste better but I was blinded by my own cockiness. The truth is that I did not know how to brew Mucha Tie Guanyin correctly. Luckily when our host returned to check on our hot water supply he spotted my problem and set everything straight.

He told me that I was using far too few leaves! Although, I had covered the bottom of my teapot, he explained that I needed about double that amount of dry tea for Mucha Tieguanyin. Also, my water temperature was not hot enough. He explained that the cold air was cooling the water in our big steel kettle very quickly and that I needed to keep it at a full boil if we wanted to experience the, as he put it, "木柵的味道" (flavor of Mucha).

Boiling water and more leaf is needed!

I started over and followed my teacher's instructions. The tea soup changed from a dull orange-yellow to to dark reddish brown. The aroma went from common and nutty to rich, fruity and spicy. The taste went from lack-luster to assertive and satisfying. We were all pleasantly stunned and many wonderful cups of this dark and flavorful tea followed. We sipped our tea throughout the morning as we enjoyed the beautiful view, chatted about life and travel and practiced saying many useful Chinese phrases together. The good tea and fresh air had helped our minds to become clear and our bodies to feel comfortable.

Now we're happy!

After tea, we started to explore our lovely surroundings. This area is home to many little gardens (both tea and veggies), lovely graves, and bamboo groves. Nothing is more sublime then standing perfectly still in a bamboo grove and listening to the gentle sound as it rustles in the breeze.

It was very cool to explore with my new friends because one is a trail builder and one is an organic garden manager. So they provided me with some interesting information about what we were experiencing.

The area felt very clean and fresh with many bugs, spiders and even a few butterflies. Some of the tea gardens had rows of a nitrogen fixing cover crop planted to help improve the soil for the next season.

We ate a filling lunch of wild greens with ginger, fried tofu and tea oil noodles at a gorgeous tea shop/restaurant located adjacent to the (currently closed) Maokong gondola station. Here is a video I took walking around inside this place:

Someday I want my house to look like this...
and yes the koi can actually swim under those
glass bottomed private tea rooms!

After lunched we enjoyed a 2 km downhill stroll to a school where we could get a bus back to Taipei. It was a very fun and memorable day.

*I also explored this beautiful area five years ago (you can click here to read about that day).

The Cats of Mucha

In the late evening of January 11, 2005, I landed in Taiwan for the very first time. Unfortunately I was told that it was too late to catch a bus, but a nice lady who worked at the airport helped put me on the right track to the Taipei hostel. The first thing I did at the hostel was borrow a stoned Canadian lad's phone card and give my wife a quick call. Then I hit the sack. Due to a mix of jet-lag and pure excitement I really slept terribly that first night.

The following morning, my first full day in Taiwan began. It was a chilly, windy and rainy day, perfect for tea drinking! My goal for the day was to reach the famous Mucha (木柵) tea park in the hills outside of Taipei. I wanted to drink the Tie Guanyin (鐵觀音) oolong that they are famous for producing.

First I hit an ATM and got some breakfast, then I started my journey. Back then (in 2005) my Mandarin Chinese skills were very poor (almost nonexistent) but I didn't struggle too much because the people in Taiwan are always so kind and helpful. Even if somebody could not speak any English, they would usually try to find a way to help me. With the aid of my guidebook and a nice young man at the Taipei metro station's information desk, I was able to find the right bus up to Mucha.

The ride up into the hills was thrilling. We passed temples and schools as we navigated the lush green hills. Most of the passengers on the small bus were old folks or elementary school students. At one stop, about 20 youngsters clambered aboard and the bus instantly became very crowded and loud. I had a good time talking to several of them and even caught a little boy who fell down when the bus lurched forward. He said xiexie (謝謝) (thank you) and I said bu keqi (不客氣) (you're welcome), then everybody on the bus started laughing.

Taken from the bus on the way up to Mucha:

After an hour or so I was at my destination. I've heard that this area can be very busy on the weekends, but on this drizzly Wednesday morning it was dead. I looked around at the view of Taipei down in the valleys but the thick overcast sky made it a little hard to see the city.

See what I mean?

At this point I really really really needed a cup of tea! I hadn't had any tea in over 48 hours and I was so tired from traveling and lack of sleep. I quickly choose an outdoor tea house at random.

Here is a picture of the tea house I choose:

I found a main room where they sold snacks and had a tea menu, but there was no sign of any humans. I called out "Ni Hao" (你好) (hello) in a soft voice. Nothing happened. I looked around a bit more, almost decided to leave, then called out "Ni Hao" again (this time a little bit louder). A groggy old woman rose from behind the counter, right in front of me. She had been sleeping, and as you can imagine, she was very surprised to see a laowai (老外) (foreigner) in her tea shop on a Wednesday morning.

She said ni hao and then we began that wonderful process of communicating with few common words. She sold me a 100 gram tin of what I think was her "finest Mucha Tie Guanyin oolong" then she led me outside to help me brew it overlooking Taipei. She was surprised to learn that I already loved tea and that I had come to Taiwan to learn more about it. She gave me a little tutorial on gongfu (功夫) tea brewing and took a few pictures of me. Then she left me alone to sip my tea meditatively in the open air. The morning was very quiet except for some cool breezes and light drizzle, but the temperature was very nice (about 60 degrees).

A photo the proprietress took of me:

The first thing I wrote in my travel journal was "I have made it!!!" I was overcome with joy to be drinking delicious Taiwanese oolong in Taiwan for the very first time. The tea rejuvenated me and I felt very peaceful.

I drank tea alone for about an hour before I felt a little cat rub up on my leg. I looked down and saw a tiny kitten hanging around!

He (or she) was very small and mewed at me for some attention. I pet him for a few minutes before I saw a bigger kitty approach.

Soon after that, a little white one came along too!

The curious cats kept me company for the next three hours, during which I caught up on my journal, ate some lunch, and took pictures of my new "feline friends." It was a wonderful start to my first Taiwan tea trek!