Our yearly trip to the 2025 Nantou Global Tea Expo was an enjoyable success, but we did see some disappointing trends emerge. There seems to be a growing divergence between the expensive 'premium' and cheaper teas which has been challenging for many companies. While not unique to Taiwanese tea by any means, the divergence did seem to accelerate this year. Some of the things we noticed: 1. We found no new teas or exciting innovations during our visit this year. We couldn't even find the rumored new 'orange' style of tea to try. In the past, experimental cakes, new and interesting hybrid processing styles and unique cultivars were all available to try, evaluate and discuss. This year we didn’t find...
Some great distilled wisdom in this one! Those traveling to Taiwan for tea often get caught out by the sheer size, complexity and skill of the local tea market. Especially those in search of good, cheap tea for their business. The blog post below, although more on the Chinese tea side of things, has a great set of perspectives to temper expectations and prepare you for your tea trip to Taiwan. It isn't easy to navigate the market here, especially on your first trip. Or your second. Read it here: https://taiwanteaodyssey.com/what-to-expect-when-visiting-taiwan/ This blog is a great one if you haven't seen it yet and https://www.instagram.com/alexbtw886/ is a worthwhile follow on Instagram as well. Especially if you enjoy the post-fermented side...
Fresh Fall Tea And More Mountain Stream Teas Teaducation Subscription Service September, 2025 The late summer and fall season of tea in Taiwan is upon us and in this month’s box are some of the freshest teas we have. This season’s teas are a favorite of ours and we hope that you enjoy them as well! What are the teas we will look at this month? We found some great examples of Fall teas this year. Included this month are: Fall Pear Mountain, 2000m elevation, 25% Oxidization, hand picked on August 20th, 2025, Lishan, Nantou County, Qinxin Tasting notes: Balanced sweet vegetal, stone fruit, thick mouthfeel and floral perfume Alpine White, 1200m elevation, 0% Oxidization, hand picked in April, 2025,...
**NOTE: Starting this month we are going to post the educational insert for each month's subscription box here on the blog. Honestly, we should have done it a while ago. Taoyuan Terroir Study Mountain Stream Teas Teaducation Subscription Service, October, 2025 This month we do a deep dive into a unique and little know tea growing region of Taiwan. Taoyuan’s lower elevation and fertile soil make it a fascinating spot to understand how terroir can impact the choices of tea producers. What are the teas we will look at this month? Included this month are: Chinese Mesona Herbal Tea (Grass Jelly), 200m elevation, Herbal Tea, hand picked in Summer, 2025, Longtan, Taoyuan County, Platostoma palustre Tasting notes: Dark vegetal, Strong medicinal Heat...
Roasted teas have one of the most ‘love it or leave it’ flavor profiles of any style of tea. Strong, rich and undeniably ‘toasted’ flavors are the name of game for these teas in their up front presentation. This is especially true for the badly roasted teas, which can be a no-go for many. The depth and breadth of flavors that tickle the palette produced by a brew that is prepared an expert roaster can be pretty wonderful however. Why Roast a Tea? The proper reason is to introduce complexity, depth and longevity to an already beautifully produced tea. Unfortunately the usual reason is to make a terrible tea mediocre and sellable. When most people claim they don't like roasted...
