Wenshan Baozhong, spring 2023

Baozhong mix of Jinxuan and Tsui Yu

Tea would be boring if we would always have the same, top quality tea. When you embark on an afternoon of tea brewing, it's nice to start with something humble, to get warmed up. If the first mountain you wish to climb is the mount Everest, you will most likely be overwhelmed by the experience and won't enjoy it a bit. With tea also, it's good to warm up, enjoy something cheap, fresh, natural like this spring 2023 Wenshan Baozhong made from Jinxuan and Tsui Yu leaves.

The key to appreciate the top quality of expensive teas is to appreciate how this quality evolves with price. And it also makes more sense to train your tea skills on cheaper leaves. A good tea is going to taste good even if you misbrew it! It takes more skill to get a lower quality tea right. You have to understand its limitations and brew 

A lot of people talk of a Cha Dao, a tea way. Well, I believe that a simple, loose leaf Baozhong is a great way to start your journey and your journée (day in French). While Baozhong dates back to the 1880s, this one is based on 2 cultivars created 100 years later! This reminds us that Baozhong isn't a particular cultivar, but foremost a process.

This process has evolved with customers' tastes. Nowadays, Baozhong is more lightly oxidized and barely roasted. It produces a brew that looks similar to high mountain Oolong, but the Wenshan area is below 1000 meters, even though the plantations are often on the slopes of the many hills between Taipei and Yilan. 

So, Wenshan Baozhong has done its part to stay relevant and liked by Oolong fans. This one in particular provides a simple place to start a tea tasting or an Oolong comparison. It sets the bar of what you should expect from other teas.