Sourcing

A skilled master, Chen has his own processing factory and several tea gardens, as well as supporting other local tea gardens that need management. He has discovered, as have many other tea farmers like him, that picking tea is no longer handed down generation to generation, and the young are moving on to pastures new. As such, there is increasing difficulty in finding skilled workers.
He himself has worked many years in the local community, since inheriting the gardens from his father and grandfather. He’s a passionate, almost political advocate of organic farming methods, which goes against a common Taiwanese view that the land relies on pesticides to provide strong crops. His determination and attention to his gardens, though, has seen him through two of the three year process it takes to qualify as organic to rigorous international standards. It won’t be long now until he has achieved something many thought he couldn’t: a fully organic status.

What stood out for us about this tea, beyond the tenacity and love that Chen clearly has for his gardens, are the healthy and full bushes he cultivates. This tea gives a good account of the unique features expected of High Mountain Jin Xuan oolong; a very creamy infusion with floral notes. It’s a very fine yet accessible oolong indeed.