Hello everyone,
I'm Andy, a tea enthusiast.
Last weekend, served as a judge for the mountain tea competition in Liugui, Kaohsiung, marking the fifth invitation to this event.
This year's competition was held alongside the Liugui Mountain Tea Life Festival, drawing a lively crowd.
The competition featured four categories this year: Black Tea, Amber Tea, Light-roasted Oolong, and Deep-roasted Oolong.
Over the years, several insights have emerged worth sharing.
Distinctive flavors of mountain tea
Mountain tea carries distinctive notes of rose, mint, cinnamon, and mushroom. The mint and cinnamon notes found in Taiwan Tea No. 18 (Ruby 18) come from its wild mountain tea parent, B-607.
Flavor and processing direction
The maturity of the tea leaves shapes which tea type suits them best. Younger leaves are well suited to black tea and green tea. For oolong tea, more mature leaves are needed to avoid bitterness and astringency.
Appearance of dried mountain tea leaves
Mountain tea differs from teas grown elsewhere in Taiwan, such as high mountain tea, which is prized for a tightly rolled appearance. For mountain tea, no fixed standard for leaf appearance is recommended. Flavor should remain the top priority.
If younger leaves are used to make oolong tea and rolled too tightly, the resulting liquor tends toward bitterness.
That said, old leaves, fragments, and impurities still need to be removed. This remains a basic requirement for the appearance of mountain tea leaves.
Summary
This year's competition was especially meaningful, with experts from the Tea and Beverage Research Station, MOA on hand.
After the judging, they shared insights on both the winning and flawed samples with the tea farmers through a presentation, helping farmers continue improving their tea-making techniques.
That covers this year's mountain tea competition. Everyone is welcome to visit Liugui and experience the distinctive flavor of mountain tea.
Hope this has been helpful.
See you next time.
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