A Heart and Two Leaves: Part 2

Time to try the tea we learned how to harvest!

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.

A Heart and Two Leaves: Part 1

Living in/around a city like Taipei, it's nice to get out every now and then. Although Taipei is a very large, busy, and densely populated city, the fact that it is surrounded by mountains on almost all sides makes it pretty easy to find a peaceful getaway. After all, nothing soothes the weekday blues like a cup of fresh tea on a quiet mountainside.

Assuming the role of tourists in the country where we are Alien Residents, I headed to Muzha with Mike, along with his visiting aunt and uncle, Terri and Brian. After taking the MRT to its limits at the Taipei Zoo station, we made our way to a line of cabs. Sure enough, one cab driver correctly recognized that we speak English, and won our affection and patronage by speaking a little English and knowing exactly where we wanted to go.

The cab itself had lost the "new car smell" many, many years ago. The tachometer needle, jerking uncontrollably, made itself at home in the red zone, even when idling. Nevertheless, it dragged it's four passengers, with an average height of about 6'2", up the mountain. The driver entertained us with questions about our origins, and stories about his dreams of marrying a woman from the Philippines.

"I don't think it will ever come true," the smiling old man sadly stated. Sympathetically smiling back, I asked him why he thinks it won't happen. He gently patted his pocket and said, "No money, no honey." Indeed.

During the climb, we all peeked out from between our knees at the beautiful scenery. Going up the switchbacks, we looked over the steep cliffs and saw Taipei 101 piercing the sky from behind the tall peaks. Finally, the struggling cab rolled to a stop in front of Taipei Tea Promotion Center.

Inside the building, we were given somewhat of a private tour. Due to the temporary suspension of the Maokong Gondola, the Promotion Center is also not running on all cylinders and is more or less closed. However, our tour guide insisted that since we are from very far away, we should be able to see how the tea is harvested and made, so we entered a live episode of "How It's Made: Tea."

With that, we learned how the tea trees are grown, how the leaves are harvested, and also about the 3-day heating/drying/fermenting process between the time it is harvested and the time it's ready for consumption.

1. plucking TGY tea leaves
2. sun-dried withering
3. cooling
4. tossing
5. air-conditional withering
6. stop oxidation
7. curling
8. drying
   

We even learned all the benefits tea has over coffee (fascinating, but I was not converted). Now that we were tea-harvesting experts, it was time to get out and try some of the finished product.