The Truth about Taiwan Beauty

I was in Miaoli today, the mid upper part of Taiwan, where Taiwan Beauty bushes are indigenous to. Clever merchants from Hsinchu would come and buy the crops from the poor farmers and then enter competitions and claim that Taiwan Beauty is form Hsinchu instead of Miaoli. In reality, none of it is grown in Hsinchu, so said Miss Lin, who, looking no more than 35, says she’s been making tea for over 30 years. All those award winners she tasted with us were made by her. The life of a tea master is not for humans, she said. During production season, she doesn’t get to sleep for days, and once she collapsed and fell asleep, and was so tired that she fought herself hard. What was more important, she said she asked herself, death by sleeplessness, or an award winning tea? Well, at the end we know which she chosed.

There is fewer and fewer quantity, she said, due to environmental issues. Because Taiwan Beauty has to be grown in relatively hot, humid areas to have the leaf hoppers come, alternating typhoons and dry spells have wrecked the stability of their lower elevations. Moreover, the buds are so tiny they are impossible to pick, even the most experienced 80 year old Obaasans have trouble harvesting more than half a lb a day. Once they are harvested, there is additional sorting, one bud at a time, to separate them into different batches. To win a competition, you need cooperation between the heavens, the earth, and mankind. It’s teamwork involving the universe. In any case, I am bringing back the Third Place Winner so we can all experience what that cooperation tastes like!

Taken from http://teapersonality.blogspot.com/