Alishan Zhulu TeaAlishan Zhulu Tea
Where to buy it
Flavour
Milky caramel (Jinxuan) with mango and pineapple notes
In 1987, vice-president Hsieh Tung-min tasted the tea at the growers' display room in Shizhuo and, at their request, named it Zhulu — pearl dew, after the drops that hang on the leaf veins at dawn.
Zhulu is the name of the Shizhuo production group. What it sells is Alishan high-mountain oolong under a brand of its own.
Shizhuo is in Zhuqi township at around 1,500 metres, growing both Qingxin Oolong and Jinxuan. The Jinxuan carries a natural milky note. Both are sold under the same name, so ask which one you are getting.
Fired to two, a little heavier than most high-mountain tea, which thickens the finish.
Fair priceverified
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. "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.
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
Grown at Shizhuo in Zhuqi, where locals call it green gold. The gardens sit on slopes between twelve and fifteen hundred metres — cool, often under cloud, on red earth. Qingxin Oolong was trialled here successfully in the 1980s, and the farmers' association and government pushed it, which is why it dominates today, with some TTES No. 12 alongside. As volume grew the growers formed a production group in 1986 — to take the pricing back, and keep the middlemen from taking it off them.
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 (23.5400, 120.7200). This marks the growing area, not one specific garden.
Alishan Tea Region9
What there is to do here
6 routes Two days possible Meishan: Ruili, Ruifeng, Taixing, Taihe・Zhuqi and Shizhuo・Dabang, Tefuye, Lijia — Tsou villages
This district has the most itineraries, and nearly all of them run two days. Ruili, Ruifeng, Taixing and Taihe in Meishan are threaded together by old trails, bamboo, waterfalls and suspension bridges, and the guesthouses are the tea growers themselves. Further up are Zhuqi, Shizhuo and the Tsou villages. Every month of the year has its own crop.