Tsou Alishan Dark Age 2015, Batch no.2 - Weight: 100g

A high-altitude, highly oxidised oolong from a beautiful part of central Taiwan. I discovered this garden while exploring Formosa in 2023, trying to find the best of the area.
 
Although I have explored many tea gardens, it was the one in the most remote part of the Alishan Mountains that lived up to my expectations. A garden tended by Taiwan's indigenous Tsou people, where tea is grown without pesticides and where they approach tea processing in their own way, resulting in truly unique teas worth discovering.
 
Alishan Dark Age tea comes from the Chin Xin cultivar and is a 2015 hand harvest, the second batch is a summer harvest. These more oxidised teas are left to age for at least 3 years to give them better flavour and character, they are basically not even drunk/sold fresh.
So the old dogma of only bringing fresh teas does not apply here, on the contrary, with age the tea gains its sophistication, refinement and elegance.
 
The dry leaf has a very intense and fresh aroma of ripe fruit and raisins. This aroma then develops in the cup and the flavour is dominated by ripe fruit, citrus and an elegant and very subtle hint of ageing, which is however minimally noticeable, the tea is now 10 years old, which is the minimum age for aged teas. The aftertaste is very smooth, delicate and sweet.
 
It's an absolutely wonderful gateway into the world of vintage teas and you don't have to worry at all about any unwanted staleness or staleness of the tea, it's a truly delicate drink whose aging process has been controlled.
 
One of the treasures of our offer. 
  

Location: Alishan Mountain Range
Altitude: 1200-1500m
Cultivar: Chin Xin
Leaf type: whole leaf tea
Harvesting type: hand picking, bud and two leaves, or bud and 4 leaves, depending on quality
Use: Gong-fu, or Cold-brew
Oxidation: 70-80%
Level of Roasting: lightly roasted.
 
 
Preparation per 100ml - Gong fu Cha - 5-7g, 90-100°C, 50-60s for first infusion.
Second and third infusion 40-50s, then extend interval by 20-30s each time compared to the previous one.
Lasts for multiple infusions. In this way, you will enjoy the tea from the more delicate first infusion, with subsequent infusions to complement the flavor and full body of this amazing oolong.
Personally I make around 5 infusions, I like to let the tea linger for a long time towards the end to draw out the maximum flavour.