The mountain in Muzha is covered with dozens of tea houses that harvest and make their own tea. The hillside plantations are most famous for Tieguanyin and Baozhong tea, so there was no way we could hop back into our trusty cab and roll back to Taipei without trying it. After a small sample of Tieguanyin at the Promotion Center, our tour guide sent us in the direction of Yao Yue Teahouse.
At this very famous 24-hour tea joint, Mike, Terri, Brian, and I were seated on a porch overlooking the mountains. Although at a brisk temperature of somewhere around 60 Fahrenheit, the atmosphere was quite serene. Due to the chilly weather, we were one of the only groups at the restaurant. Craving Taiwanese tea to warm ourselves up, we took our server's recommendation and ordered the Baozhong tea.
To clear up any misconceptions, Baozhong is not a Snapple flavor, and isn't exactly prepared like a Lipton tea-bag. At Yao Yue Teahouse, I learned a life skill that forever changed what used to be a simple process: the art of making tea.
After we watched the waiter prepare the first cup for us, he left us to fend for ourselves if we wanted anymore. For those of you taking notes, let's first start with the required materials: A tea leaf getter-outer, a tea leaf getter-outer basket, an earthenware waste bowl, an earthenware teapot (with lid), a small earthenware pitcher, a funnel filter, a smelling thimble, a tea cup, a run-off tray, boiling water, and of course, tea leaves.
Okay, so first you take the tea leaf getter-outer and put the tea leaves in the earthenware teapot (with lid), and overfill the teapot with boiling water so it spills over onto the run-off tray, then you pour the contents into each smelling thimble and tea cup, then discard everything into the waste bowl (it is essential to first warm all of the cups), then refill the earthenware teapot (with lid) with the boiling water, let steep for 50 seconds, then pour, in a swirling motion, into the funnel filter, which is in the small earthenware pitcher, then fill each smelling thimble with tea, and place a teacup upside-down over the smelling thimble, then swiftly turn it upside-down and lift the smelling thimble out of the teacup. Smell the smelling thimble. Drink the tea. Repeat up to 3 times for each batch of tea leaves.
Got it?
Along with enjoying some thin noodles in tea oil, and sweet potato leaves, we each took turns performing the tea-making ritual, making sure that nobody skipped a step or steeped for too long. Although each time we only got about a sip of tea, they were the most finely prepared and most sophisticated sips of tea I've ever had.
"Are you going to tell your buddies from home about this, John?" Terri asked, as I sipped my tea with my pinkie out. I guess so.
Practical? No.
Traditional? Yes.
Worth the effort? Probably not.
Would I do it again? Absolutely.
Even if I had to do the dishes? Not a chance.
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