A morning picking at Meijia, and a packet of your own tea to take home
The morning session starts at 9:30 and finishes around 11:40 — two hours. First the history of the Muzha tea hills, then out into the garden to pick, then indoors to make it: firing, rolling, and everyone leaves with a packet of their own.
We drove up. Coming by gondola, it is about a seven to eight minute walk from the Maokong station.
How the morning goes
- Sit down firstThe history of the Muzha tea hills and of this garden, then the basics: how the types divide, what oxidation actually means. Only then do you go down into the rows. The order matters — once you know what you are picking, your hands are doing more than collecting leaves.
- Out to pickOne bud and two leaves. This part is outdoors, and the April sun in Maokong already has some weight to it — bring your own hat and sleeves.
- FiringHeat kills the enzymes and fixes how far the oxidation is allowed to go. After this step the tea has already decided what it is going to be.
- RollingTwisting the leaf and pressing the juices to the surface — this is what makes it taste of anything once brewed. The most physical part of the morning, and the best.
A packet each, and a pot of hot tea on the table. Mine that day was Tieguanyin — the Muzha signature, medium-heavy roast, a little fruit acidity under the charcoal. Drunk with the smell of freshly rolled leaf still on your hands, it lands differently.
Eating: the tea goes into the food
Two hectares of its own tea, grown and made here — and what sets the place apart is that the Tieguanyin, Jinxuan and Baozhong go straight into the cooking: chicken smoked over Tieguanyin, tea-leaf fried rice, tea-braised tofu. The smoked chicken is done to order and takes about twenty minutes, so reserve it if you know you are eating.
Check this before you book
| What | The rule |
|---|---|
| Group size | Picking and making: fifteen minimum, thirty maximum. Garden walks and tea ceremony run from two. |
| Months | Open sessions for individuals April to October (their site has also said November — go by what they tell you when you book). |
| Booking | Hands-on sessions need booking fourteen days ahead. |
| Rain | No cancellation, no postponement. The making is indoors; only the picking becomes optional, and a raincoat covers it. |
| Eating | NT$200 a head minimum or one drink, ninety minutes for a meal; order the gongfu tea service and you get one hundred and eighty. |
| Discount | On the day of a session, a meal over NT$1,000 gets ten percent off. |
| Address | No. 19, Lane 38, Section 3, Zhinan Road, Wenshan District, Taipei |
They sell their own leaf too — Tieguanyin at NT$400 for 75g, plus Wenshan Baozhong, Oriental Beauty and Jinxuan oolong. To ask whether a session has filled, or to hold a table, phoning or LINE (@meijiatea1990) is quicker. Prices and packages are theirs and do change; go by what they tell you.