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This is a beautiful looking and exceptional quality black tea grown in the Yuchih Township area of central Nantou County, Taiwan. The plantation is located in the hills overlooking the famous "Sun Moon Lake," which is Taiwan's largest natural lake and a very popular tourist attraction. Usually, on plantations at a moderately high altitude such as the one where this tea was grown (600-700 Meters/1,970-2,300 ft), Taiwanese tea growers do not produce much black tea due to very strong domestic demand for higher altitude grown oolong teas, so I really feel lucky to have found such a carefully & expertly produced black tea from this area.
Our Ruby Black Tea was produced entirely from hand picked and expertly processed Winter harvest, 2010 tea. The cultivar or sub-species of Camellia Sinensis used to produce this tea is known as "Tai Cha #18," which basically means this tea varietal was developed and designated as a unique cultivar by the Taiwan Tea Research Institute and was given the name (or number) "Taiwan Tea #18." Other cultivars used in Taiwan's tea industry are similarly numbered but also have common names. For example, the Jin Xuan cultivar is also known as Tai Cha #12 and the Jade Cultivar is known as Tai Cha #13, but Tai Cha #18 has not yet been lucky enough to get a nickname.
The predominant flavor profile of this tea is fruity-sweet and slightly spicy with a pleasing astringency. There is surprisingly little bitterness at all in this tea, particularly in this 2010 Winter crop. I also get a wine-like, spicy complexity from it that, to my taste, goes beyond a simple tannic sensation and shows up in the way it spreads & settles on the palate and sort of mingles with the fruity, sweet/spicy, lingering, slightly malty aftertaste. The fruity, spicy, wine-like complexity of this tea is what continues to earn my attention, and I hope you find it as enjoyable and outstanding as I do.
See our Steeping
Guide for detailed black tea steeping guidelines.
Weight: 0.025 lb
11.34 grams
0.4 ounces
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Yuchih Township Map
Wet Leaves
Dry Leaves
Infusion
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| Positive Customer Review |
| cameronfoltz |
4 Dec 2011, 12:57 PM |
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Highly aromatic, delicious tropical fruitiness
This tea is exceptionally fruity and sweet, and these flavors are not very subtle but are rather immediately apparent. The leaves are also quite large, beautiful, and twisted. The finish is pleasingly astringent. I hope this tea is available for a long time!
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