$15.99
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"...a smooth and clean taste, with lightly floral notes."
This Golden lily offering is from a farm near the Luye Highlands in Taidong County. We found it quite by accident and were so impressed we committed to carry their Golden Lily the same day. First off, this farm is certified organic in Taiwan. The farmer explained it took three years and multiple testings of the soil and tea to get certified. Pretty standard practice but we were impressed she spent the time and money to get the certification. Next, her farm is irrigated by a natural spring that comes right out of the side of the mountain on her farm. That's pretty cool! Then, the overall environment is simply pristine. It's on the Eastern side of the Island and gets lots of fresh air from the Pacific Ocean.
The tea itself is quite nice. It hits what we are looking for in a Golden Lily - a little viscous, a little sweet and very clean. Spring crops have more floral notes while the Winter crop is a bit sweeter with a remote hint of cotton candy. Developed in the late 1980's in Taiwan, the Golden lily cultivar has been a favorite of ours for many years.
You can order a 10 gr. sample in the pull-down menu below or get better pricing with higher volume.
Cultivar: Jīn Xuān Wūlóng, 金萱烏龍
Location: Luye
Elevation: 800M
Harvest: Winter 2024
Brewing:
Standard Gaiwan (about 130ml or half a cup of liquid)
Warm up your gaiwan with hot water first, pour it out, then add 3-6g of dry leaf, depending on how strong you like your tea. Fill your gaiwan covering the leaves with fresh hot water (195°/90°c), pour out this "rinse", then add a second round of water. Cover your gaiwan and wait for 30 to 45 seconds. Pour everything into a decanter through a strainer, let it cool to a comfortable drinking temperature, then enjoy. Repeat this process several times, gradually increasing the steeping time by 5-10 seconds for each infusion. You can find a good decanter HERE, a good strainer HERE, and some nice cups to share tea with friends HERE.
Traditional Teapots
Depending on the size of your "gongfu" teapot, the old-school advice is to loosely cover the bottom of your teapot in High Mountain Oolong dry leaf. Follow the same perimeters of gaiwan brewing. Teapot brewing is highly individual so use this as a starting point and develop your own style based on what you like to get out of each tea. You can find suitable teapots at all price ranges HERE.
The Easy Ways
Coffee cup - Add one teaspoon to one cup of hot water (195°/90°c) for 4 minutes. Strain and enjoy. Repeat up to three times.
Coffee press - If you have a coffee press or a nice traditional western teapot you want to enjoy, just double the above - 2 teaspoons to 2 cups of fresh hot water. Or with practice, you can use less tea and longer brewing times.
NOTE: Tea balls and similar brewing methods are not recommended.
On-the-Go Grandpa-Style
When I'm out working, I like to use an drinking thermos like a Yeti. The key to these is to use less dry leaf. I use about 1/2 teaspoon or 3g. You can use boiling water and let it set for around 5 minutes until you cover it. It should be at a good drinking temp for quite a while now. When you're dry, just refill and repeat all day long.
