Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company
Tea Description:
This tea embodies the qualities of top-quality black tea and fine oolong tea. Also known as “Ruby Red”, this is another high quality tea from Mrs. Lee’s farm above Sun-Moon Lake. Extremely rare to find this tea in this quality! Whole leaves, hand-picked and processed by Farmer Lee himself and his lovely wife. This varietal is unique to Taiwan. This crop is sweet smelling, delicate and smooth!
A combination of the best characteristics from the robust, rich Assam tea together with the best characteristics of a fine Taiwanese Oolong.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I wish to thank Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company for a sample of this tea. Truth be told I enjoy trying any tea with the word Jade in it, partially because I have a best friend called Jade but also because it is my middle name. I’ve had a few Jade black tea’s from Taiwan before so I know roughly what to expect, but that still does not stop me being excited to try it. Also this tea is from above Sun-Moon Lake which is awesome!
The loose leaves are mostly whole and look twisted and crisp to the touch. Dark brown in colour. I must note there are also some sticks present amid the leaves. They have a wooden, dry scent with a touch of sweet smoke.
Steeping Parameters: 5g of leaf – Boiling Water – 320ml Vessel – Time 4 minutes
Once steeped the resulting tea liquid is golden, red/brown (similar to a scotch) and bares a thick sweet wood scent with mild dryness.
Flavour is not as strong as the scent but the first few sips reveal a wooden character that dances on my tongue and becomes sweet through the after taste. The sweetness is honeyed, not overly strong but beautiful and pure; it just trickles elegantly down my throat, coating my mouth with sweetness.
A few sips more have an increase of dryness with a touch of leather and smoke. On the whole the strength is still medium and though there are some strong sounding flavours they are not thick nor too much ie. A nice balance of combinational notes.
At this point I’m halfway down the cup and I am still finding the sweetness very pleasant, it has not lessened in any way; though the dryness is more apparent.
Now with a few mouthfuls left there is an added sour quality to a thickening strength but throughout it has been a wonderful steep.
Final thoughts: I believe this is one of the best Jade Taiwan tea’s that I have had the pleasure of trying. It was flavourful, a nice strength and even as it cools it had wonderful characteristics. The leaves after steep are still whole and show what wonderful quality this tea truly is, it says top quality in the listing and after trying I truly believe it. Very wonderful and a tea that I thoroughly recommend.
Happy Steeping Everyone!
Formosa Assam from Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company
Tea Type:
Black
Where to Buy:
Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company
Tea Description:
NEW ITEM THIS MONTH!
What a smooth tea this is! This tea comes from a farm just above the pristine alpine lake called Sun Moon Lake. It’s hand processed by Mr. Lee and his wife, a wonderful and hospitable couple. They grow without chemicals the old fashioned way. Do you like black teas from India? This tea is similar but has no astringency. It’s a pure stock Assam Black Tea that has been growing in Taiwan since 1926 when the Japanese imperial machine started to foster a tea industry in Taiwan for world-wide export.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is one of this company’s NEW teas and I must say it’s a GOODIE! Of course – I’m partial to a solid black tea especially in the morning – I usually start each day with a black based tea and then move on to other types of tea throughout the day. Have said that – I REALLY love this tea.
I’ve been hearing a lot of people use the word “Pristine” more and more these days. I’m not sure if it’s a new buzz word or fad or lingo but I try and reserve it for something REALLY special. After reading the product description of this tea and this tea being from a farm about the “pristine” Alpine Lake call Sun Moon Lake of course I had to research it to see if it lived up to the word. And you know what? It DOES! This lake truly IS a gem! It’s marvelously beautiful…and I’ll say it…PRISTINE. After seeing the photographs I can’t image anything ‘bad’ coming from this area. I absolutely believe this tea lives up to the product description.
I LOVE that this grown without the use of chemicals and the old fashioned way. It has no astringency. It’s bold but smooth. It’s sweet, too. For a black based tea I think this has a level of mouth watering and thirst quenching type of sip to it, too! The leaves are fairly large and precise. The aroma is pleasant but not over powering and not dark like most black teas. I can’t think of one thing I don’t like about this tea. It’s a real winner in my book!
