Dark Mountain
Taiwanese Heicha Old Growth Tea Cake
**The Fall 2022 pick is now in stock! We have a limited amount of cakes, only 35, so it is best not to wait too long if you want one.**
One of the most special members to our indigenous Taiwanese Camellia Formosensis line of teas, Old Growth Taiwanese Heicha is as unique as they come. Made using the spring pick of 100-300 year old wild-forest-grown tea tree material, these leaves went through some very different processing!
The leaves were picked, solar withered, then 'kill greened' as usual to start the processing. After the kill-green process the tea-master lightly rolled the leaves and then placed them in a pile to ferment for 72 hours. Water was added to the leaves and the temperature was kept steady at 30C during this time to produce a very traditional Chinese-Style Heicha, to our knowledge never before produced with indigenous Taiwanese material!
The taste ends up somewhere between a smooth black and shou puer with the fragrance of honey comb and the taste of fragrant wood and fresh earth with a smooth, sweet aftertaste. This is a tea that is designed to be aged and even after such a short period of time this tea has changed a lot. It is filling but light, and the feeling it gives kept us reaching back for more.
Finished last year, this tea has been resting since then and was perfectly ready to be pressed for us this September. It is ready to be enjoyed now and will only get better with age!
Elevation: 1200-1300m
Status: Wild Garden, Regenerative, Organic
Cultivar: South Western Taiwan Wild Cultivar, Camellia Formosensis (100-300 Year old Trees)
Season: Late September, 2022
Method: Hand picked, processed on site, very small batch
Oxidization: 72 Hour Pile Fermentation
Region: Liugui, Taiwan
Recommend Brewing Style:
Gong Fu Style: 3-5g per 100ml, ~95-100C water(205-212f), 20 second steeps for first 3-4 steeps then adjust to taste. Lasts 7+ steeps.
Western Style: 3-5g per 100ml, ~95-100C water(205-212f), 1-2 minute steeps
This tea is best brewed somewhere in between a Puer and an Oolong. Not flash steeps, but short, hot steeps work pretty good. Experiment and find the best way to brew for you!