Alishan High Mountain Oolong

Floral, buttery and light bodied, Alishan was the first oolong I encountered on my tea path. It opened up my mind to what is possible with tea, capturing my attention from my mouth and nose and into my mind. It was my ‘a-ha moment’ for tea drinking. The aroma was captivating and very friendly to me when I was new to tea drinking, and Alishan has stayed with me as a reliable companion through my career as a tea person.

Alishan tea field. Photography by Matthew

Alishan oolong is grown between 1000 and 1600 meters. Our Alishan tea is grown in the Zhangshu Hu area, which is about 1200 meters high. There are two major cultivars grown in Alishan, Jin Xuan and Qing Xin Oolong. For high mountain oolong, we exclusively buy tea made with the Qing Xin cultivar. Qing Xin can grow at higher altitudes and develops more slowly, producing a more complex broth. Do you know what cultivar you are drinking?

Tea picking at Alishan. Photography by Matthew

Alishan is now the most famous high mountain tea region abroad. The first high mountain growing region in Taiwan was Meishan. Now, lots of Meishan tea is sold as Alishan, relying on Alishan’s star status. Tea from each region can be delicious; we think it is largely up to the farmer to see how good the tea can be.

We will be broadcasting a live tea session on Instagram with Alishan on Tuesday the 26th at 11:30am Seattle time. If you have this tea, we encourage you to get it out and drink with us! The best way to learn tea is to drink with other tea people, and we want to try to bring this experience to our online tea friends and clients. Shiuwen will be brewing Alishan and talking about her experience with this awesome oolong. If you want to get tips on brewing or just soak up some tea knowledge please tune in! Our instagram account is https://www.instagram.com/floatingleavestea/

You can find the tea here.

by Noah

Photography by Douglas King

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!