Waking Up Aged Oolong

Aged oolongs can have a soothing energy. They are usually temperamental, and sometimes sour, but if you nurture them they can be full of life and delicious. And they will have a story to tell you. Part of the process of nurturing aged oolongs is waking up the tea.

When I talk about waking up a tea, I do this with heat. This is also called spot roasting, or touching up a tea. It is like roasting it just slightly, right before brewing. The simplest way is to get a candle, like a tea light, with a low flame. You can use a small sheet of paper, resting one pots worth of tea on the paper. Hold it above the flame so that a gentle heat starts to warm up the leaves (and not burn the paper at all!!). The goal is not to roast the tea, but merely to push out the slowly accumulated moisture. You can also make an apparatus to roast aged teas with an old teapot and a candle based teapot warmer as in this picture.

However you wake it up, the tea will taste cleaner, more direct and more full. The moisture that gets stuck in an aged tea can be like a glass wall between the tea and the drinker.

Our ‘66 Aged Beipu, for example, benefits from a quick spot roast. As it is, the tea is herbal, medicinal and smooth. When I feel like using some extra time and energy, I spot roast this tea as a step in my brewing process to produce an even more delicious pot of tea.


Written by: Noah

Tea Documentary Filming: Love

These past few days of filming has been very full and rich for me. From a tea brewing master I met for the first time to some tea vendors I work with for 11 years, everyone showed me how they love tea. Even though they all have a busy schedule, they have given me so much of their time.

I feel they are loving me through their love of tea, through their open heart and through their kindness. And I love them back with my gratitude. Every day I live in this beautiful space called Affinity.

With all this love and gratitude, we are going to Dong Ding Mountain to capture the beauty of the mountain and the work of the farmers. Stay tuned.
*photography by Jake Knapp.

Tea Documentary Filming: Heart

The first two day of tea documentary filming has been incredible. My body is jet-lagged, loaded with pots of tea, and my heart is filled with gratitude.

I cannot describe fully how beautiful the tea and the tea people are. People showered us with their generosity and their love of tea. Just like what a tea master told us, "the depth, the experience, and the beauty of this tea session will be hard to find words for it." 
He used his heart to brew tea, and his tea touched my heart. I was in awed with the experience. 

Here are a few photos for you to see how beautiful they are. I am looking forward to sharing the experience with you soon!

Dong Ding Documentary Project Sponsored By Embrace The Moon

Embrace The Moon, School for Taijiquan and Qigong is the first sponsor for our Dong Ding Tea Documentary! 

The founder and owner of Embrace The Moon Kim Ivy and I have known each other for 11 years now. I am honored to call her my friend and teacher. Two years ago I went back to take Taichi again, and our friendship grew. 

She teaches hard and really cares about what she does. I have learned so much about taichi and I love it! I see a lot of similarities between tea and taichi. There is so much detail and endless levels to explore. 

Then she started to come in to Floating Leaves Tea on Wednesday afternoon for tea. We tell jokes, gossip; sometimes talk about philosophy, politics and dreams. I show her what a good tea can do beyond just tasting good. We expirement with different styles of tea energy and see how they impact our Taichi practices. That has been extremely fun!

Since the first time I mentioned this Dong Ding Tea Documentary project to Kim, she has been supporting the project with money, encouragement and ideas. It's because of people like her and many of you who have believed in me that helps to push this project forward. Thank you!

We will continue to raise funds for editing and post production. To support this project, please visit our tea documentary fundraiser page here. 

*photography by Jake Knapp of Cloud 9 Photography & Design. 

Chaozhou Tea Brewing

I got yelled at today by a Chaozhou tea expert!

I love oolongs and I think our Tieguanyin is excellent.  So does my friend the Chaozhou tea drinker.  The cup on the left is how I - and most people - brew oolongs nowadays.  The one on the right is how he brews.  Chaozhou is a region between Fujian and Guangdong provinces and tea lovers there are known for making very strong tea, using lots of leaf and long brewing times.

My friend said my tea is weak and does not allow the true character of an excellent Tieguanyin to shine, which to him are "the namesake metallic note, the sour fruit note, the dry & sweet after-notes, the earthy aroma, the beautiful amber liquid and the thick viscosity."  

We tried several cups of tea brewed his way, which is double the normal amount of leaves and 3-5 minute steepings.  Wow, the brew was so strong and powerful!  We were wired, as if we had taken shots of espresso.  Do people really drink tea that's this strong on a regular basis?  My friend does and loves his tea this way, which is fine by me since he has to buy more tea from me, haha!  I must admit that a strong brew allows you to see all of the tea's strong points and flaws.  I enjoyed our session, but still prefer a more moderate steeping time.  I always say, though, that one should drink tea in whichever enjoyable way one chooses to and to not be too stuck on following set rules. 

Tea and Kindness: Inspiration and Community

About a month ago, I decided not to spend as much time on social media reading about this election. I found much of this news to be angry and damaging. I know the world is not free of problems, but I don't want to spend my time feeling angry, powerless and drained. I want to feel inspired. I want to feel love and support.

I started to shift my attention to good things around me: a child's smile, a hug, a good conversation, a delicious cup of tea, a heroic event, people doing good things for other people.... This list can go on and on, but we tend not to see many good things around us.

I decided that once a while I would write the stories of people in my life that inspire me. I would therefore like to dedicate this post to my friend, Richelle Dickerson. Four years ago, my son and I moved into her home's basement apartment. She and her family live upstairs, and her daughter and my son immidately became good friends. I couldn't have imagined my landlords would become not only our friends, but a huge support in our life as well. They have helped us so much and I am forever grateful.

Richelle is very involved in social issues; she works hard and fights for people. A couple of weeks ago, she had her birthday party. On the invitation, she asked her friends to donate to one of the three organizations if we were considering giving her birthday presents. I thought 'wow, what a kind deed!' I would like to make this wish a little bigger. 10% of Floating Leaves Tea store and online sales in November will go to her birthday wish. We will donate the money to Be The Match to help patients who need bone marrow transplants.

I have gotten a lot of help in my life, and I have helped some. It's great to feel supported and to be able to help others. It's very easy to get caught in drama and negativity, but please look around you. You can see a lot of positive things happening and good people around you. Help each other. Help somebody to possibly have a better day, a better chance or a better life.

While I am writing this, with a cup of tea right next to me, I feel very thankful to Richelle who keeps reminding me to do better and to help. I want to thank all of you who support our business this month. Let's make a big donation to Be The Match! It brings a smile on my face that our donation might help someone to get better. Thank you!

*photography by Jake Knapp.

Connecting With Tea Bloggers

I recently connected with some tea bloggers. They reviewed some of my teas and I had so much fun reading their notes! These tea bloggers have written some of the most vivid, detailed, and fun descriptions about their tea experiences that I've ever read.

Here are three great examples. Please check them out!

photo provided by Oolong Owl

Oolong Owl Blog on Floating Leaves Tea 2016 High Mountain Oolongs

photo by Jeff Cleary

UNYtea Guy on 2016 Lishan High Mountain Oolong

photo by Alexsia Wilson

My Thoughts Are Like Butterflies on 2016 HeHuanShan High Mountain Oolong



I spend most of my time taking care of my tea business and my son, so I haven't been as active with the online tea community as I would like. However, my son is eight now and I feel like I currently have more time and energy to connect with the various tea bloggers who have been writing about their passion for tea.

I know some of you order my teas and review my teas. You are on my list to receive samples as a thank you for supporting my business. But if you are wondering where your samples are, feel free to reach out to me (which might be the best and the fastest way!).

Happy tea drinking, happy reading and happy writing!

2016 Spring Taiwan Tea Trip: A Slide Show

Here is a slide show from my 2016 spring tea trip, full of beautiful scenes and tea people. Enjoy!

*slide show presented by Jake Knapp. 

Good Company

Josh from J-Tea International came up to Seattle for a visit. I've known Josh since 2005. Brett from

Black Dragon Tea Bar introduced us.

Before Josh came up, I asked him to bring good Dong Ding samples. I had his 2nd tier Competition Dong Ding from 2008. And It was a good tea!

Earlier on that day, Josh did a tea tasting at TeaCup. Before he showed up at Floating Leaves Tea, Michael from TeaGeek, David and Rich were waiting for him. Josh walked in and started to take pictures. When we all settled in, I started with my Traditional Dong Ding from winter 2008. I asked Josh how he thought of that tea. He just said,"Not bad. Not bad." He then took out three Dong Ding samples. So we went on to try his teas. We also tried Michael's Dong Ding and an Aged Baozhong. Laughter and happiness continued throughout the entire tea tasting. We just went on joking with each other. This is the way I like to drink tea. Everyone is relaxed and happy. I think we drank 15 pots of tea. I was very hungry and wired after that!

I asked Josh to see if he is interested in teaching a tea roasting class. He said he might be. I will let everyone know if he does!

坪林包種比賽茶評分的標準

坪林包種比賽茶評分的標準

這裡是坪林比賽茶較詳細的質料：

外形佔百分之二十 (20%)：在比賽之前農夫都會把茶梗挑去，茶葉外形要整齊、一致，且不要有雜色。

茶湯顏色佔百分之二十 (20%)﹕ 茶湯以蜜綠色﹐ 翠綠色為上等。而且茶湯不可以混淆，要清澈。

香氣佔百分之三十 (30%)﹕要有花香，且要單一香氣﹐ 不要有悶味﹐ 也不要有雜味。單一香氣的原因是不要有混茶，而且很有明顯的品種香。

滋味佔百分之三十 (30%)﹕ 茶的滋味要圓潤、甘甜、有活性。茶喝起來要無異味、無酸性。

Taiwan Tea Map

Working with my tea friend at Floating Leaves, we created the following tea map to show where the major tea producing regions in Taiwan are.



Click on the map to expand it for easier viewing.

Welcome to Floating Leaves Tea Blog

I grew up in Taiwan and often thought that tea represents my culture. Tea was everywhere. Every time I visited my friends, there was always tea to have. And I will always remember when I visited teahouses with friends on numerous weekends.

I came to Seattle sometime in 2000. My partner at that time and I shared at least a pot of Taiwan Oolong every morning. In 2004, I went back to Taiwan to purchase tea for our new teahouse, Floating Leaves Tea. That trip opened my eyes and I fell in love with Taiwan all over again, because of the beauty of its tea. I met lots of new tea friends and tea farmers. I was so thrilled to be in the tea fields, touching tea, picking tea and participating in the tea making process. I am grateful for the generosity and helpfulness of the people I met, and I am proud of Taiwanese Oolong.

It has been for quite some time that tea friends and my customers have encouraged me to write my thoughts and experiences about tea. Here I am finally starting this journey. Please give me your feedback to my writing and let’s grow together in the tea world. Sit down and enjoy your good pot of tea! I am looking forward to having some tea with you.


Shiuwen Tai
Floating Leaves Tea