So a couple of days ago we got to go take a gondola ride to the top of one of the mountains that surrounds Taipei City. Once, we were at the top of the mountain we took our time hiking down some really spectacular zig-zag trails that wound through family owned mountain orchards and crop fields. We 
saw some pretty amazing views and saw some new fruits that I had never heard of before. We could see every thing from this side of the mountain. Pic.#1 is a view towards the Buddhist temple on the opposite mountainside. These kinds of temples are spread all over Taiwan and are a mix between Buddhism and ancestor worship.
All along we were headed to a local family owned tea field halfway down the moutain. It was beautiful with several fields that all had fresh tea of various varieties ( lets leave it at various because I could not begin to pronounce all of their names!) We were at the tea farm namely to get a hands on experience of a tea farmer. So they threw us out into the mountainside field and told us to get to it. We picked tea for about 15 minutes. The trick is to get larger leaves that have a fresh light green hue to them. That way when they dry they will be flavorful and large enough to handle. By the way, all of the westerners were terrible at this tea picking thing. We couldn't get the right sizes or speed. Most of the these proffesionals can pick premium tea leaves for 8 hours a day and have over a dozen kilos of tea. We didn't come anywhere close to that. 
Afterwards, they took us into the shop and showed us how to dry and ferment the tea. Overall it is a much more simple process than I had previously thought, but there is also a lot of technique that could take years to master.
All along we were headed to a local family owned tea field halfway down the moutain. It was beautiful with several fields that all had fresh tea of various varieties ( lets leave it at various because I could not begin to pronounce all of their names!) We were at the tea farm namely to get a hands on experience of a tea farmer. So they threw us out into the mountainside field and told us to get to it. We picked tea for about 15 minutes. The trick is to get larger leaves that have a fresh light green hue to them. That way when they dry they will be flavorful and large enough to handle. By the way, all of the westerners were terrible at this tea picking thing. We couldn't get the right sizes or speed. Most of the these proffesionals can pick premium tea leaves for 8 hours a day and have over a dozen kilos of tea. We didn't come anywhere close to that. 
Afterwards, they took us into the shop and showed us how to dry and ferment the tea. Overall it is a much more simple process than I had previously thought, but there is also a lot of technique that could take years to master. Much to my delight they then took us into their dining room and let us have all of the award winning tea that we wanted. Let me tell you, there isn't much like receiving a cup of tea from the man who picked it. Bar none, The best tea I have ever had.
So yea it was a fun day, and we got to have a really good time making friends with the locals. We even got some funny pics of some group members in the local tea picking costumes (see above pics..ha)
Fun, reminds me of Kenya, those tea fields. Love you and can not wait to see more.
ReplyDeleteLindsay