Tea is Hard Work

Mr. Liu the former tea judge spends his time cultivating new cultivars of Tung Ting. His latest is a variant of the soft stem Tung Ting, sweeter and has the Hui Gan. Gan was a taste word we introduced some time ago, the taste of slight bitter astringency flowing smoothly into a sweet after taste. Hui Gan is another effect, that of the returning taste, the aftermath of the sweet. It’s as though the taste has trailed off and possibly forever, only to return, and stay, nourishing your palate and throat with a revitalizing almost minty sweetness. The sweet note of Gan will linger if you give it a chance.
He tasted his prized aged Soft Stem Oolong with us. The fieryness has all but gone, a smooth caramel darkness with deep complexity and very different 10 infusions really impresses me the dedication that Mr. Liu has for his craft. He has found a way to roast his tea 80 hours non- continuously, and every 6 months for the last 4 years and counting. The secrets I won’t divulge, but every passionate professional will invent new methods to improve and express the hidden capacities of each varietal.

We wheezed our way up to San Lin She, where the highest point is 2000 meters tall, one of the highest in Taiwan, to see the harvesting and processing. The hills are so steep I felt alittle afraid for the first time. Agriculture doesn't usually look like you need to be a monkey to get up to! So the name 'High Mountain Oolong' is completely justified in everyway, including the price. It's hard work, trying not to fall off the 80 degree hill picking tea. Tasting the unfinished fresh leaves inspired me so much that I foolhardily bought, at very high prices, a jin of fresh barely dried leaves for our harvest party next week. This, folks, would be the only chance one might ever have, unless you are at these mountains at the exact right place and right time, to taste these leaves at such freshness. And unprocessed too, with the original fruity fragrance of the leaves completely intact. I will try not to drink it all before I get back.

Taken from http://teapersonality.blogspot.com/