Dong Ding Guided Tastings Beginning Soon

We are very excited to bring our live session focus to Dong Ding! We believe drinking tea together with tea people is the best way to explore tea, and we want to bring that experience of sharing tea to our clients and friends far away. In these sessions, we will share what we have learned from having tea with Taiwanese tea merchants, farmers, artists and masters. It is really important to us to deliver the knowledge of these people. They have been steeped in tea culture for generations, and have so much to teach all of us. We hope you can accompany us on our journey.

With Master Zhan. Photography by Jake Knapp.

Dong Ding oolong is so important to us because it is a tea that inspires these tea people to work their artistry. Oolongs processed with caring hands in the traditional Dong Ding style bring our imaginations to Dong Ding tea farms of the early 20th century. It is clear that these farmers were striving for an excellence beyond commercial success, and their commitment to the craft is really beautiful to us. Now it is rarer to find this kind of tea, but what we've found we've fallen in love with.

Charcoal Roast Dong Ding. Photography by Lee Damon.

We hope you can find time to accompany Shiuwen for guided Dong Ding tastings this month, starting on November 14th. We really recommend you purchase the Traditional A and Charcoal Dong Ding from our website so you can drink it with us. If you do this, we will offer a one sessions sample of Charcoal Four Roast Dong Ding, given the name "Secret of the Sages" by Master Zhan. It is a rare opportunity to drink a masterpiece like this. Our first session, on Traditional A Dong Ding, will be Tuesday November 14th at 11:30 AM on Instagram. The next sessions, focussed on Charcoal Three Roast and Four Roast, we will cast on the following Tuesdays: November 21st and 28th.

Written by Noah


Dong Ding Oolong Tasting Set
Charcoal Dong Ding (three roast) is scheduled to arrive in the shop on the 6th. We've put together a tasting set to make things easier. If you prefer to buy the teas separately, we will still send a sample of Master Zhan's Four Roast Dong Ding. If you pre-order the tasting set this weekend, we will ship it to you as soon as the tea arrives. *The new Charcoal Roast Dong Ding just arrived!

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!