HongYu Ruby 18 Black Tea, Spring 2023
Hsieh Jiang Lin Tea Company
Season: 2023
Elevation: 500m
Origin: Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan
Tree Variety: Ruby 18
Oxidation: 85%
Roasting: 0%
This tea is grown in the famous Sun Moon Lake area. The "Ruby 18" variety of tea tree, officially known as Tai Tea #18, was developed in Taiwan during the 1980s. It is a hybrid of the Wild Formosa tea tree and the Burmese Assamica tea tree. The cross resulted in a very special variety of tea, which when processed as HongYu Black Tea, is unique. The aroma is fragrant and the flavour is quite complex with elements of cinnamon and mint, and hints of malt and honey. The tea is smooth and holds up well to long sessions, and can be brewed many more times than other black tea without losing its flavour.
BREWING METHODS
Kung Fu Brewing
Warm the teapot or gaiwan by adding hot water and then pouring it out.
Add around 5g of tea for every 100ml of water. Begin by adding the loose tea to the teapot or gaiwan.
Pour hot water into the vessel. We recommend using water at 90C. After the water in the kettle has come to a boil and settled, it can be left standing in the kettle for around 5 minutes before being used.
Tea can be rinsed quickly with hot water. This first rinse helps to open up the tea for its first brew. This first rinse is optional.
The tea can be steeped multiple times. We recommend the following steeping time per brew, but we also recommend extending or shortening the steeping time depending on preference for a stronger or weaker brew.
Steeping times:
1st :30s → 2nd: 35s → 3rd-5th：40s → 6th +：60s
Western Method
Warm up the teapot with hot water.
Add around 3g of tea to a teapot with a capacity of 300-500ml.
Pour hot water into the vessel. We recommend using water at 90C. After the water in the kettle has come to a boil and settled, it can be left standing in the kettle for around 5mins before being used.
Cover and steep for 3-5 minutes.
Cold Brewing Method
Add 1 tsp for a 500ml thermos.
Add cold or room temperature water to the thermos.
Seal the lid and place the thermos in a refrigerator. We recommend leaving the thermos for at least 2-3 hours. Thermos can be put into the refrigerator to steep overnight. If refilling, we recommend topping up the water before the volume falls half-way to keep the tea flavourful.