The origins of growing tea in Taiwan’s high mountains has proven to be a mystery of sorts, but what we do know is that some of the most unique and flavorful teas come from this land and the people that have been working it for generations.
The Organic Dong Ding has been grown in the foothills of Taiwan’s central mountain range since 1885 when a scholar brought back tea bushes from neighboring Chinese Fujian Province. Dong Ding means ‘frozen peak’. The constant low temperature of the tea during the growing season allows for a build up of amino acids in the leaf, which makes the tea sweet and creamy. The delicate tea leaves are rolled into balls that unfurl during the brewing process into beautiful full leaves that exhibit different flavors with each repetitive brew.
The Wild Shan Cha leaves are plucked from an heirloom ancestral plant that dates back to 1697 and grows wild throughout the mountain range rather than being commercially cultivated. Four distinct protected areas have been put in place in central, south and eastern Taiwan for the preservation of this National treasure which is revered as the father plant to some of the most unique and distinctive tea hybrids of Taiwan.
Even though we are not directly in contact with these producers, we can see and taste the care and tradition in the tea itself. To us, these teas represent and honor the renown tea culture of this region and we feel so lucky to offer this tea.
Teas from Taiwan: Organic Dong Ding, Wild Shan Cha