Organic Vs Authentic

At Mountain Stream Teas we strive to bring you the best agrochemical free grown teas in Taiwan. Sometimes that means that we have skipped whole regions and areas because we could not find an organic tea at all. In Dong Ding, we have been unsuccessfully searching for an agrochemical free source of teas for years. We have decided to try a different approach this year.

Dong Ding is a small place with a long history, small supply and high demand. Getting truly authentic, locally grown tea takes a lot of work and a lot of guanxi, or special relationships. Finding authentic, organic tea of this style is almost impossible as both the local market, and the local producers, don’t care about agrochemical free agriculture. We have tried for years to find something that would fit our standards for agrochemical free tea but have yet to find any. In this case, we have chosen authenticity over organically grown as an experiment.

We don’t take this choice lightly, and it is a step on the road to getting the agrochemical free tea we would love to have. Building a relationship with growers and producers in this area is the first step in bringing in some of our organic tea from other areas for a masterful charcoal roast, and hopefully slowly changing the culture of tea growing in Dong Ding.

We are always open for feedback, so if you have any questions or comments please feel free to get in touch!