Taimali Taifeng High Mountain TeaTaimali Taifeng High Mountain Tea
Where to buy it
Flavour
Light fragrance and clean sweetness with high mountain fruit
Taifeng high-mountain tea comes from the Jinzhen hills of Taimali in Taitung, at around 650 metres, with the gardens facing the Pacific.
A coastal garden differs from a mountain one in a specific way: sea wind carries salt. Salt on the leaf surface creates a mild osmotic imbalance, and the plant accumulates more soluble compounds to compensate — one explanation for why coastal tea often tastes more concentrated.
Gangkou tea in Manzhou, Pingtung, is the same principle taken to its extreme, close enough to the sea that you can taste the salt.
Oxidation two, firing two. Clear honey-green, mountain fruit with a fresh sea note.
Fair priceestimated
One jin is 600 g. Below NT$500, be sceptical.
A reasonable range is NT$900–1,800 per 600 g. Below NT$500, 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
At the southeastern end of the Central range, taking in both Taimali and Jinfeng townships, with most of the bushes on Jinzhen mountain between eight hundred and fourteen hundred metres. Cloud all year and a wide day-night swing. In 1991 Wu Po-hsiung, then interior minister, took a liking to the tea from Jinzhen, drew one character from each township's name, and called it Taifeng.
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.
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: named locality (22.6150, 120.9650). This marks the growing area, not one specific garden.
Taitung Tea Region3
What there is to do here
3 routes Two days possible Taimali: Jinzhenshan・Luye: Gaotai
The daylily hill at Taimali, where you drink tea looking at the Pacific. On a clear day the ridge shows you Green Island and Orchid Island. Cherry blossom in winter, fireflies in summer, hot springs at the foot of the hill.