Harvest time: March, 2025

Origin: Nantou, Taiwan

Garden height: 300 m

Cultivar: Hong Yu T-18

Degree of oxidation: Medium-low

Picking Method: Manual

Although not many white teas are produced in Taiwan, our partners in central Taiwan have produced the only white tea known to be produced using this variety in their own factory. Using leaves from their own organic tea garden, they produced this tea completely by hand. Tea leaves do not come into contact with any machines. Similar to Chinese Shou Mei white tea, the young leaves are hand-picked and gently placed to wilt naturally, then shaken by hand to encourage slight oxidation, and finally dried to retain their rich scent.

The dry tea leaf looks quite dark, but it gives a very clear liquid and a wonderful aroma that is felt very quickly after soaking. The tea is sweet, thick and smooth.

Hong Yu (Red Jade) is a unique type of tea (TRES18) recently developed by The Taiwan Tea Research and Extension Station in the hills around Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County, central Taiwan. The research and expansion station at the time was focused on the development and production of other teas and ended up creating one of the truly unique teas in the world. Red Jade is a cross between the Assam variety from Burma and a local Taiwanese variety of wild tea and has become popular as a premium black tea, and is now also used to make a rare and unique white tea.

Like 2023, a relatively normal winter with good cold periods produced a high-quality, lush first fruit with a lot of sweetness in the resulting tea. With the arrival of spring and warmer days, tea in gardens grows more slowly, producing fine and even young leaves very rich in aroma. This special style of white tea has been by far the most popular in the last two years because it is one of the sweetest white teas from the Red Jade variety, and we dare say the best to date!

We are proud to offer you this very pleasant and unique tea, given that the tea is produced in limited quantities.

Preparation – kettle

• 4 g tea
• 200 ml of water
• temp. 85°C
• Spillovers 4: 1.5-2 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, 3 min

Preparation – gaiwan

• 5 g tea
• 110 ml of water
• temp. 85°C
• Overflow 5: 25s, 30s, 50s, 90s, 110s

Cold brew

• Quantity: 8 g of tea per 1000 ml of water
• Preparation: Place the tea leaves in water at room temperature, let them sit for 15 minutes, and then refrigerate them for 7-8 hours. Strain the drink and drink within 24-48 hours.

Serving tip: If desired, you can additionally decorate the finished tea with fresh mint leaves, slices of lemon, orange or other fruit of your choice.