ShibiShibi
Where to buy it
Flavour
Cold-mineral mountain character, clean and sweet
Shibi is at 1,200 metres in Gukeng, Yunlin — the highest tea ground in the county.
The name describes the geology: there are large exposed sandstone cliffs here. Sandstone drains fast, so the roots do not sit in water, which matters a great deal in a wet mountain district.
Cloud and mist sit on the place year-round and the sun hours are short. Less sun means catechins build up more slowly, and less bitterness with them. Most of what people call high-mountain sweetness starts here.
Oxidation two, firing two. Rounded leaf, golden liquor.
Fair priceverified
One jin is 600 g. Below NT$800, be sceptical.
A reasonable range is NT$1,400–2,800 per 600 g. Below NT$800, ask more questions.
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.
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
The Shibi settlement in Caoling, Gukeng, above 1,300 metres — Yunlin's only high-mountain district, under cloud and cool all year. It had its run in the 1980s and 90s: a dozen processing sheds, and buyers who sat in them waiting for the leaf to come off and would not leave without it.
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 (23.5670, 120.7200). This marks the growing area, not one specific garden.
Yunlin Tea Region5
What there is to do here
3 routes Day trip Gukeng: Huashan and Zhanghu・Gukeng: Caoling and Shibi・Linnei
One township, coffee at 400 m and high-mountain tea at 1,200. Gukeng lets the two get on with their own business: Huashan and Zhanghu turned to garden cafés and hill trails, while Caoling and Shibi kept making high-mountain tea. Linnei sits lower still, 200 to 400 m.