Taiwan and Their Oolongs

In the second module we focused on learning about teas from different countries, we also learned about the tea history of those countries as well as how the industries are set- up, and how they compare in the line-up of tea producing countries.  We also talked about the geography, and where in each country the tea grows.

This week we tasted tea from Taiwan and Argentina.  We also did our first cross-sectional tasting.  This involves tasting the same type of teas from different countries.

Taiwan:

Tea History started around1624 when the Dutch established a colony on Taiwan as a commercial base and a military stronghold.  They began to move workers from the Fujian and Penghu regions of China as slave labourers to help build the Dutch colonies.  These Fujians, already knowledgable in tea established various tea gardens in the interior mountainous parts of the islands by using both wild tea plants, and cuttings from China.

By the mid 1700's the Chinese finally expelled the Dutch from Taiwan and more Chinese people began to immigrate.  It is because of this Chinese influence that oolong tea industry became prevalent on the island.  

In the late 1900's the Japanese invested a significant amount of resources to aide in the industrialization of the island by establishing transportation, sanitation infrastructure and revising the education system and farming methods.

Taiwan is famous for its light fragrant oolongs and exports 60% to 70% of its annual tea production.  Oolong means 'Black Dragon' in Chinese and has varied oxidation levels - anywhere from 10% to 90%.

Taiwan Oolong

Oolong teas are produced as follows:

Leaves are laid in direct sunlight to wither, reduce moisture content and to soften the leaves. The leaves from the plants used to make oolong are typically larger in size, and tougher.  After withering, the leaves are shaken in a basket to lightly bruise the leaves and then spread out in the shade to dry.  This process of shaking and drying is repeated several times.  Only the bruised edges are oxidized, leaving the core of the leaf green (oxidization is exposing the leaf to heat, moisture and air).  The leaves always remain whole and should never be broken.  Once the desired degree of oxidization is reached, the process is stopped by pan firing the leaves at high temperature.  Oolongs generally have a lower moisture content than green teas and therefore have a longer shelf life.  Styles can range from open leaf to semi or completely rolled shape.

We also learned generally about other tea growing areas in the world  It was interesting to note that when looking at tea by volume of production, Japan as a country does not make the top ten list.  But Japanese tea is certainly a better known tea than say Turkey or Bangladesh, that produces more volume of tea.  

We also tasted some black tea from Argentina.  The main claim to fame for black tea from Argentina is that it is used in packaged iced tea like Lipton or Nestea etc.  They use the Argentinian tea because it does not get cloudy when brewing for cold tea, so cold tea drink producers use this tea.  Consequently their main export is to the USA.

Well, this was the last week and our exams are coming up.  In Tea 101 the cuppings were relatively simple.  Identify if you are tasting white, green, oolong, black or puerh.  Now we have to identify between different whites and greens, and we have to be able to identify the country of origin for the black teas.  It's a blind cupping, so you only get the liquor in the cup.  No leaves to look at!  I'm worried!!