A beautiful day among the Wenshan Baozhong plantations

 

It's T-Day for a European tea friend and longtime customer. It's the first time we meet in real life and we immediately head off to Pinglin and one of my favorite tea spots. It's a pavilion surrounded by tea plantations and overlooking a magnificent landscape of dark green forests.

We are perfectly coordinated in terms of cloths. My blue jeans and shirt echo the sky, while his green and earthy cloths bring us back to earth and to these fresh green leaves of 'subtropical forest' Baozhong. 

The fact that this spring Baozhong comes from this region means that its scents are very similar to what we can smell here. The brew is light and clear in the celadon singing cups.

This thin gaiwan with forest decoration is a perfect choice for this tea. And it's also a convenient tool for tasting various teas, because porcelain is neutral to the taste.

The subtropical forest Baozhong has a light lemony taste that adds a zesty and energetic feel, whereas high mountain Oolongs are sweeter with a more creamy taste. To start our T day after a long drive through Taipei traffic, this tea was just what we needed!

Below, the open leaves show some oxidation marks on the edges of the leaves. This Baozhong is indeed a little bit more oxidized than most Baozhongs and this brings its character to shine.

Speaking of high mountain Oolong, one of our next tea is the Alishan Qingxin Oolong from Shizhuo. Its minerality adds a nice layer to the aftertaste. Great color also! 

We also enjoyed the Shan Lin Xi Oolong before brewing the honey scents of the 2023 summer Oriental Beauty! For this high oxidized tea, I change the Chabu and select one where the golden color of the brew fits harmoniously. In the meantime, a group of 3 elderly couples have arrived to our spot and have started chatting with us. 'So beautiful!', 'You know how to enjoy yourself!', 'I'm jealous!', 'Do you speak Chinese?' are some of their words when they see us brew tea in this manner. One of the ladies brings us some peanuts and dried mangoes, typical snacks when Taiwanese people drink tea! We reciprocate by giving her the third cup of my Chaxi. Her husband then offers to share some of the red wine they brought, but we declined politely (I had to drive my car!).

Before they left, the ladies insisted on taking a picture with these 2 tea loving Europeans! My friend, who's touring Asia, loves how friendly and spontaneous the Taiwanese are. 

After seeing me brew, it was his time to prepare the Alishan summer red tea.

I could give him a few tips to improve his technique, especially how to hold a gaiwan. Skill and experience are a never-ending improvement process!

His smile while drinking the Alishan red tea says it all!

After lunch, we even brewed some puerh! But let's simply finish on this picturesque Wenshan Chaxi and content tea friend!