Dongyan Wild TeaDongyan Wild Tea
Where to buy it
Flavour
Delicate aroma with clean sweetness
The Dongyanshan gardens sit at around 1,400 metres, with cloud closing in most afternoons.
This one carries clear ripe fruit and honey. Aroma lets you read the process backwards: a light-style tea gives florals and fresh grass, while ripe fruit and honey mean the oxidation went further, or that firing added its own note. You tell them apart by whether the fruit carries a caramel or charcoal tail.
Once you can do that, you can smell dry leaf and guess how it was made without asking.
Oxidation two, firing two. Bright golden liquor, a moderate cold mineral note.
Fair priceestimated
One jin is 600 g. Below NT$1,200, be sceptical.
A reasonable range is NT$2,000–4,000 per 600 g. Below NT$1,200, ask more questions. 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.
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
Around Dongyanshan in Nanfeng Village, Ren'ai Township, Nantou, at about 1,400 m. Good conditions, and a moderate 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.
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 (24.0200, 121.1400). 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.