Taiwan Day 7 & 8 Shopping, Making Snacks, and the Tea Leaf Hopper

Happy New Year, please join me as I continue my blog of my wonderful tea adventure to Taiwan and Japan!

After returning to Taipei about 11:00 p.m. from the our journey to the tea fields of central Taiwan, checking back into our hotel, and gathering our luggage that we left behind, we were all pretty tired.  Our next day started a little later as we were traveling close by.  Our first stop was this lovely little town just about an hour away.  The town had a scenic river running right through it.

We toured of factory that supplies tea for an international company that is known around the world.  Due to confidentiality, I cannot share the name of the company which is disappointing! What struck me was how immaculately clean the facility was.  Can you see the floors are stainless steel?  I hadn't ever seen that before and was wondering how I might install that somewhere in my house!  Some tea was in the baskets to the right withering and to the left were bags full of tea ready to be sent off.

After touring the plant, we walked out to see some of the gardens.  Here is Jackson Huang talking with one of the tea farmers.  I would have brought back one of those straw hats if I could have figured out how to get it back without crushing it.  I think it would have been fun to hang it in my office!

The rest of the day was for shopping in Yinge, which is a ceramic town that specializes in tea sets that harmonize well with Taiwan oolongs.  Some of group shopped for their stores, but since I don't owe a tea shop, I was shopping just for myself and gifts for others.  Here is my Christmas present to myself.  It is a handmade piece that over time will take on a crackled look.  I LOVE it!

Our next day was filled with more learning experiences.  We headed to the Oriental Beauty district. Our first stop was to a museum to learn about this area and tea farming.  This part of Taiwan was settled by the Hakka people which is a subgroup of the Chinese with their own linguistic dialect.  Our guides Thomas and Josephine happen to be Hakka, so it was fun at the end of our museum tour to make a traditional Hakka snack.  

It starts with sesame seeds, black and white peanuts, and pumpkin seeds that are ground up into a paste.  We were shown how to use this large "mortal and pestle" type system for grinding it all up.  It required some elbow grease for sure.  It tasted quite good all on its own.

After it was all ground up into a paste, we spooned it into cups that contained green tea powder and puffed rice. Hot water was added to it for a Hakka "protein/energy" drink! There were also a few other snacks as you can see!

Probably the most intriguing thing to this area is the Fancy Formosa Silver Tip tea.  Its wonderful and unique flavor is contributed to the leaf hopper.  It is a small little bug that eats the leaves of the tea plant during a specific period in the summer. Seen below on a Camellia Sinensis plant, this small bug has a huge impact on flavor! 

While the farmers are busy with their other crops, this bug infests the tea plants. This attack makes the plant respond with a chemical defense to help it repel the insect and protect itself. As I learned in my last Specialty Tea Institute Level 4 Technology of Tea class, that this stress to the tea plant is known as a physical biotic stress. The compound that the plant produces to rid itself of the bugs actually changes the flavor of the leaves to a wonderfully unique brew. Now how cool is that?   

Our next stop was to visit Mr. Lou who is the head of The Formosa Black Tea Company.  We all felt famous as we stepped off the bus to a camera crew filming our visit. 

 

We watched an informative film and toured the facility which has a lovely display of the history of the company.  What I thought was very interesting is the way Mr. Lou and his company has kept up with the demand for tea and changed its ways depending on what the market is demanding.  His company is now a large supplier of green tea powder to Japan for beauty and cosmetic products. If you have beauty products that contain green tea-it might just be from The Formosa Black Tea Company!  I was honored to meet Mr. Lou seen below. 

 

Our final event of the day was the Grand Cupping.  It was set up by Norman Shu of ABC Tea Company.  We cupped (professional way to taste tea) about 30 different type of teas.  It was the biggest cupping I had ever done at one time. 

Join me for the next blog as I take you to our closing ceremony.  Then I have my own Planes, Trains, and Automobiles experience to Japan!  I hope you can keep journeying with me to Japan. 

Is there anything new you learned through my blog?  I would love to hear!

Happy Sharing Taiwan and Sipping Oolong, Lisa

Tea Certification-Let the Learning Continue

Tea for me will be a lifelong study!  Although I always do self study, cuppings, gather information, and write about tea, it has been 2 years since I had done formal training.  I was part of the first graduating class from the Specialty Tea Institute Professional Level 3 in the summer of 2008.  The STI has just rolled out Level 4 this year which is why I went to Charleston. 

I have to say that Level 4 is not for tea wimps!  A lot of work has gone into putting this level together from professionals all over the world.  The first class I took was Advanced Cupping and Sensory Evaluation-Cupping for Defective Teas.  It was a day full of cupping really bad teas and I was actually excited about it! After reading through the manual prior to the class, I was hoping that we were going to be able to taste "what went wrong" and we did!  What amazed me during this class is how many things can go wrong in making tea.  It really takes skill to take leaves and turn them into such a great tasting beverage.  

Each step in the process of making tea is so important.  The skill of the tea workers, estate manager, and tea master is incredible.  From the time the leaf is plucked, the skill of the worker must be engaged to make tea.  From withering, to oxidation, to firing, and all the way to packing the teas, special attention must be taken to ensure the tea is properly taken care of.  I guess I am really a "tea geek" to be excited to taste defective teas but it is important to know what has gone wrong and to detect that with your palate.

  

The next Level 4 class I took in Charleston was The Technology of Tea.  It was time to get down and dirty in tea study with this class.  Basically it is the science of the tea leaf and what happens to it biologically and chemically while it is going through the process of becoming tea.  For me, this class put together all that I have learned about tea.  Although I found the class challenging to say the least, it was great to understand the process from that level.  I started studying the manual in early July and kept studying a little at a time all summer long. 

The class was jam-packed full of information.  I was a Business Administration/Marketing major in college, so all of this science was a big stretch for me.  I hadn't had a science class for over 25 years-yikes!  However because I LOVE tea, it made the information very fascinating. 

We learned the science of the stages of Processing:

• Withering-the chemical and physical process
• Cell disruption during leaf maceration
• All about Polyphenols
• Understanding different types of Browning
• Science of the Oxidation Process
• Applying Heat-Firing and Baking
• Sorting and Grading the Finished Leaf

The last part of the class was understanding the dynamic of Infusion and the Principals of Solution.  We finished up the class with understanding chemically the taste, feel, color, and aroma of what is in the cup!  We did cuppings. (a professional way of consistently tasting tea by same weight, same water temperature, and same steeping time, all in professional cupping sets-see picture above)

Then it was exam time, we all had to pass the test with an 80% or greater in order to get credit for the class.  I am very happy to report that I got a 100%!!!!  Passing the class was very exciting to me, but the most exciting part truly was learning the material.  This night ended with dinner out in Charleston with many of my tea friends.  I am honored to be a part of such a wonderful group of tea professionals and to serve on the Education Committee. 

What do you appreciate about tea?  After taking these classes, my respect for tea workers all over the world has increased tremendously.  I now have a new appreciation and love of the tea that I so enjoy everyday.

Happy Sipping and Learning, Lisa