Puer-esque teas from Taiwan

Puerh and other heicha
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plamarca000
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Sun Feb 17, 2019 1:51 pm

Hi,

Has anyone seen or tasted any taiwanese high mountain teas that are processed like puer? I saw this but unfortunately its sold out.

https://mountainstreamteas.com/products ... nese-sheng
Flavor Hedonist
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Mon Feb 18, 2019 2:24 am

I just had it this week. It was sweet and smelled like candied fruits. My tasting notes were ginger candy, blueberries, plums that moves on to wintergreen and mild grassy bitterness. It gets better if used with a Jianshui teapot.
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Rickpatbrown
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Wed Feb 20, 2019 9:12 pm

Interesting. Are there a lot of century-old trees in Taiwan? I am not very knowledgeable of Taiwan's history.
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Bok
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Wed Feb 20, 2019 9:21 pm

Rickpatbrown wrote:
Wed Feb 20, 2019 9:12 pm
Interesting. Are there a lot of century-old trees in Taiwan? I am not very knowledgeable of Taiwan's history.
I doubt it... I have personally seen one, basically a left over little tree in a former Japanese Harbour masters property. Not even sure what varietal it was, probably Assam. Other than that, Taiwan is small and I think it would be widely known if there were a lot.

Tea farming in Taiwan is not that old, compared to China and although I have heard rumours of native tea plants, general opinion seems to be that the first tea trees were brought with Fujianese settlers during the Ming/Qing dynasties.
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Fri Feb 22, 2019 9:14 am

My current favorite topic! I am quickly becoming an expert on old tea trees in Taiwan :)


Taiwan has many wild tea trees that seem to have been isolated somewhat into three populations. One around Nantou, one in the southeast and one in the southwest. The southeast and Nantou area pretty similar and I have some on the site with the name 'Wild Cultivar Oolong'. There are wild trees in the mountains above Luye, Taidong that are pretty old, but they tend to be very spindly and thin.

The material for the Mountain Stream Taiwanese Sheng is from the southwestern population of wild tea trees and those guys are the real deal. 100-200 year old growth(for Taiwan anyways) tea forests. Video of the gardens. Forgive my breathlessness:



There are plenty of very old cultivated tea plants left over from the Japanese era if you know where to look, but they aren't really used for producing tea. My favorite of these is one I found in the mountains above Taroko Gorge in an aboriginal village.

If anyone has any other questions about this stuff let me know. I find myself leaning more and more into old tea and old tea trees. It is quite fun at the moment!
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Victoria
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Fri Feb 22, 2019 3:03 pm

Thanks for sharing this very interesting information and video @Mountain Stream Teas. I enjoy a LiShan from Nantou/Taichung that is from old growth trees, the deep roots really do produce exceptional teas, mineral rich, sustaining multiple steeps. I see you are in Hualien, Taiwan; one of the best red Taiwan teas I have had is from your region, from Origin Tea, 'Hualien Mixiang Red Tea' -high oxidation/medium roast. This tea sustained an amazing number of steeps which led me to think it was from old growth trees. Looks like you procure some very special teas, I look forward to trying some soon.
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Rickpatbrown
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Fri Feb 22, 2019 3:52 pm

Mountain Stream Teas wrote:
Fri Feb 22, 2019 9:14 am
My current favorite topic! I am quickly becoming an expert on old tea trees in Taiwan :)


Taiwan has many wild tea trees that seem to have been isolated somewhat into three populations. One around Nantou, one in the southeast and one in the southwest. The southeast and Nantou area pretty similar and I have some on the site with the name 'Wild Cultivar Oolong'. There are wild trees in the mountains above Luye, Taidong that are pretty old, but they tend to be very spindly and thin.

The material for the Mountain Stream Taiwanese Sheng is from the southwestern population of wild tea trees and those guys are the real deal. 100-200 year old growth(for Taiwan anyways) tea forests. Video of the gardens. Forgive my breathlessness:



There are plenty of very old cultivated tea plants left over from the Japanese era if you know where to look, but they aren't really used for producing tea. My favorite of these is one I found in the mountains above Taroko Gorge in an aboriginal village.

If anyone has any other questions about this stuff let me know. I find myself leaning more and more into old tea and old tea trees. It is quite fun at the moment!
Wow! That tree is beautiful.
So who owns these trees? Are they on public lands?
Do you have any idea of how many exist?

It's too bad that all the trees don't grow like that. Trees of that size, growing naturally would surely help with erosion.

Thanks for sharing.
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Sun Feb 24, 2019 1:13 am

Rickpatbrown wrote:
Fri Feb 22, 2019 3:52 pm
Mountain Stream Teas wrote:
Fri Feb 22, 2019 9:14 am
My current favorite topic! I am quickly becoming an expert on old tea trees in Taiwan :)


Taiwan has many wild tea trees that seem to have been isolated somewhat into three populations. One around Nantou, one in the southeast and one in the southwest. The southeast and Nantou area pretty similar and I have some on the site with the name 'Wild Cultivar Oolong'. There are wild trees in the mountains above Luye, Taidong that are pretty old, but they tend to be very spindly and thin.

The material for the Mountain Stream Taiwanese Sheng is from the southwestern population of wild tea trees and those guys are the real deal. 100-200 year old growth(for Taiwan anyways) tea forests. Video of the gardens. Forgive my breathlessness:



There are plenty of very old cultivated tea plants left over from the Japanese era if you know where to look, but they aren't really used for producing tea. My favorite of these is one I found in the mountains above Taroko Gorge in an aboriginal village.

If anyone has any other questions about this stuff let me know. I find myself leaning more and more into old tea and old tea trees. It is quite fun at the moment!
Wow! That tree is beautiful.
So who owns these trees? Are they on public lands?
Do you have any idea of how many exist?

It's too bad that all the trees don't grow like that. Trees of that size, growing naturally would surely help with erosion.

Thanks for sharing.

These trees are on aboriginal land and leased by a friend of mine. He has about 20 years left on the lease. The area is very steep and rocky and the people who control this land didn't even know what they had until about 5 years ago! No one was looking for these types of trees as no one thought that they were there, let alone that there was a market for this tea. The flavor of the tea also doesn't quite fit the Taiwanese palate. Little too sweet. Great for the west though! There are a bunch of groves like this around the area but they are kept under wraps generally speaking. And forgive me for not wanting to talk about it too much :)
Last edited by Mountain Stream Teas on Sun Feb 24, 2019 5:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Sun Feb 24, 2019 1:29 am

Victoria wrote:
Fri Feb 22, 2019 3:03 pm
Thanks for sharing this very interesting information and video Mountain Stream Teas. I enjoy a LiShan from Nantou/Taichung that is from old growth trees, the deep roots really do produce exceptional teas, mineral rich, sustaining multiple steeps. I see you are in Hualien, Taiwan; one of the best red Taiwan teas I have had is from your region, from Origin Tea, 'Hualien Mixiang Red Tea' -high oxidation/medium roast. This tea sustained an amazing number of steeps which led me to think it was from old growth trees. Looks like you procure some very special teas, I look forward to trying some soon.

Tree age really does matter for longevity in brewing I think. I also think that is why Taiwanese teas are so floral and can be so varied. They are from younger trees and they need to compete with the Chinese teas any way they can. The older trees in Taiwan create wonderful teas but the yield is so low that it is usually consumed locally. I am trying to change that. And that tea from Hualien I remember looking into a while ago. The pick that you got must have been from a long time ago(5+ years) as right now that size spring pick is about $1 a gram and can only be bought if you know someone. A highly sought after tea! But 5-6 years ago and before it was a lot more affordable. For the second month of the Mountain Stream Subscription service I am doing three grades of tea from that area so people can understand the bug bites and the grading system for red teas from that little hummock of land in the great rift valley. It is my home base. I am also trying to get my hands on some aged teas from the area as the flavor really turns into milk chocolate after a couple years.

If you have any questions about any of the teas please don't hesitate to ask!
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Victoria
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Tue Jun 25, 2019 2:31 pm

Mountain Stream Teas wrote:
Sun Feb 24, 2019 1:29 am
Victoria wrote:
Fri Feb 22, 2019 3:03 pm
Thanks for sharing this very interesting information and video Mountain Stream Teas. I enjoy a LiShan from Nantou/Taichung that is from old growth trees, the deep roots really do produce exceptional teas, mineral rich, sustaining multiple steeps. I see you are in Hualien, Taiwan; one of the best red Taiwan teas I have had is from your region, from Origin Tea, 'Hualien Mixiang Red Tea' -high oxidation/medium roast. This tea sustained an amazing number of steeps which led me to think it was from old growth trees. Looks like you procure some very special teas, I look forward to trying some soon.
Tree age really does matter for longevity in brewing I think. I also think that is why Taiwanese teas are so floral and can be so varied. They are from younger trees and they need to compete with the Chinese teas any way they can. The older trees in Taiwan create wonderful teas but the yield is so low that it is usually consumed locally. I am trying to change that. And that tea from Hualien I remember looking into a while ago. The pick that you got must have been from a long time ago(5+ years) as right now that size spring pick is about $1 a gram and can only be bought if you know someone. A highly sought after tea! But 5-6 years ago and before it was a lot more affordable. For the second month of the Mountain Stream Subscription service I am doing three grades of tea from that area so people can understand the bug bites and the grading system for red teas from that little hummock of land in the great rift valley. It is my home base. I am also trying to get my hands on some aged teas from the area as the flavor really turns into milk chocolate after a couple years.

If you have any questions about any of the teas please don't hesitate to ask!
Apologies for such a late reply, I must have been traveling when you shared this. I am glad to hear someone else also understands that a trees age and deeper root system correlates with longevity in brewing. In addition to longevity these old growth teas also have noticeable cha qi. You are correct also that the Hualien Mixiang Red Tea from Origin that I had was at least 5+ years old. If you come across this tea again Please Share with us here on the forum, I would love to get some more one day, it was a very special tea sourced by Tony who is no longer in Taiwan. I am so glad you are focusing on a few wild sourced teas, and so look forward to trying some of your teas soon.
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Wed Aug 07, 2019 8:38 am

Just an update on this, the Spring 2019 version of this cake is back in stock and shipping out right now. It is about 75% sold out so if you want some it is best not to wait too long. I will have the maocha of the this tea available for sale in a week or so as soon as I get the last little bit back to the shop.

If anyone has any questions about it please let me know!

(and if this breaks the rules for self promotion then please delete it)
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d.manuk
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Wed Aug 07, 2019 9:33 am

Having stayed in Taroko Gorge for 4 days, I find it interesting that you source tea from the aboriginal villages there.
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Thu Aug 08, 2019 8:20 pm

Shine Magical wrote:
Wed Aug 07, 2019 9:33 am
Having stayed in Taroko Gorge for 4 days, I find it interesting that you source tea from the aboriginal villages there.
Although I do spend over 150 days a year in the Taroko Gorge National Park and surrounding mountains I have never claimed that I source tea from there. There is no tea in Taroko Gorge National park**. Perhaps you got that idea from the pictures and videos from my Instagram feed about drinking tea in the area. I do tea classes and prepare tea for people in those beautiful mountains around 150 times a year. Again, no tea sourcing is done there by anyone as there is no tea.



** Not entirely true. In the off the grid Dali-Datong villages in the mountains above Taroko there are some 100+ year old tea trees still taken care of by aboriginals that I was lucky enough to stumble across. Planted by the Japanese during the occupation, the leaves tasted undeniably salty. Maybe I should go up there next spring and make some 'Mountain Stream Wild Garden Aboriginal Picked 100 Year Old Tree Taiwanese Sencha' and really piss everyone off :) And I guess there are technically still some tea roots growing on the Dayuling side of the park that don't taste salty. Large opportunity for anyone who wants to risk 'tea poaching' them :lol:
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