The mid-August weather is still hot, with clear blue skies offering views of the peaks in Shei-Pa National Park. As Jacky Chang inspects the ‘Chin Shin Dah Pan’ (qingxin dapang) cultivar tea bushes on his tea farm in Miaoli County’s Sanwan Township, he sighs: “The erratic weather this year has affected the activity of the tea jassids.” Nevertheless, he can’t conceal his excitement about having just been notified that one of his teas once again received three stars from the UK’s Great Taste Awards.

The Great Taste Awards accept entries of more than 10,000 food items every year from over 100 countries. Of these, 500 judges award worthy food and drink products one to three stars. More than 70% of entered products receive no stars. In 2022, the 28th year of the awards, there were just four single-­estate teas globally that earned three stars, two of which came from Taiwan: Jacky Chang’s Oriental Beauty, and the Paochong (baozhong) tea from Hsieh Chin-tu’s farm in Pinglin, New Taipei City.

Master tea processor Jacky Chang has won 15 stars from the UK’s Great Taste Awards for his black and dongfang meiren teas. 

Looking to make a mark

Chang has been entering the awards competition for five years and has earned 15 stars in all. He has set several firsts along the way: In 2019, his Formo Cha High Mountain Fruity Black Tea took three stars at the Great Taste Awards—a first for Taiwan. And in 2021, when only three single-estate teas from around the world won three stars, two were Chang’s Oriental Beauty teas. 

But back in 2018 he took tea of a grade that would go for NT$30,000 per kilogram in Taiwan to the Great Taste Awards, but came up starless. The judges, moreover, described the brew as bland and said that it left no impression.

To produce an “unforgettable” tea, Chang used a three-by-three matrix in his systematic search for a perfect roasting profile: The horizontal elements included increases in the level of oxidation, the level of roasting, and flavor; and the vertical ele­ments represented adjustments to moisture content, temperature, and roasting time.

Chang’s black tea carries the faint aroma of tropical fruit when it hits the throat. Drinkers always remember it fondly.

Chang believes that roasting black tea using radiant heat can modify the astringency of tea and add to its smoothness.

Maverick path to glory

The black tea Chang produced has a bright red tint, and it carries a faint aroma of tropical fruits as it goes down the throat. Some say it suggests passion fruit or mango, and others pineapple or peach. The finish holds a lingering floral note like marigold. The effort earned three GTA stars among single-estate teas in 2019.

When the judges announced that he had won the highest honor of three stars, Chang thought to himself, “Is it really me?” He carried an ROC flag to the stage, trembling with nervousness and excitement. Recalling that experience, Chang chokes up a bit as he says, “I was able to represent my country, and get tea experts from around the world to pay attention to Taiwan.”

To emerge victorious with a black tea in the UK, he eschewed large-leaf tea varieties and selected ‘Chin Shin [qingxin] Oolong’ tea bushes from Ren’ai Township in Nantou.

Chang also changed the rotation speed of the roaster to create a black tea that held its fruity fragrance and freshness. Entering Japan’s World Green Tea Contest in the category for non-green teas, he earned the Grand Gold Prize. It was the first time in the 15 years of the competition that a Taiwanese tea producer had been honored with the top award for a black tea. 

Globally, 70–80% of tea drinkers drink black tea. “By using the roasting profiles I’ve developed and letting judges at top competitions around the world have a taste, we’ve shown that Taiwan is no longer just about its high-mountain teas,” Chang says. “I use Taiwan oolong varieties and a few techniques from the oolong-making process such as sun-­withering and stirring, but I largely follow the process for making black tea, which in conjunction with Taiwan’s humidity brings a fruity tartness that people love. The end result is a world-beating black tea.”

In 2019, he had won a single star for his dongfang meiren tea at the Great Taste Awards. Yet coming from the homeland of dongfang meiren teas, Chang kept at it, using the qingxing dapang tea variety, adjusting the level of oxidation and improving the tea processing profile. Heaven helps those who help themselves, and in 2020 he earned two stars. Then in 2021 he won three stars with two separate ­dongfang meiren teas. Those really put Taiwan on the map for dongfang meiren teas. His teas have a transparent amber color. At attack they carry a hint of jasmine, while at midpalate a citrusy aroma takes center stage.

In 2019 Jacky Chang attended the finals of the Great Taste Awards in Britain, where he promoted Taiwanese teas at the British Museum and invited local ethnic Chinese to attend classes in which introduced teas from Taiwan. He encouraged everyone to visit Taiwan. (courtesy of Jacky Chang) 

With Heaven’s blessing, a tea crop will suffer neither excessive rains nor withering droughts, and tea jassids will come out to nibble on the leaves, leaving them with a sweet, honey-like scent.

The fifth generation takes charge

Coincidentally, Hwa Gung Tea, which is keen to recreate the excellent tastes of the past and uses oolong varieties for its Lishan black teas, is also a frequent winner at various major tea competitions.

Johnny Tu, the fifth-generation proprietor of the firm, recalls drinking his grandfather’s dongding oolong when he was little. He fondly remembers its full-bodied flavor. It made him want to produce a good tea with a smooth mouthfeel.

In 2005 he came home to take care of his ailing grandfather and began to help process teas. He would always hear the tea masters say, “Tea that isn’t stirred won’t be fragrant.” But why did it need to be stirred? And how should it be stirred? The masters knew it as a truism of tea processing but didn’t know the reason behind it.

Taking classes at the Council of Agriculture’s Tea Research and Extension Station and elsewhere, Tu gained an understanding of the scientific principles of tea production. 

He took what he had learned and applied it to recreate the techniques used and flavors created by earlier generations of his family in making tie­guan­yin and dongding oolong teas. Beginning with his fall crop in 2009, Tu began to experiment with processing qingxin oolong grown at 2,000 meters, stirring the leaves multiple times and using a tea rolling machine. The teas had refined aromas, with his red oolong carrying an especially sweet fruity scent.

He took fresh qingxin oolong leaves and subjected them to double oxidation and withering to create a black tea, going so far as to give the leaves six rounds of stirring. Tu says that the defining characteristic of high-mountain qingxin oolong is its smooth mouthfeel. The aroma and taste of the Li­shan Black Tea that he makes with it is even sweeter and more refined than Darjeeling, while possessing the floral fruitiness of oolong. 

In 2013 Hwa Gung Tea was invited to take part in the triennial World Tea Festival in Shizuoka, Japan.

At the festival, Princess Akiko of Mikasa specially came to express gratitude for the aid that Taiwan provided after the March 11, 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and to visit every stand. When she tasted Hwa Gung’s Lishan Black Tea, she said, “Wonderful!” The next day an endless stream of Japanese consumers came to buy the tea.

In 2013 Tu resolved to compete in the World Green Tea Contest at the next festival three years later. He predicted with confidence: “Our tea will certainly win a prize.” As foreseen, in 2016 Hwa Gung’s Lishan Oolong Tea and Lishan Black Tea both won Grand Gold Prizes (only awarded to the top ten teas at the competition).

Hwa Gung’s Lishan black teas, made from high-mountain oolong, offer sweet and refined brews that still hold some of oolong’s floral notes.

Johnny Tu, who often serves as a judge at tea competitions, believes that three elements combine to create a good tea: the environment, the climate and production skills.

In 2016 Hwa Gung Tea won two Grand Gold Prizes at Japan’s World Green Tea Contest for its Lishan black and qingxiang oolong teas. (courtesy of Hwa Gung Tea)

Single estate, single variety

Over the last five years, Geow Yong Tea Hong, Kalon Tea, Yoshan Tea and others have likewise won golds at the event for their oolong teas grown on high mountain slopes around Lishan and Ali­shan.

Just as Bordeaux in France is particularly suited to growing wine grapes, Taiwan, explains Tu, has conditions well suited to tea cultivation, including an island climate and recent geological formations uplifted by the collision of the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate that make its soil particu­larly mineral rich. In the fall and winter the prevailing winds in Taiwan blow from the northeast, whereas in the spring and summer they blow from the southwest. These shroud its mountain slopes with clouds and fog that support the growth of tea bushes. In concert, these conditions make Taiwan’s mountain slopes uniquely suited to growing tea. 

For instance, for three years running beginning in 2018, high-mountain Lishan black teas and qing­xiang oolong teas won golds at France’s AVPA (Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products) awards, as well as two golds and a silver at Belgium’s Monde Selection awards in 2021. 

“Tea leaves are the most straightforward and ‘­naked’ of foods. From the brewed tea and its aroma, one can discern the weather and environment in which it was grown.” In Tu’s reckoning, Taiwan’s fine teas are like single-malt whiskies from Scotland or single-estate coffees. Marketed worldwide, these exquisite teas made using leaves from a single vari­ety of qingxin oolong grown at the same farm in the same season can give their drinkers a sense of Taiwan’s terroir and the nuanced elegance of its tea culture. 

During the process of sun withering, a tea master gently flips the leaves, helping to promote drying. (courtesy of Hwa Gung Tea)

From the high-elevation tea district of Lishan come single-estate teas using leaves from a single season’s crop that capture the refined nuances of the terroir. (courtesy of Hwa Gung Tea)