Ruan AnRuan An
Where to buy it
Flavour
Delicate aroma, mellow and sweet
Ruan'an is at 1,300 metres, and its Bagua garden is a photographer's regular — rows wrapping the hilltop in rings.
The shape does a job. Planting along the contour turns every row into a small check dam: rainwater travels sideways instead of straight downhill, so topsoil and fertiliser stay put. Almost every hillside garden in Taiwan is laid out this way.
An is a saddle, the dip between two summits, and wind funnels through it.
Oxidation two, firing two.
Fair priceverified
One jin is 600 g. Below NT$1,400, be sceptical.
A reasonable range is NT$2,000–3,500 per 600 g. Below NT$1,400, ask more questions. Competition-grade lots command a large premium. Ask which association ran the competition, which year, and for the seal.
What to ask when buying this
One region can span 700 m to 1,700 m, with several times the price difference. The same name does not mean the same grade.
Grading standards differ between associations, so awards are not comparable across competitions. Genuine lots come with a seal and certificate.
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.
Specifications
About the origin
In Da'an Village, Zhushan Township, Nantou — also called the Bagua tea garden, after the way the terraces ring the odd-shaped hill. Sunny slopes, and a wide planted area.
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
Here are the closest teas we can actually ship you:
Alishan High Mountain TeaAlishan 1700m 1700 m Milky Osmanthus2.0–4.0kLocation accuracy: named locality (23.6000, 120.7300). This marks the growing area, not one specific garden.
Shanlinxi Tea Region9
What there is to do here
1 routes Day trip Shanlinxi・Around Yangzaiwan and Longfengxia
Above 1,500 m, forty minutes further up the road from Lugu. This is ginkgo, moso bamboo and cloud country; tea is one thing among several here, though it is the one that keeps.