As often said, good teas come from high mountains. How high is high, and for that matter, how steep? Here in Taiwan, San Lin She, things are taken to extremes! At 2000 meters with 60 degree inclines,so steep that mere vertigo does not approach how scary it can make one feel, amidst blind white cloud, one might wonder, did I pay the right price for these teas? Just how much effort does this High Mountain oolong really take? Someone planted these on the 60 degree hills. Someone carried up equipment to prune and weed and fertilizer, at 2000 meters. A lot of 70 and 80 year olds harvested the leaves all by hand, in the blinding fog. And that’s all just raw leaves. Here, we were merely tourists.

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The fog rolled in and all the world was a white milky haze. Hiking up steep inclines of 70 degrees at times, we huffed and puffed to the top of the world: the world of tea that is, at 2000 meters. Paying homage to the High Mountain oolongs is crucial to anyone considering themselves tea enthusiasts, and climbing a hill that high and that steep allows one to fully understand what ‘High Mountain’ means.
San Lin She, Taiwan, is home to huge purple blue bamboo groves, ginkgo trees and fragrant flowers, and one of the world’s most sought after oolong teas, with an intense floral fragrance all its own unforgettable character.
The tour group struggled to the top before the view was completely obscured. Thankfully the rolling curves of tea bushes were magnificent and plentiful in view for the strenuous hike to be worthwhile!

We tasted a crop harvested 2 days ago, and it was rich and floral. The considerable drought means the taste will be more intense than other years. Each cup of High Mountin oolong is evocative of the energy of the mountain, and all the drama and tragedies of a global weather changes that the tea plants struggle to adapt to. We taste and remember each differing year- like meeting a new friend each time, some more to our liking than others, all came with their own story.

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