Shi Jhou Honey Black Tea (蜜香紅茶)

Shi Jhou Honey Black Tea is a rare black tea which comes from Ali Mountain Area, from Shihjhuo township (石棹). Shihjhuo is a small village on the top of Ali Mountain (altitude 1300m).

Alishan (Ali Shan) mountain is the largest mountain range in Taiwan, it consists of 18 mountains. This tea grows on the high mountain area - Mountain Ali. Together with unique climate this gives to the tea very soft and sweet taste.

Although the name “honey”, it is pure tea leaf only. Just your mouth and throat feel smell sweet after drink. This unique honey taste tea gets due to special climate conditions and production process.

Farm owner combined the traditional black tea making with production of Oriental Beauty tea, when buds and leaves are bitten by the Jacobiasca formosana (one kind of insect live in tea farms) and then the tea will have a special sweet taste.

Because of this insect, farmers do not use any insecticide. As a result, tea is totally natural and organic.

All process is hand made as it is very difficult and time consuming to form roasted tea in balls.

This is very special for its taste and limited kind of tea.

Leaves: black leaves rolled into small balls, which are straighten during brewing

Taste

Clean and clear brew is golden emerald colored. Aroma is rich floral-fruity with a hint of peach. Taste is very soft with sugar and floral aromas and vanilla - creamy aftertaste. This oolong is perfect for quiet afternoon or five o’clock tea.

Brewing

You can use any kind of tea pot, but porcelain tea pot suits much better.

Warm up the tea pot with the boiling water, put about 3 grams of tea, and pour small amount of the boiling water into the tea and pour out.

Then pour 225-250 ml of boiling water and cover tea pot for 3-5 minutes before serving.

Boiling temperature is 95-100°C (205-212°F).

Steep more for more concentrate and deep taste of the tea.

Additional information

This is one of the traditional ways of brewing. Depending on individual gustatory preferences you can vary brewing time from 35s to 5 minutes.

You can also use Chinese traditional way of brewing - spilling, using Gaiwan and brew for 3-5 second each time.

Please note, that it is natural tea with high content of active elements, including caffeine, and minerals and some unusual feelings could appear. In that case we recommend decrease quantity of dry leaves and brewing time.