Alishan Gift

My friend's parents recently returned from Taiwan and... lucky me... I scored some Alishan High Mountain Tea (阿里山高山茶) as a belated Christmas present!

The gift came in a red and gold bag with a beautiful crane and white flowers printed on it. The Chinese words on the bag claim this tea is: "Gold Ranking Collectable Tea" (黃金般的茶臻藏) and "Emperor Worthy Tea" (皇帝般的茶饗). The brand appears to be "金藏茶宴."

Lets see if the contents are truly "Emperor Worthy!"

The dry leaves look and smell amazing. They are large, loosely rolled, and possessing of fat long stems. My mouth begins to water.

This is an incredible tea in my opinion. The flavor transports me right back to Alishan. The tea soup is so fragrant with notes of orange zest, honeysuckle and cinnamon bark. The mouth-feel is thick with delightful syrupy and sparkly elements. The tea continued its greatness throughout 12 infusions and the aftertaste was clean, brisk and long-lasting. The spent leaves and thick soft stems radiate health and vitality. The tea left me feeling alert, creative and comfortable. Ahh. There can be no doubt I love good high mountain oolong. 謝謝 Janice and Mo!

A High Mountain Stroll

It's a beautiful morning in central Taiwan. 

Will you join me for a high mountain stroll?

早安小狗!

Alishan High Mountain Oolong farms off in the distance.

Here is a little roadside shrine...

...and across the street we find baby tea plants mulched with peanut shells.

Wow. What kind of plant is this?

That tree is awesome and a little creepy. 

It's starting to get late.
Lets head back to the homestay.

What a beautiful sunset tonight.

We're almost home.

Back just in time!

 

It's not too late for one more pot of tea.

The perfect end to a great day!

High Mountain Tea Dogs at Rest

These three sleepy canines are named Xiao Hua (Little Flower), Lao Hua (Old Flower) and Lao Hu (Tiger)! They live at Small Swiss homestay and tea farm in Shihzhuo (石桌), Taiwan.

Tea Poetry

Tea has inspired countless poems throughout its long history. Here are two of my very favorite tea poems, both composed by my beautiful and talented wife Alanna.

- Alishan Haiku -
Mountain mists roll in
Obscuring the jade green hills
In a sea of clouds

- Morning Tea -
The steaming water falls into my china cup.
The leaves inside will dance as the water wakes them up.

Please feel free to add your own favorite tea poems (or links to them) in the comments section.

Spring 2010 Alishan High Mountain Oolong

Yesterday afternoon I received twenty 150-gram bags of Alishan High Mountain Oolong (阿里山高山烏龍茶) from my friend Penny Yang in Taipei. This tea was made in the Meishan (梅山) (Plum Mountain) area of Alishan and its production was closely monitored by Penny and her husband.

I've been drinking this tea all day and I really love it. It yields a fruity, clean, crisp liquor with a golden yellow color. The aroma is a touch flowery and reminds me of butterscotch. As the aroma evaporates, it starts to smell really sweet, like sugarcane. The flavor is spirited and bright on the tongue. Its taste reminds me of honey, nectarine and orange juice with a tiny hint of cinnamon bark.

This tea was for sale... but in only 24 hours it sold out! Many thanks to all of you who bought a bag or two! Sincerely, Brett.

阿里山 日出商店 綠觀音茶

In my recent post Alishan Photo Gallery, I talked a little bit about drinking tea at the Sun Rise Tea Shop (日出商店). Sun Rise is one of several open air tea shops specializing in Alishan High Mountain Oolong Tea (阿里山高山烏龍茶) located in Zhong Zheng Village (中正村). It has a beautiful wooden tea bar that is stained and shiny from years of tea brewing. According to Ming Chuang (a photo of whom can be seen in my Tea Basics - Oolong post) the shop sources most of its tea from Shizhuo (石桌) which it then roasts in the shop to create a handful of signature products. Because of this the tea shop always has this amazing smell of baked oolong and sweet mountain air.

Ming Chuang has a special technique that adds a bit of razzle-dazzle to his tea brewing. He brews the tea in a large lid-less gaiwan which he fills about one quarter full with dry leaf. Then he smoothly pours in boiling hot water from his big steel kettle to whip the leaves into a cyclone. The gaiwan is filled to the point where it is almost about to overflow and the "skin" of the hot water is bulging over the edge but not breaking loose. Next he takes two Asian soup spoons from a pitcher of hot water and uses the spoons to break the surface tension of the water thus making a dramatic fountain. After this he'll mix the leaves gently with both spoons like he's tossing a salad. At this point he will offer his guests the spoons to smell and pour the tea soup into a decanter before serving. I tried several times to get a good video of myself preparing tea in this style but I was unable to do it justice. However, I did just manage to spill a whole gaiwan of tea all over my pants. You'll just have to settle for this picture for now.

My favorite tea at Sun Rise is (usually) their "Green Guanyin (綠觀音)" which is a high mountain oolong using the Tie Guanyin (鐵觀音) tea cultivar. It has a slightly higher oxidization level and amount of roasting than many Alishan teas. The tea yields a clean, fruity high-mountain taste with a warming, nutty finish. I have recently broken into my last 150 grams of this tea which I purchased in May, 2008.

The 綠觀音's dry leaf and its original train canister.
(Trains are a very popular mascot for Alishan tea.)

The 綠觀音's liquor

Good quality baked oolongs such as this one are very satisfying this time of year.

Alishan Photo Gallery

The Alishan (阿里山) Forest Recreation Area located in central Taiwan's Chiayi county (嘉義縣) is a beautiful and serene place to visit. The main town, called Zhong Zheng village (中正村) (more commonly known as Alishan Village), is basically a big parking lot adjacent to a bus station, train station, visitor center, gift shops, and restaurants. This area can seem a little bit crowded and touristy, especially when the cherry blossoms are blooming, but I find it charming. There are lots of nice hotels around Zhong Zheng village, but you can also find comfortable homestays and hostels nearby.

The real draw for me is the sweet, clean air and lush green forests that surround the town. There are also a couple of great tea shops such as "Sun Rise Tea Shop" run by my friend Ming Chuang. The tea prices in Zhong Zheng village are understandably higher compared to an actual tea farm, but they are negotiable.

Because the Alishan Forest Recreation Center is over 2000 meters elevation, the temperature can get a little cold. When I went in January, the nighttime temperature hit freezing and many tourists were taking photos of themselves in front of a large digital thermometer in the center of town. The next morning everyone was taking pictures of the ice on their windshields.

If you are a fan of trains, sun rises, forests, cherry blossoms, hiking and/or high mountain oolong, I would definitely recommend a trip to this very scenic and relaxing alpine area.

Here is a photo gallery of pictures taken in the area. Photos with a * were taken by my friends David and Gwen who traveled with me in May, 2008.

Cool tile art*

Foggy Afternoon*

Sunrise and Sea of Clouds*

Tasting Sun Rise Tea Shop's
"Green Guanyin" Alishan High Mountain oolong*

Tasting oolong at Sun Rise Tea Shop*

The little old forestry train roundin' the bend*

Sunrise and Cloud Sea*

Dramatic Mountains*

High Mountain Cliffs in Fog*

Sunrise*

Sea of Clouds*

Old hotel in the rain*

Crags and cliffs*

Here comes the sun*

Misty foggy trail*

Incredible Cloud Sea*

Zhong Zheng Village:

Fog rolling in*

Sunrise with fellow pilgrims

Classic peace sign pose with Cherry blossoms!

Rolling down the line

Zhong Zheng village in the rain

Zhong Zheng in the rain 2