Sweet Assamica Red
Formerly 'The Converter'
**The 2024 Spring Pick of this tea was so different than past versions that we have changed the name from 'The Converter' to Sweet Assamica Red Oolong. As the name suggests, this already unique tea just got even more special!**
We named this tea for its unique upfront fruity sweetness that is rare in a Taiwanese Assamica cultivar tea. So rare in fact, that we have never tasted it before! Made by our friends at an organic, lower elevation garden in Luye in the Southeast of this beautiful island, the 2024 spring production got just the right amount of bug bites to bring out a fun and unique softly sweet and slightly stone fruity upfront flavor, before the classic strength of the Assamica cultivar takes over. It has the familiar strong malty kick of Lipton tea bags in the backend, but without any of the bitterness or astringency so common in low quality tea.
If you ever choose to try to 'convert' a heavy teabag drinker to some higher quality loose leaf, agrochemical-free stuff this is a great one to try. It might even be OK to add a little milk and honey to this one in the name of 'conversion'...
Elevation: 300m
Status: Certified Organic
Cultivar: Assamica
Oxidization: 85%
Season: May 2024
Method: Hand picked, processed on site, very small batch
Region: Luye, Taidong
Recommend Brewing Style:
Gong Fu Style: 3-5g per 100ml, ~100C water, 30, 45, 60 then add 5-10 seconds steeps in gaiwan. Lasts 4-5 steeps.
Western Style: 3g per 100ml, ~100c water for 3 minutes. Lasts 2-3 steeps.