秀 Siù. 2024 Winter Sweet Osmanthus
Scented PiLoChun Green Tea
Notes & Flavors
Sweet Osmanthus Flower, Green Yuzu, Mung Bean, JiuNiang
Deerland Grade / House Tea / smooth & tasty
This loose-, whole-leaf tea is properly crafted. Everyone can enjoy it daily.
Winter 2024
Cultivar. QingXinGan
SanXia Region. 700 m
Oxidation Level. Light
Roasting Degree. None
About this tea
Infused with the delicate fragrance of osmanthus flowers, this Taiwanese PiLoChun Green Tea offers a twist that may astonish tea enthusiasts with its exceptional fermented-sugar-like essence.
Scenting is a post-processing technique in which blossoms are repeatedly mixed (and then removed) with the moist tea leaves several times before drying them together. It was first developed in the Song Empire China during the 12th century. During its inception, Scenting was created to mask any off-odors in teas that had inadvertently absorbed unwanted aromas. These teas would be sold under the name "Mixed Flavored Tea" (串味茶 or Chun-Wei-Cha).
In the ensuing centuries, the Scenting technique evolved and its process became standardized. By the Qing Dynasty in China (around 1851-1861), larger-scale tea scenting operations were already established in several southern Chinese townships.
It's understandable why some purist tea enthusiasts may not favor Scented Tea. Initially developed to mask undesirable qualities in tea, it's acknowledged that if a tea is well-crafted, its natural notes and flavors should be rich and abundant enough without the need for additional post-processing.
However, in the present day, with Scenting and other tea post-processing techniques like Roasting and Aging having evolved beyond mere adjustment into transformative processes, we believe it's worth revisiting the concept with some intriguing examples.
The easiest way of brewing
this tea; Hot & cold
Hot Brewing
1. Place 4 g tea leaf in a pot with a capacity of 500 to 550 ml
2. Fill the pot with 80-85°C hot water and let the tea steep for 10 min.
3. Pour the tea out and enjoy it. The leaf can remain in the pot and need no filtered away. Add more 90°C hot water for more infusions
Cold Brewing
1. For every 500 ml tea, use 5 g tea leaf
2. Steep the tea leaf with water for 12 hours in a 4-6°C environment (regular household refrigeration)
3. Pour the tea out and enjoy it
Please use soft drinking water for brewing, ideally with a TDS below 100 ppm and a pH between 6 and 7
Tasting this tea
1. Fill boiled water into a pot with a capacity of 120 to 150 ml. Seal the pot with a lid and wait 90 sec. then empty the pot.
2. Place 6 g tea leaf in the empty pot and wait 90 sec.
The remaining heat and moisture inside the pot would extract the hydrated aroma out of the tea leaf. Open the lid and smell the hydrated Steam Note.
3. Fill the pot with 80-85°C hot water and let the tea steep for 50 sec.
Pour the tea out and taste the Tea Flavor thus enjoying the Tea Note at the same time.
4. Smell and observe the Post-Brew Note that is lasting at the bottom of the cup and the steeped leaf. Repeatedly make another infusion by pouring 85°C hot°C water into the pot.
*Second to Fourth Infusion: 30-40 sec.
*Fifth & After: 50 sec. and longer
Please use soft drinking water for brewing, ideally with a TDS below 100 ppm and a pH between 6 and 7
台灣三峽青心柑仔種 桂花薫碧螺春綠茶
癸卯 兔年晚秋初冬茶
鹿野茶房評選：選品。
常常喝，好好喝。
以當季台灣黃金桂薫製鮮爽的台式碧螺春綠茶，相疊出猶如桂花酒釀的滋味。清甜口感；微酸尾韻，柔潤的花香撲鼻，一口就讓整季的秋老虎溫順起來。
中國福州是「窨花」工藝的原鄉。「窨花」就是製作薫花茶。傳統手法極度繁複。首先要依茶胚（窨花用的基茶）判斷使用的花種和下花量。再經過備茶胚、養花香、茶胚與花拼合打堆、窨花、起花、復火乾燥、提花、勻堆等耗時耗力的步驟。
精緻的窨花茶不只一窨，得反覆五到七窨，才達到三分花；七分茶的完美定味。早期，福州窨花是秘而不傳之術，各地茶商都必須將毛茶送到福州，包括來自台灣的茶葉。
台灣茶在1869年首度被英國商人John Dodd整合以「Formosa Oolong」之名銷往紐約，美國人懂喝，一舉爆紅。隔年即使售價乘二，銷量還是漲了五倍。各國茶商紛紛捧著錢到台灣開洋行，大量收購台灣自栽自製的福爾摩沙烏龍茶。眼看盛世一片。
沒想到，因南北戰爭後的過度建設導致投資風險提高，美國竟成為震央而在1873年引發了長達五年的全球性經濟蕭條。這場危機把剛剛建立起的台灣精品茶市場刮得一乾二凈。茶家為求生存，不得已走回老路，把毛茶送到福州改製成薫花茶，轉銷南洋。
雖度著小月，但此時的台灣茶家已非彼時的台灣茶家，嚐過自栽自製一條龍爆紅，實在不甘心又把甜頭讓出去。於是茶家們試著仿起窨花的皮毛：取原生的台灣山黃梔花 Gardenia jasminoides Ellis 陰乾做窨母（窨花用的香花）。出售前，以100斤烏龍茶葉拌40斤窨母，靜置一天，短時間衝高茶的香氣。
簡配版當然不如原作精細，但這七分近似已足夠當年的茶家促銷、喊價，少受些外銷乾涸的衝擊。
接著連年對窨花技術的想方設法、在台北大幅開墾花田、引進外來種茉莉等（今所謂東園、西園的歷史地名都跟當年該地作為種植香花的「花園」有關），終於把正統福州窨花製造商吸引過來。
1881年，福建茶商吳福源帶上一批正字福州製茶師、窨花師赴台，於大稻埕設立「源隆號」。人稱福老的吳福源除了精於窨花，更帶頭成功大開印尼、爪哇市場。從此 Formosa Oolong 木箱裡除了精品烏龍茶，也裝著窨花烏龍茶快樂欸出帆。在1885年（更加）驚為天人的「台灣包種茶」問世前扛下茶家和花農們的生計。
台式窨花以山黃梔為例，步驟是先將鮮花萼片除去，花瓣放置陰涼處，待其水分蒸發、呈鵝絨狀。然後把茶胚攤平，鋪上鵝絨山黃梔直到看不見茶葉後，再一層茶胚一層花，如此三、四層；最上層一定要是茶葉。通風靜置7～8小時後以四齒鋤攪拌混堆，再靜置五小時。最後茶葉與花篩分。視情況再反覆下花。最後除花，乾燥。
加碼小趣聞：山黃梔果實含大量的藏紅花素，是渾然天成的染料和食品著色劑。在台灣鐵路便當裡一片片漬黃的醃蘿蔔，早年可都是山黃梔的黃。