Lala Wild TeaLala Wild Tea
Where to buy it
Flavour
High mountain freshness, sweet and smooth
The Lalashan gardens run from 1,000 to 1,600 metres in Fuxing, Taoyuan, within Atayal territory.
The soil here is gravelly and drains fast. Where drainage is fast the roots must go deeper to find water, and deeper roots reach a wider range of minerals — the mineral quality in high-mountain tea is tied directly to soil structure.
The day-night swing can exceed ten degrees Celsius, and the forest cover is intact.
Unfired. Clear golden liquor, distinctive floral and fruit notes, a strong finish without bitterness.
Fair priceestimated
One jin is 600 g. Below NT$900, be sceptical.
A reasonable range is NT$2,000–4,000 per 600 g. Below NT$1,300, 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. This range is estimated from nearby regions and elevation; it has not been verified against listed prices.
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.
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.
Specifications
About the origin
Lalashan in Fuxing, Taoyuan. The gardens sit in four places: Baling, the Guanghua and Xinxing settlements, and Sanguang village. The Lalashan factory is in Sanguang with about ten hectares of its own, the largest single holding here, planted mainly with Qingxin Oolong. The air is cool and damp, the day-night swing runs over ten degrees, and the cloud stays.
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: named locality (24.7030, 121.4120). This marks the growing area, not one specific garden.
Northern Tea Region3
What there is to do here
1 routes Day trip Shimen
Shimen sits at Taiwan’s northern tip, where the Tieguanyin drinks sea moisture all year but is sheltered from the wind by the land itself. Do the tea-hill trail, then the waterfall, then the seafood — that is a day.