Qilai Wild TeaQilai Wild Tea
Where to buy it
Flavour
Cool mineral notes with high mountain florals
The Qilai range sits at 1,900 metres, under cloud for long stretches, with few hours of direct sun.
Less sun means fewer catechins and so less bitterness, while the leaf grows thick and high in pectin. Together those decide how many steeps a tea will give: a thick leaf releases its contents over several pours.
A high-mountain tea still giving flavour on the fifth or sixth steep is behaving normally. If it thins out by the third, the leaf was probably thin, or you used too much and water too hot on the first pour and stripped it in one go.
Unfired. Green leaf, soft and rounded.
Fair priceestimated
One jin is 600 g. Below NT$1,500, be sceptical.
A reasonable range is NT$3,000–6,000 per 600 g. Below NT$1,700, ask more questions. "High mountain tea" has no legal definition in Taiwan. Ask for the exact elevation and the road marker (K number). 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
"High mountain tea" has no legal definition in Taiwan. The K number is a road milepost — the most concrete way to pin down origin. Asking it signals you have done your homework.
Grading standards differ between associations, so awards are not comparable across competitions. Genuine lots come with a seal and certificate.
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.
Specifications
About the origin
The gardens around Qilai are small and the yield sporadic — a few dozen hectares in total, mostly around Duda Village and the Nenggao trailhead.
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.
The window for temperature and timing is narrow. On your first try use slightly less leaf and shorter steeps.
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
A chilled jelly has almost no flavour of its own; a heavily roasted tea would bury it. A fragrant, lightly oxidised tea lifts it instead.
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: tea region only (24.0500, 121.1800). This marks the growing area, not one specific garden.
Ren'ai Tea Region9
What there is to do here
2 routes Two days possible Qingjing・Lushan・Cuifeng, Cuiluan, Chunyang
Qingjing, Lushan, Cuifeng, Chunyang — all above 1,000 m on average, with the Dongyanshan farm reaching 1,750. This is the gateway to hot springs, high pasture and Hehuanshan; tea is one of several reasons to be up here.