Forest Sprite High Mountain Oolong 2026 Spring

This tea is grown by a father and son team near Smangus, a remote village in Northern Taiwan known for virgin old growth forests and ancient cypress trees.  They are indigenous Atayal people who were born and raised on the mountain. This garden is about 1800m in elevation, higher up the mountain from where our Diva is harvested. Their family planted this garden amongst a forest grove high up in the mountain. It is incredibly rich in biodiversity, and you can taste it. The tea plants get no help from modern agricultural chemicals, so must defend themselves and reach deep into the earth for nutrients. The plants are therefore strong and resilient, and offer some special qualities due to this. The leaves are thicker than you may be used to, and yield an exceptionally viscous broth. Broth brews up a deep jade color and has a visibly gel like texture that holds bubbles for an extra long time. The aroma is hard to describe. It is 'planty', kind of like the fresh, calming mossy smell you can notice when walking through a cool forest. It still clearly has the bright singing florality and sweet fruity aroma of good high mountain oolong, but it spends less time on those 'food' type of notes. The tea feels clear and open with a density and richness in the broth that is indisputably buttery. Definite sugarcane sweetness and enticing, almost spicy-herbal returning aroma lingers for a long time.  Because of the life it lived, this is a tea that starts off a little slow but continues to unfold over many many infusions. Don't judge it on the first or even second infusion. Three is tasty and around four or five it really starts coming into its own. The reason is the thick, wild grown leaves which take time to penetrate with hot water and extract their deeper goodness. So don't be too rushed to finish a session with this tea. I think it would be a shame to run it through any less than eight infusions, and even ten seems to be an easy target. If you don't have that kind of time, perhaps letting the already brewed leaves continue to cold brew in a pitcher in the fridge would be a good idea. It has a lot to give. Note : Photo is winter Diva. I will update with new photo soon. Facts Harvest Location : Smangus, Jianshi Township, Hsinchu County, Taiwan Harvest Date : May 2026 Cultivar : Qing Xin Oolong Farming Method : Unsprayed Altitude : 1800 meters