Jiumei TeaJiumei Tea
Flavour
Light-fragrance style
Jiumei is a Bunun settlement at around 1,400 metres in Xinyi township.
This one is about bush age. A tea plant is not picked until its third year; between five and fifteen it is at its peak for both yield and quality; past twenty the yield drops while the flavour thickens, which is why some people seek out old bushes.
An old bush is worth something because its roots run deep and it draws more minerals, giving a heavier liquor. But age alone does not make good tea — a badly managed old plant makes bad tea like any other.
⚠️ When a tea claims old bushes, ask the age and ask how they are managed.
Unfired. Bright honey-green, cold mountain aroma with osmanthus.
Fair priceverified
One jin is 600 g. Below NT$1,200, be sceptical.
A reasonable range is NT$1,800–3,600 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.
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.
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
The Jiumei settlement in Xinyi Township, Nantou grows an organic Yushan black tea at about 1,600 m, certified organic by National Chung Hsing University and with a high-mountain character of its own.
Elevation: the hills around Jiumei, about 1,600 m.
Method: managed to certified organic practice, with an emphasis on keeping the process clean.
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
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 (23.6300, 120.8700). This marks the growing area, not one specific garden.
Yushan Tea Region9
What there is to do here
1 routes Day trip Caopingtou・Yushan visitor tea gardens
Caopingtou and the Yushan visitor gardens in Xinyi township, 1,250–1,500 m up on the flank of Jade Mountain. There is a giant teapot landmark here, and the whole run of the New Central Cross-Island Highway.