Taiwanese Tea
(Originally published July 9, 2019)
We admit to a bias when it comes to tea. Although we sample widely, there are a few varieties we always seek out and that we just enjoy more than others. When it comes to oolong, we just can’t seem to get enough of Taiwanese high mountain tea. It was only a matter of time before we made our selection to bring you some of our favourite Taiwanese tea.*
We are very happy to introduce our tea partner in Taiwan,
Hsieh Jiang Lin Tea
History
The story of Hsieh Jiang Lin Tea begins over one hundred years ago, when Hsieh Jinhuo received the gift of one hundred tea bushes from the tea region of Lugu from Lin Wanshun. Hsieh Jinhuo began his tea farm with this donation and was fortunate to come under the apprenticeship of Jiang Shuilai from Mainland China. Admiring Hsieh Jinhuo’s devotion to tea, Jiang taught Hsieh how to grow and process tea. Jiang was a respected Master, and so it was a great gift to receive his instruction. In thanks, Hsieh named his son “Jiang Lin,” and his house, “Hsieh Jiang Lin Tea House." Hsieh Jiang Lin followed in his father’s footsteps, learning and applying the teachings his father originally learned from Jiang Shuilai. This knowledge was again passed down to Hsieh Bingxun, the current Tea Master of Hsieh Jiang Lin. Today Hsieh Bingxun oversees the tea production of the company, while his son Hsieh Peilun runs the business and learns the art from his father.
Tea Master Hsieh Bingxun
Hsieh Bingxun, the current Tea Master at Hsieh Jiang Lin Tea, is a respected and awarded master in the industry. His tea has consistently won the award of “Top Master” in numerous tea competitions in Taiwan over the last twenty years.
You can see the list of awards won by Master Hsieh Bingxun here:
http://topmasteroftea.com/
Other Certifications held by Hsieh Binxun and Hsieh Jiang Lin Tea include:
- HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point): Passed the international verification of HACCP. HACCP is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes. Certification ensures strict compliance in preventing these dangers.
- 农产品产销履历验证（TAP: Taiwan/Traceability Agricultural Product）: Certified by TAF (Taiwan Accreditation Foundation) authorized by the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan of Taiwan. The TAP certificate guarantees a safe product meeting the standards of Taiwan, and ensures its traceability.
- ISO22000: Passed the ISO22000: 2005 Food Safety Management.
Tea Selection
Our selection of Hsieh Jiang Lin Tea includes lower elevation oolongs, such as their classic Dong Ding to some of the highest elevation High Mountain Oolongs, including Lishan High Mountain Tea that is grown at an elevation of around 2200m. Most of our selection is unroasted, but we also have a delicious mid-roast oolong, the Golden Prize Technique High Mountain Oolong, which follows competition grade production standards. We are also happy to be featuring two delicious varieties of black tea, Riyuetan Sun Moon Lake Black Tea and HongYu Black tea. Whichever variety you choose, the tea has been grown and processed with the utmost care.
*As mentioned with the launch of our tea selection back in April, we have decided to move forward with curated selections of tea using the same model we use for our handmade ceramic teaware. After a long period of research, we choose trustworthy studios and companies with fine quality products that are interested in partnering with us to provide their product to customers overseas at the same rate that it is available in Mainland China and Taiwan.
