I came across Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company some time ago, and I fell in love with all the teas that they offered! I reached out to ask about shipping, but Paul, the owner, was kind enough to offer to send me some teas to try! The teas will be split into two posts: this one featuring a white, green, and oolong, and a later posting with only oolongs!
One thing I admire about the company is their dedication to connecting directly with the farmers. As Paul writes on his website: “[f]rom the beginning, I wanted to do things the right way… my passion is to physically curate the best teas in the world directly from the human beings who grow them. I call this “Face to Farmer™ Sourcing”. It means better tea for YOU, better treatment of the environment for our EARTH, and better lives for FARMERS dedicated to their craft.”
I feel sometimes tea farmers end up being a faceless entity so, I really appreciate this approach. Tea is the direct product of the farmers’ work, therefore, learning about the farmers, the farms, and the approach to make teas, I feel, helps develop an appreciation of the tea itself.
With a quick snapshot of the company out of the way, let’s go!
Moonlight White
Description: “Known as “Yue guang bai” this tea is air dried and left to bask in the moonlight on Jing Mai Mountain in remote Yunnan Province over night.”
Review: I’m sure that I sound like such a broken record, but white tea is one of the teas I always admire looking at because of how delicate the leaves are. They are generally fuzzy and light. This one is no exception! The tea was comprised of both buds and leaves and had a nice classic faint sweet honey aroma.
The wet leaves, I found, had a more sweet, floral, and hay aroma. The leaves did not expand much after infusion. The liquor was a tan-yellow and had a very faint aroma compared to the dry and wet blend.
Despite a faint aroma, I found that it had more flavour than some of the white teas that I’ve had! It had a nice mellow sweet hay flavour. This is something that I would reach for if I wanted a nice relaxing type of tea while reading a book (3/5 rating).
- Type: White tea
- Origin: China
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: White tea
- Company: Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company
Jasmine Pearls
Description: “Jasmine Pearl Green Tea is a very well-known green tea and is prized because of its fragrance and smooth drink-ability.”
Review: Jasmine pearls are classic teas but I actually think that this is my first time featuring it! Pears are another tea that I like looking at. Look how round these ones are! After opening the packaging, there was an unmistakable strong jasmine aroma and the aroma became stronger after steeping. The pearls had mostly unfurled after 3 minutes.
The liquor was a yellow-tan colour and left the mouth feeling a bit dry at the tail end of the sip. There was a very bold jasmine taste, but I couldn’t really taste the green tea. The jasmine had a very strong lingering power that stayed in the mouth.
This would be great for someone who wants a green tea with a very strong jasmine taste (3.5/5 rating).
- Type: Green tea
- Origin: Unknown
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Green tea
- Company: Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company
Red Jade
Description: “It’s lighter in body and not as malty as Fomosa Assam but sweeter, more delicate with a cleaner finish.”
Review: I originally mistook this for a black tea, but then I noticed the slightly blue tinge on the leaves. It also had a mildly musky aroma. After steeping, the wet leaves were a unified reddish brown colour and smelled earthy and malty.
The liquor was also a reddish brown and also left the mouth feeling a bit dry. The flavour was more like the infused aroma, and it was earthy and grainy rather than malty. It actually reminded me more of a black tea than an oolong. This had a great comforting taste and I can see how it is sweeter than an Assam (3/5 rating).
- Type: Oolong tea
- Origin: Taiwan
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Oolong tea
- Company: Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company
Final Thoughts
Overall, the brand did not disappoint me and I am pretty happy with what I tried! I think the standout was the Jasmine Pearls purely because it had such a strong flavour and aroma. The second is the Red Jade because I tend to enjoy teas that have grainy or malty flavours.
My next post featuring this brand will be 3 oolongs! Two of them are from the same farm but processed differently, so I am excited to try and see how they compare!
Do you enjoy pearl teas?
1 comment
[…] Jasmine was different than the more common jasmine teas which are unrolled or rolled into a pearl. The dry leaves had a lovely jasmine scent which wasn’t overly strong. Each bundle of tea was […]