Yangmei Xiucai TeaYangmei Xiucai Tea
Where to buy it
Flavour
Delicate aroma, mellow and sweet
The Tea and Beverage Research Station has its headquarters in Yangmei. Growers here get new varieties and new methods first. A real advantage of place.
The name Xiucai only dates from 1996; it refers to three Qing-dynasty scholars from the town. The gardens cluster on the hills around Xiucaiwo and Aipingzai, forty-odd hectares in all.
These northern hills once grew green tea for export. When export prices collapsed, growers switched to Baozhong and oolong. The light oolong you drink today is what that shift left behind.
Honey-green in the cup, smooth on the tongue, with a faint vegetal freshness.
Fair priceestimated
One jin is 600 g. Below NT$400, be sceptical.
A reasonable range is NT$700–1,500 per 600 g. Below NT$400, ask more questions. This range is estimated from nearby regions and elevation; it has not been verified against listed prices.
What to ask when buying this
This price range is estimated from nearby regions and elevation and has not been verified, so compare for yourself.
Spring and winter lots fetch the highest prices and the best aroma; summer and autumn are a step down in both.
If they will not let you taste but want you to buy 600 g of something expensive, walk away. It is the simplest and most effective filter there is.
A scannable producer record beats any verbal assurance.
Specifications
About the origin
Yangmei's gardens sit around Xiucaiwo, Aipingzai and Gaoshanding, and were planted for export green tea. As export prices fell the growers switched to Baozhong and oolong, and the quality improved. In April 1996 they met and settled on a name: Xiucai tea, after the scholars of the old examinations. The planted area has fallen from over 180 hectares to 48 by 2019.
These figures will be updated if they change.
Brewing
Why this temperature
Ball-rolled oolong is tightly wound, and the first pour only reaches the outside of the pellet, so it needs water close to boiling to open at all. If it does not open, the later steeps swing between thin and heavy. The first and second steeps often take the same time or less, because the leaf does not truly unfurl until the second.
Temperatures follow the official category guidance. Source: TRES — Effects of water quality and temperature on tea liquor
Common mistakes with this tea
95°C or above. Too cool and the roast aroma never opens, leaving it flat.
Rolled-ball leaf needs the first infusion to open up; the second is then shorter.
Best drunk within two months.
The most common beginner regret is buying 600 g on the first try. Buy a jin only after you know you like it.
What to eat with it
Glutinous rice clings and the sweetness lingers on the tongue. A tea with some astringency clears it away.
This one is Taiwan-only — not available overseas
Location accuracy: township level (24.9070, 121.1460). This marks the growing area, not one specific garden.
Taoyuan Tea Region3
What there is to do here
2 routes Day trip Longtan・Yangmei
Longtan and Yangmei are cycling country. The slopes are gentle, the ponds many, and the tea gardens sit between fish ponds and farms, so you can stop often. This is also one of the districts that makes Oriental Beauty.