Winter 2023, produced on 23rd September by Shenteng Chen in Chenjia Garden
In this piece, we look into who is behind this batch of Ali Shan, what makes it unique, why we selected it and who we think will enjoy it. We will also take you through the best ways to find flavour, balance and enjoyment in this high-mountain oolong tea.
This winter batch of Ali Shan is an excellent example for the region – floral, fruit and milk flavours in a refreshing yet thick infusion. It is difficult for tea (as it is for other drinks, food, music, and art) to be both accessible and complex simultaneously, but Ali Shan can achieves this quite beautifully. You might drink Ali Shan for comfort on a busy day, knowing that it will always be enjoyable however you make it (almost). Yet, you can also prepare it slowly and carefully (e.g. gong fu style) and drink it during a quiet afternoon’s contemplation.
This is the fifth year we have sourced our Ali Shan with Mr Chen and his team at Chenjia Garden on the west side of the Ali Shan National Park in Meishan Township. We love the quality of the teas they produce through their commitment to finding new and excellent ways of caring for their garden, tea bushes, and community.
Origin: Chenjia Garden, Chiayi, Taiwan.
Cultivar: Camellia sinensis var. sinensis “Jin Xuan”.
Name: Direct reference to the Ali “mountain” National Park from which this tea comes. Teas from the Jin Xuan cultivar can also be called “milk oolong”.
Style: High mountain (gao shan), baked, balled oolong.
Terroir: Ali Mountain National Park, Chenjia Garden, is on the west side of the park in Meishan township.
Altitude: The national park’s highest point is 2,600m above sea level, Chenjia Garden is around 1,600m above sea level.
Picking Season: Winter
Leaf: Bright green balls, revealing three mature leaves plus stem picking when unfurled upon infusion.
Oxidation: 20%
Production: Organic
Infusion: Vibrant and bright yellow.
What kind of teas does Ali Shan produce?
Tea gardens in Ali Shan typically produce lightly oxidised, baked, rolled oolong teas, which are loved for their thick mouthfeel combined with super fresh floral and creamy notes.
The climate is subtropical, and the national park has a very high altitude.
Production occurs periodically from spring to autumn. The best crops are considered the first picking in spring and pickings before the winter sets in. Spring production happens in May. The other “winter” harvest, known as “winter,” happens around late September into early November.
In the coldest winter months, as in most tea-producing regions, only the roots of the tea bushes grow. They dig deep underground to gather and store essential nutrients, minerals, and energy, while the leaves and stems above ground appear dormant.
Due to the altitude of Ali Shan, the winter is long, so the roots have five or six months to gather a rich bounty from the ground. This energy and the nutrients are captured in the first leaves and buds of spring and give the spring picking a notable freshness and often subtle, grassy and mineral notes. When the leaves from the winter harvest are picked, they have enjoyed five months of sweltering, humid days and cool nights. For much of this time, the bushes have been surrounded by a constant mountain mist that hydrates and enriches the leaves. These conditions enable strong, plump leaf growth, which, when processed, gives a thicker and more structured infusion than the spring, and sometimes, allowing the floral aromas to be more prominent.
The Jin Xuan cultivar is typical of Ali Shan. It was developed in the 1980s locally in Taiwan, specifically to enable high-yield tea production at high altitudes. Very quickly, it became appreciated for its milky flavours and thick texture, and Ali Shan became one of Taiwan’s famous and well-regarded teas.
How did we find this batch of tea, and who made it?
Despite the wealth of high-quality tea being produced in Taiwan, including in Ali Shan, finding a garden that is very low pesticide, EU compliant (we test the leaves!), and organic has been a big challenge for us. Taiwan’s history of using a high amount of chemical pesticides in agriculture appears to be deeply ingrained and, even now, organic farming is not often considered wise.
When we were scouring the area for organic producers, Mr Chen’s name came up as someone we should be talking to – so that is precisely what we did.
Mr Chen is the third-generation tea master of Chenjia. He cares for the garden that was also looked after by his grandfather and his father. A potential link between his father's illness and his exposure to chemical pesticides triggered Mr Chen, when he took over, to initiate the conversion to organic.
Noticing that another tea garden in the area had regained growth and strength after being left to go fallow, Mr Chen questioned the local wisdom that tea bushes needed chemical intervention to flourish. So, he decided to convert Chenjia to organic and give his family the safest space to live and grow.
Innovation is significant to Mr Chen’s way of farming. He also grows the bushes organically and is an early adopter of new technology that enables consistency through machine-assisted rolling and climate-controlled withering. He is constantly experimenting to understand how to process the leaves in ways that will deliver optimum quality.
Perhaps most importantly, Mr Chen mentors young tea farmers and advocates for organic farming in the area. He is really committed to enabling Taiwan to become a centre of excellence for organic, high-quality tea production.
This is the fifth winter production that we have brought from Mr Chen. He produced just 70kgs of this crop, and we feel fortunate to have secured the whole batch.
What is this batch like to drink? Aroma, taste and texture
Typical in this style, region and cultivar are high floral, prominent milk and sweet fruit flavours and a thick quenching character.
This winter batch is an excellent example of the cultivar. The creamy qualities (aromas and flavours) are immediately evident when the leaves are infused. The tea is highly floral. The fruit aromas are intense; we have picked out strawberries and pears. The taste brings spring flowers and light flavours of mango and apricot.
It is very refreshing and sappy.
Where and when is this tea for?
Much like the broad appeal of Ali Shan's flavour, when and how this tea can be enjoyed is also wide open. The lightness of the tea means that it does not go bitter or astringent very easily; the prominence of the flavours and aromas means that it is a very easy tea to prepare well, and the moistening, quenching qualities will satisfy all day.
You will get a rewarding and full drink using a simple teapot, such as a Tea-iere, and infusing for three minutes.
The unfurling of the large leaves as they infuse and the notable changing flavours of the progressive infusions when prepared gong fu style mean that it is also an intriguing tea to explore when you have more time to focus on and engage with the leaves.
Being relatively light but satisfying, Ali Shan will be enjoyed by many people throughout the day. There is no need to restrict drinking by time or mood.
What is it like to make, and how easy is it to get a good taste?
One Cup:
For large leaf-balled oolongs, we know that the infusion needs time to develop while the leaves unfurl. When we were testing the recipes for this batch, we really liked the juicy freshness that using 90-degree water rather than boiling water brought out. This cooler temperature allows a slow release and captures the lighter, floral notes in the first infusion. They are really prominent in this batch, so they are worth savouring.
In the second infusion, the complexity develops, and you will get the specific strawberry and pear fruit notes and the satisfaction of the thick, creamy texture.
This produced good results - Method: 4g/ 250mls; 90-95 degrees; 3 minutes per infusion (we recommend at least three infusions).
Gong Fu
In Chiayi, Ali Shan would usually be prepared in the ‘gong fu’ style – using a small teapot or a gaiwan, a high proportion of leaf to water and preparing multiple short infusions. Making tea this way delivers a more concentrated view of the flavours and aromas. For this tea specifically, we found that the first infusion was light, with intense floral aromas; the second infusion showed the sweetness from the fruit; and the third was a thick, creamy structure and some minerality.
Method: 10g/120ml; 90 degrees; 45 seconds – 1 minute, increasing incrementally with each infusion (minimum four infusions).
Long Infusion Method:
Prolonged infusions can be tricky because time will bring out astringency or an underlying bitterness that makes a drink unbalanced. However, for this Ali Shan, we like the juicy texture and florality that you get when simply infusing a pinch of leaves in a tall cup with 90-degree water, leaving it for a few minutes with a lid on, and then enjoying the increasing intensity of flavour and a slight twang of refreshing tartness that you get as you drink closer and closer to the leaves.
Method: 4g/ 250ml; 90 degrees; 5 minutes.
For all of these infusion methods, we have found that Ali Shan is best with soft, filtered water (which we highly recommend). It is a pretty forgiving tea and works even in challenging water areas, though you will get fewer floral notes and flavours.
Who is this tea for?
Ali Shan tea has very accessible, easily discernible flavours and a satisfying texture, complexity, and intrigue.
If you want a relatively light tea and you appreciate floral and milk flavours, you will enjoy Ali Shan. If you want a moistening, quenching drink for all day, want some of the refreshing qualities and some of the freshness of a green tea, with a thicker and more structured mouthfeel, you will enjoy Ali Shan.
Ali Shan is often a tea we recommend when someone wants to explore the world of single garden tea. They might be used to drinking black and green teas readily available in the West and want to discover more. Finding that “I never knew that tea could taste like this” moment is effortless with Ali Shan, which has led many of us to want to drink and explore the wonderfully rich world of single garden tea more.