March 2026 Tea Subscription

As production costs rose and green tea exports faced bottlenecks, the government shifted its focus to the domestic market. It abolished regulations governing tea factory establishment and encouraged farmers to produce and sell their own tea. Pouchong tea became the market mainstream, and riding this wave, Wuhe Village began producing semi-ball-shaped Pouchong tea (包種茶), a name officially designated in 1978.

In the same year, Dr Li Chongdao (李崇道), then Chairman of the Council of Agriculture, visited Wuhe. After tasting the fragrant, mellow, and sweet semi-ball-shaped Pouchong tea crafted by local farmers, he bestowed upon it the name “Tianhe Tea” (天鶴茶, Heavenly Crane Tea). (Wuhe means dancing crane under word for word translation.) From that point on, Ruisui Tianhe Tea (瑞穗天鶴茶) rose to fame, and the cultivation area expanded rapidly. The Wuhe plateau soon became almost entirely covered with tea gardens, reaching a total planting area of 200 hectares.

In 1999, Chen Huicang (陳惠藏), section chief at the Taitung Branch of the Tea Research and Extension Station (茶業改良場台東分場), used the tea from Ruisui to develop the very first honey scented tea - Honey Green Tea. Following this, tea farmers in the Wuhe (舞鶴) village of Ruisui Township continued experimenting and refining the process, eventually creating honey red tea. 

The honey series of teas famous in Taiwan are made from tea leaves that have been naturally bitten by the small green leafhopper (Jacobiasca formosana). Also known as cotton leafhopper or tea green leafhopper, it is a pest of cotton, groundnuts and tea. However, in the tea regions of Asia, its feeding changes the chemical content of tea leaves to produce a tea of a distinctive honey flavour, as seen in Oriental Beauty wulong tea of Taiwan and Darjeeling second flushes of India. These teas require meticulous roasting by skilled farmers on the bug bitten leaves. This means that beyond caring for the tea trees, growers must also protect their tiny helpers - the bugs themselves. Accordingly, no chemical pesticides can be used in the tea gardens, perfectly embodying the spirit of toxin-free agriculture and harmonious coexistence with nature.

During the plum rain (梅雨) season (also known as East Asian rainy season) around the Grain in Ear solar term (芒種) lasting two weeks from 1st to 3rd week of June, leafhoppers feed heavily on tea buds. Their feeding triggers a series of complex chemical changes inside the young leaves - reduced moisture, altered compounds, and transformed aromas - resulting in the tea’s distinctive, elegant honey scent. Honey teas also contain higher catechin levels than traditional teas, elevating its health benefits.

Our honey red tea carries the trademark logo of Ruisui Tianhe Tea indicating authenticity of the production area of Ruisui, now famous for both the traditional pouchong tea and the new invention of honey teas.

We are brewing this tea in our Parchmen Glass Gaiwan, with 3 gm of tea to 120 ml of 80°C distilled water for 1 mins. The dry leaves are black, curled and thick, with good amount of tips as seen by the golden tips. While most red teas are stretched and straight, Ruisui red tea takes on a resemblance of the pouchong style - slighted curled and rolled. The brew is light brown in colour. The tea has honey aroma and is smooth, is heavier than other red teas, and feels like a wulong tea. This is because most good red teas are from spring harvest while the Ruisui red tea is from a summer harvest. The usual sour aftertaste of a red tea is also missing, transformed into a tingling sensation below the tongue even after the tea is swallowed. The brewed leaves has a hint of roasted notes, overlaid with some brown sugar notes with clean honey notes when the leaves are cooler. The second brew has reduced intensities, with a shorter afterflavour but still forward on honey. The heavier mouthfeel and heavier sensation during the swallow are muted this round, with honey sweetness developing more as the tea cools, with honey aroma lingering in the nose. On the 3rd brew, we used a lower temperature at 75°C. This really cleans up the tea and brings up more honey sweetness, however, the sour sensation under the tongue increases, which would be more intense if we have started at 75°C in the first brew.


The second tea this month is from Doke Tea Estate from Bihar state in India, famed for the ancient Nalanda Monastery that the Tang dynasty Chinese monk travelled to (albeit without the monkey, the pig, the shark and the dragon). The estate is named after the Doke River which is a tributary of the great Teesta River that flows through Darjeeling and onwards south to the state of Bihar. Doke is located at the militarily important 'Chicken's Neck' (Kishanganj) which until 1840 is part of Nepal and remains home to many native tribes. Although it is geographically closer to Darjeeling (200 km), its soil and climate are closer to Assam.

Where Doke Tea Estate is has been designated by the Indian government to be a “non-traditional” tea-growing area. Tea cultivation there only began in the 1990 and this estate is a shining example, having established an international name for producing the award winning red (western black), white and green teas. Starting as a small estate that sold leaves to nearby factories, the estate took 10 years to grow to its current size and is now also certified organic. Doke Tea Estate is owned by Rajiv Lochan, an internationally renowned tea figure, who has 15 years learning his craft in Darjeeling at numerous tea gardens, including Ambootia, Phuguri, and Longview. His success in expansion stemmed from an early decision to produce hand-rolled teas, drawing inspiration from his extensive travel to tea factories in China. Over years of experimentation led by his daughter Neha, the rolling is producing a tea that is malty like an Assam and yet sweet and floral like a Darjeeling. In an area dominated by CTC (Cut-Tear-Curl) leaves, Doke Tea Estate stands tall in producing hand-crafted small batch teas that are award winning. The estate flagship tea, Doke Black Fusion is Gold Star Winner at the Great Taste Awards in the UK and at the AVPA Festival in Paris. It is hand rolled tightly and heavily oxidised, as seen from the full black leaves and the bright copper infusion. Picking is 1 bud 1 leaf and leaf size is neat. This tea is first flush 2026, harvested on 25th February 2026.

We are using the Parchmen Glass Gaiwan, at a ratio of 3 gm to 100 ml of 85°C filtered water for 1 min 30 sec. It develops a beautiful bright copper colour, with notes of rose, malt and sandalwood on a smooth body. It has some sweetness, is brisk and bright but no astringency even at the third brew at the same parameters. It is best at the second brew. Lifting the cup to the nose gives a hint of stonefruits, like Chinese red teas. The infusion shows the picking standard of 1 bud 1 leaf, but there is a some amount of broken leaves. Being hand-rolled, the broken bits are not likely from heavy rolling as seen in machine-rolled Darjeelings but rather from shipment damage. 
 

The last tea this month is a black tea. In the pristine, remote hills of An Hua county, wild tea trees share the forest land with the other flora of the primary forest. Probably untouched for centuries, these tea trees were first discovered by villagers in 1950-60s after which tea picking and making started fervently. Despite this good start, the nascent tea industry ground to a halt shortly under a confluence of factors - remoteness of the county, lack of supporting logistics and infrastructure out from the tea hills, poor market support and interest, and the national policy then to "return farmland to nature". It was not until the late 1970s that the market reform in China opened new doors for it. By then, the abandoned tea farms two decades ago have returned wild. Well rested for a few decades, these wild teas offer tremendous potential in becoming quality teas. 

This tea is from Er Fu (尔福茶业), a tea company that was founded in 1998. It started with a single green tea product, and switched focus to black tea since 2012 when a black tea health craze started gaining steam. Noting that black tea are sold only in tea shops and not in supermarkets, he made the bold move to distribute his tea there. It proved to be a wise move, allowing him rapid growth in capital for his subsequent business expansion. 

To make this black tea, the tea leaves are harvested around Gu Yu (谷雨), a two-week time period in the Chinese calendar from the last week of April to the first week of May. It is special grade, which means an early harvest of fine picking. It is a 'Tian Jian" (天尖), denoting the fine picking standard as one bud and two leaves. There are higher grades - "Ya Jian" (芽尖) and "Bai Mou Jian" (白毛尖), which are mostly tips and rare in the market. The 'Golden Flowers' - a special processed black tea - was designated as a royal tribute tea during Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing dynasty (1735–1799).

The tea variety in An Hua are of smaller and medium sized leaves, as compared to the bigger leaf assamica variety in Yunnan Pu'er. For a deeper and bolder flavour in An Hua black teas, older and thicker leaves are needed. However, the featured tea is made using fresh young tips, which turns orange after fermentation. Of the black tea processing techniques, making the "golden flowers" is the most difficult. In fact, the 'golden flowers' are a form of yellow molds (Aspergillus genus, 冠突散囊菌) which are harmless and yet beneficial to human health in many ways. It promotes amino acids formation in the tea leaves, and it forms enzymes and activates existing enzymes in the leaves, producing soluble polysaccharides. Medically, such polysaccharide compounds regulate blood sugars and fats, reduce blood pressure and strengthen gut health.

The unique moist and cool environment in An Hua promotes the propagation of the natural molds which builds a symbiotic relationship with the tea. Found in no other tea regions, the "golden flowers" are a unique feature in An Hua black teas. In making "golden flowers" tea, the black tea is first steamed to rid of unwanted bacteria and mold, while the retained moisture of 25% creates the condition for the growth of the intended aspergillus under exacting temperature (25-29℃) and humidity (70%). The tea needs to include stems (16-20% by weight) so as to allow aeration and catalyse the formation of "golden flowers". The leaves is then loosely compressed and shaped into bricks, allowing the air gaps and also allow easy fragmenting for brewing. They are placed on wooden shelf to ferment naturally for around 20 - 30 days in a special roasting room. Once the mold reach optimal amount, the heat is turned on to stop the formation and dry the leaves before boxing.

Noticeably different from the usual round shape of a pu'er black tea, An Hua black tea usually adopts the shape of a brick or a rod in specific multiples of 50g. (50g is denoted as 1 'liang (两), which is 10% of a 'jin' (斤).) The "golden flowers" smell like a common Chinese herb called 'Fu Ling' (茯苓), which is a fungus called China root), hence this tea is traditionally termed a 'Fu' brick.

This tea can be made at two provinces. Historically, the initial steps are carried out in Hunan province, while the critical steps in growing the "golden flowers" are done in Shaanxi province Jingyang (陕西泾阳). In 1953, Hunan Anhua Brick Tea Factory (湖南安化砖茶厂), now Baishaxi Tea Factory (白沙溪茶厂) successfully manufactured the first batch of "Golden Flowers" , removing the need to transport the tea to Shaanxi anymore. The Shaanxi tea is a Geographical Indicator (GI) product of China, but not the Hunan one. 

This tea can be compacted into a brick using machines or hand. Our tea is made using hands, layering the tea delicately 11 times or more, allowing tearing off the tea layer by layer in thin slices. The tea is from the natural wild tea forest of Five Dragon Mountain (五龙山). At 1,050m, the wild arbor tea trees grow slowly under an average temperature of 16.1°C and develop deep roots into the granite soil in search for water. Six years in the making, the tea was first made into a normal black tea in 2013 and aged until 2019 when it underwent the "golden flower" process. Already 13 years since the leaves are picked, the many years of aging mellows down the tea, such that there is no astringency even after long and repeated brewing, even at boiling temperature. In the last month, we drank the same tea aged since 2014. Let us compare what difference one year's extra aging made to the tea.

We are brewing this tea without breaking it up (in compressed fragments) in a Parchmen Glass Gaiwan, at 3.5g to 130ml of 100°C water for 30 sec continuously for up to 6 brews. The 2013 brew is darker in colour than the 2014 tea, with the former having a reddish amber tint. The older tea is thicker in mouthfeel, more rounded and mellow, with some sweetness, whereas the 2014 tea under comparison seems more greenish, more sour but fresher, giving the impression of forest after a rain. The throat resonance is more obvious for the older tea. Sweetness develops more with more brews and as the tea cools. The tea has no bitterness or astringency, and is suitable as a night tea.


Enjoy your teas of March 2025!

Thank you for coming onboard Parchmen & Co and travel with us to savour our world in a cup!