FuZhou, the current capital of southeastern China's Fujian province, is the birthplace of the Yin Hua 窨花 (Tea Scenting) technique. Yin Hua refers to the intricate process of making scented tea which naturally absorbs floral fragrances during the process. The traditional method is highly complex. First, the appropriate type and quantity of flowers must be carefully selected based on the tea used as the foundation for scenting (known as Cha Pei 茶胚), which plays a crucial role in the process. The tea then undergoes multiple labor-intensive steps, including preparing the tea base, conditioning the scenting flowers, layering the tea with flowers, scenting, removing spent flowers, re-drying, enhancing the aroma, and uniform blending.
Exquisite scented tea is not scented just once—it must undergo five to seven rounds of scenting to achieve the perfect balance of 三分花，七分茶, meaning a good cup of scented tea should be thirty percent floral notes and seventy percent tea flavor. In its early days, FuZhou's tea scenting technique was a closely guarded secret. Tea merchants from all over had to send their briefly dried tea (known as Mao Cha 毛茶) to FuZhou for processing, including those from Taiwan.
Taiwanese tea first made its international debut in 1869 when British-Scottish merchant John Dodd introduced it to the New York market under the name "Formosa Oolong." American tea drinkers, captivated by this "new tea" unlike anything they had experienced (as Oolong was still unfamiliar to many at the time), quickly turned it into a sensation. The following year, despite its price doubling, sales skyrocketed fivefold. Foreign tea merchants poured into Taiwan to seize the opportunity, establishing international trading houses (known as Yung Hung 洋行) to acquire large quantities of locally grown and processed Formosa Oolong. The industry thrived, poised for even greater success.
However, the prosperity was short-lived. The post-Civil War reconstruction in the United States led to high investment risks, and in 1873, the country became the epicenter of a five-year global economic depression. This crisis started to wipe out Taiwan's newly established premium tea market. In a desperate bid for survival, Taiwanese tea makers reverted to their old ways—sending briefly dried tea to FuZhou for processing into scented tea and selling it to Southeast Asian markets instead.
In spite of these challenging times, Taiwanese tea makers had engaged a shift in mindset. Having once tasted the success of growing and processing their own tea, they were unwilling to fully relinquish their creative control again. Determined to adapt, they began experimenting with a simplified version of the traditional tea scenting technique. Using Taiwan’s native Mountain Gardenia 山黃梔 (Gardenia jasminoides Ellis), they air-dried the flowers for use in scenting. For every 100 jin (about 60 kg. 臺斤 Jin is a traditional weight measurement unit in the Taiwanese tea industry that is still in use today) of oolong tea, they mixed in 30 to 40 jin (about 18 to 24 kg) of dried gardenia and let it rest for a day before selling. This quick scenting process significantly enhanced the tea’s fragrance in a short time, allowing them to maintain a competitive edge.
Though this simplified method lacked the refinement of traditional Yin Hua, it was close enough to help tea makers promote their products and mitigate the impact of declining exports.
Over the following years, Taiwanese tea makers continuously refined the tea scenting production, leading to huge-scale flower field expansions in TaiPei. This included the introduction of foreign jasmine cultivars and other scenting flower varieties. The streets name "DongYuan 東園" (East Side Garden) and "XiYuan 西園" (West Side Garden) still serve as reminders of the city's early flower-growing fields.
Eventually, even some of the authentic FuZhou Yin-Hua scenting masters were drawn to Taiwan.
In 1881, FuJian tea merchant Wu Fu-Yuan 吳福源 brought a team of skilled FuZhou tea artisans and Yin Hua scenting masters to Taiwan, founding the Yuan Long Hao 源隆號 trading house in the TuaTiuTiann 大稻埕 district, TaiPei. Reverently known as "Fu Lao 福老" ("The Fortunate Wise Man"), Wu Fu-Yuan was not only a master of tea scenting but also a trailblazer in opening the Indonesian and Javanese markets for Taiwanese Scented Oolong.
From that point on, tea crates leaving Taiwan carried not just premium oolong tea but also locally scented specialty oolong, setting sail for new international markets. Prior to the groundbreaking release of Taiwan’s famed PaoChung Tea Crafting 包種茶製法 in 1885, scented oolong was vital in sustaining the livelihoods of both tea makers and flower farmers.
Taiwanese-style tea scenting has evolved into its own localized method over the past hundred years. Today, beyond specialty scented oolong, one can find scented green and black tea, scented PaoChung, and even scented white tea and Iron Goddess. A wide variety of fresh blossoms are used in the process, including sweet osmanthus, poet's jasmine, common jasmine, yuzu flowers, and more.
Using mountain gardenia scenting as an example, the process typically follows these steps:
The calyxes of fresh flowers are removed, and the petals are left in a cool place to allow moisture to evaporate, giving them a velvety texture.
The tea base is spread out, followed by a layer of gardenia petals, completely covering the tea. Another layer of tea is then added, followed by another layer of flowers, repeating the process until there are three to five alternating layers in total. The final layer must always be tea leaves.
The tea and flowers are left to rest in a well-ventilated area for 7 to 8 hours. Afterward, the mixture is gently stirred with a four-pronged rake and left to rest for an additional 5 hours.
Finally, the tea is sifted to separate it from the flowers. Depending on the desired aroma, the scenting process may be repeated 2 to 6 times. The final step is the removal of all flowers, followed by drying the tea.
Bonus trivia: Mountain gardenia fruit contains a high concentration of crocin, a natural dye and food coloring. In early Taiwan, the bright yellow pickled radish slices in Railway-Lunchboxes were traditionally colored using mountain gardenia.
