This oxidized but un-roasted oolong from central Taiwan’s Li Shan mountains is a true gem. The style is unusual (most dark Taiwanese oolongs receive some amount of roasting), and the taste is somewhat closer to a black tea than a traditional balled oolong. We taste caramel malts and oaked red wine. Being grown at a high elevation and made in the style of a balled oolong, it is has much more complexity than one might expect from a straight black tea.

Li Shan (“Pear Mountain”) is a famous tea mountain in Taichung County in central Taiwan. Grown at over 6,500 feet, the cold winter nights and lack of oxygen cause the tea plant to pack the most amount of nutrients and flavors into the tea leaves, yielding and intense, sweet and richly floral tea soup. Tea was first planted on Li Shan Mountain the 1999’s, and because of the quality of the terroir over 130 hectares are now cultivated.

Origin - Taichung, Taiwan

Region - Cui Luan, Li Shan Mountain

Harvest - Spring ‘21

Elevation - 6,600 ft

Tastes Like - Malts, Caramel, Cabernet

Sold in one ounce increments