Lishan High Mountain Oolong

photography by Douglas King

The highest tea growing peaks in Taiwan are located on Lishan. Misty, cool, high elevation, this mountain produces some of Taiwan's most famous tea. Tea farmers are growing tea around 1500 meters up to about 2600 meters at the highest point. Da Yu Ling and Fu Shou Shan teas are the most sought after among the wider tea audience because of their elevation.

Other lower elevation tea growing mountains may be growing other kinds of cultivars, like Jin Xuan. Around 1500 meter areas, Lishan farmers may be growing these varieties, too. But Qing Xin cultivar is the only one that can stand up to the highest elevation conditions and still produce a good oolong.

Compared to Alishan, Lishan tea is much more buttery. Alishan has high notes. And Lishan has a buttery texture that coats the mouth. It is balanced and thick, and is very classically representative of High Mountain Oolong.

We will be doing an Instagram live session with Lishan High Mountain Oolong on Tuesday the 10th of October at 11:30. Shiuwen will talk about how she brews and tastes the tea while drinking the tea with you. We want to encourage people to drink the tea along with us. If you have our Lishan then that's great, and if you drink another Lishan Oolong, that should be fine, too. Our goal is to facilitate drinking tea together and share the way we experience our teas.
Our Instagram account is https://www.instagram.com/floatingleavestea/

Written by Noah

Note on Myself: I’m Noah, and I have been an apprentice at Floating Leaves Tea since 2015. Since then, my love for tea has grown deeper and deeper, and I want to share my journey with you all. Thanks for reading!

Instagram: Connecting With Tea Drinkers and Great Photos!

I am pretty new to Instagram (created my account in February), and it took me a while to get used to using it.

But now, I grow more and more fond of it. I love looking at the gorgeous photos! My favorites are tea photos (of course) and travel/landscape photos.

About a month or so ago, my phone's indicator light blinked to alert me that someone had tagged me on Instagram. I clicked on the photo and this is what I saw:

I thought, "Well, that's an interesting photo and the tea in the photo is our 2016 Spring Lishan. I wonder who this is? Oh, wait a second, 'Blown Over'...is that the title for this photo? How interesting...."

Then a couple of customers came in and we had a great time drinking tea. After I had a quiet moment, I went back to look at the photo. I spent some time pondering that photo, "Was there some sort of storm? Was the photo trying to reflect the photographer's mood?" Suddenly I burst out laughing, "I know and I wish! This person was blown away with this Lishan!".

The following day, my phone signaled that someone had tagged me again, so I looked at the new photo entry. It was from the same person!

I thought, "That's a very nice photo! Oh, it's Lishan again. The title this time is 'Between The Storms'. Oh my goodness, this person is killing me! Why does Lishan suddenly become so stormy? Oh wait a second, maybe this Lishan calms him down because it's currently between the storms (weather)...."

I realized I was talking to myself a lot as I delightfully looked at these beautiful pictures with their poetic titles. Instagram is so much fun!

Meanwhile, you can enjoy Alexander's great photos on Instagram: 9 Thousand Things.

*photography by 9 Thousand Things.

2016 Lishan - My Favorite New Spring High Mountain Oolong

Many customers have asked me if I have a favorite High Mountain Oolong from the 2016 Spring harvest. It's hard to pick just one because they are so good in many different and wonderful ways.

ShanLinXi is complex:  its flavor is rich and will carry through many different steepings. It's no wonder why ShanLinXi has been the customer-favorite High Mountain Oolong this season.

Alishan is beautiful and "quiet."  It's a tea that makes me feel like I would be content reading a book while sitting in the garden.

This season's DaYuLing is a late bloomer. As it gets into later infusions, the DaYuLing opens up and blooms into a delicious tea.

HeHuanShan is a great tea this season. Its texture is smooth and buttery and it has a huge, amazing aftertaste. I was debating with myself over whether I would pick this one or Lishan as my favorite.

Finally I set my mind on Lishan because it has a great flavor, a long-lasting aftertaste, and its liquid is so buttery that I can't stop drinking it - just one infusion after the other!

Beautiful, juicy tea leaves

I am a "texture" tea drinker. I do have to say that this Spring's High Mountain Oolong will make you very happy. If you haven't tried them out, give them a shot, I believe you will agree with me.

*photography by Jake Knapp of Could 9 Photo & Design

ShanLinXi Spring 2016 - Customers' favorite High Mountain Oolong

I love this Spring season's High Mountain Oolong!

Over the weekend, I did two blind tea tastings of my new 2016 Spring High Mountain Oolongs. People had fun tasting and discovering which one is their favorite for the season. Our Spring selection includes oolongs from:  Alishan; ShanLinXi; HeHuanShan; Lishan, and DaYuLing mountains.

Getting ready to taste 5 High Mountain Oolongs. Photograpy by Lee Damon. 

ShanLinXi turned out to be the people's choice this season! We brewed 5 High Mountain Oolongs at once in the bowl style and we didn't know which tea was in which cup. ShanLinXi's flavor showed up right away and it carried on through the end.

This season's High Mountain Oolong has definitely been worth the wait. I feel it has more complexity than the previous season's, and they all have a great, smooth texture! Want to know what delicious surprises this season has to offer? Please check out our High Mountain Oolong sampler and let me know which one is your favorite!

FLT High Mountain sampler, with a new look! Photography by Jake Knapp. 

In my next post, I will talk about the characteristics of each tea and let you know which one my favorite is!

A New Lishan

Thank you all for liking the winter high mountain Oolong. We were all lucky to have enjoyed quite a good season for Taiwan Oolongs. All of my high mountain teas sold out quite quickly, but I ordered a new batch of Lishan and it arrived three days ago. When I first tried the tea, I found it to be floral and full bodied. The scent was beautiful and present in all six infusions that I made. Today, I tried the tea again and there is a nice smoothness that has started showing up. I was very excited about it. As I have mentioned before, when a tea is shipped over, it might take some time for it open up and develop, so I am looking forward to seeing even more roundness from this Lishan and possibly some surprising notes. When you have a chance, please come and taste the tea with me. Some people have asked me if this is a spring tea. This Lishan is still a winter Oolong. Yes, farmers have just started to harvest spring teas in Taiwan, but the harvests are mostly for lower elevation teas. Any recent harvesting of higher elevation teas would be for varietals like Jin Xuan. Our high mountain oolongs are made with the Chin Hsin varietal, which grows slower than a lot of other oolong varietals. In a region like Fu Shou Shan or Da Yu Ling, we might need to wait until the middle of May for the harvest and production to be completed.

New Teas! Charcoal Roasted Dong Ding and Lishan

Just as it starts to get cooler in Seattle, a package of tea has arrived at the perfect moment! I opened the package and couldn't wait to taste the Charcoal Roasted Dong Ding that I ordered.

It was raining outside when I brewed this tea and I was happy to smell the warmth of its charcoal fire. As I was smelling it, a nice fruit note showed up. Ah, a nice typical Dong Ding Tea smell. The tea is full bodied, but soft, too. The charcoal note lingers throughout every infusion, and it feels so warm and satisfying. I will be drinking this tea a lot during the winter!

What if you don't really like roasted Oolongs? Don't worry. There is a delicious Lishan High Mountain Oolong for you. You may also find that you like both teas! The dry leaves of this Lishan smell like a yummy fruit. The first infusion was pleasant, but makes you wait anxiously for the bolder and fuller infusions to come. The tea blooms beautifully in the second infusion, where it is floral, fruity, and buttery! I was so excited with this change that I did the following three infusions way too fast. The notes are strong and the aftertaste is one of the best parts of this tea: it lingers for quite a long time. After I was done with these two teas, I had a very happy tea buzz................... Stop by for some of our new teas; supplies are very limited.

Brewing Tea in a Gaiwan VS Yixing Pot

A customer came in and asked me if I had any Lishan Tea this season. I told him yes, and he said he would like to try some. I took out a gaiwan and started to make tea. I usually brew my oolongs in a porcelain gaiwan. He asked me why I didn't brew tea in a yixing pot (he saw there were at least five of them on the tea table).

I told him I love yixing pots, but when I let people taste a tea for the first time, I prefer to use a gaiwan. I believe a gaiwan will give a tea a more "orginal" taste than a yixing pot. After he sampled the Lishan, he was quite satisfied with the quality.

After I receive a new season's Oolong, I am normally busy comparing them and then offering tea tastings to customers. After I have finished my initial round of tasting and sampling, I can spend time to try out some teas in various yixing pots.

I was about to test out Lishan tea in a gaiwan and a yixing pot today when my tea friend, Doug, came to help me take some tea photos. I invited him to taste the teas with me.
After I rinsed the tea, we both agreed that the smells from the lids were different. The one from the yixing lid was more creamy, and the one from the gaiwan lid was bolder. We did three rounds of tastings to compare the difference. The Lishan brewed in the yixing pot was full bodied and well balanced, but I thought it lost a lot of high notes. The Lishan brewed in the gaiwan had more flavors and was smoother. I liked the tea that was brewed using both methods, and had a hard time deciding which one I preferred. Doug liked it from both methods, too, and he preferred it from the gaiwan.

Everyone should be free to experiment with their teas and their brewing methods until they find something they like. When you do, please let me know!

New Winter Oolong Review - Part II

I have had these new winter Oolongs for 5 days now. Some of them started to change. I will do a more detail reviews in a couple of weeks. The tea might settle down more by then.
But anyway, here are some new High Mountain Oolongs that I just tasted:

ShanLinXi: This tea is very full body and have a nice fruit note. I made five infusions and the body and bouquet stayed all the way.

Lishan A: This Lishan is way softer than the ShanLinXi. It has a very smooth body and a delicate floral bouquet.




Buddha Hand: This is a very strong high mountain tea. Every infusion has a strong cooked vegetable and a hint of honey sweetness to it.

A Quick Review On Winter High Mountain Tea

Here are some quick tasting notes on some of the high mountain teas that I received and tomorrow, I will give some more notes on one more Lishan, Shanlinxi, and Buddha Hand.

Alishan: It's very nice and smooth on the mouth-feel. This Alishan only has a little floral bouquet. The smoothness will last through all the infusions(I stopped at the fifth infusion). No much changes among the infusions.

Alishan A: This Alishan has a bigger floral bouquet compared to the previous one. The first infusion didn't show up much body or floral note. The second one unfolded. The fragrance will stay through all the infusions. The body feels lighter than the previous one but very delicate. It's a pretty balance tea.

Lishan: This Lishan has enough body. The first two infusions carried a nice floral note. The third and fourth carried a bit honey and fruit note.