Dong Pian tea, first brew

Dong Pian means winter flake in Chinese. It is a high mountain Oolong tea from the second harvest of a winter season from Taiwan. Usually Oolong tea is harvested only once during winter time. However, if the weather has been favorable and there are enough new healthy growths on the tea trees, tea farmers will not miss this opportunity to surprise tea lovers with this gift from nature. According to one tea farmer, about ten thousand square meters of tea land can produce only 3.6 kg of this very special Dong Pian Oolong tea. That said, a successful second harvest is really a winter treasure because there is no guarantee that the second harvest can always produce good quality Oolong tea.  It is the farmer’s luck!

Dong Pian from winter 2010

Winter high mountain Oolong tea is famous for the richness of its honey aroma. Dong Pian’s aroma is stronger than the normal winter Oolong tea. Since Dong Pian is harvested shortly after the first harvest, it has a lot more young leaves in comparison to the first harvest. However, too many young leaves are not necessarily good for the semi-oxidized Oolong tea because they may cause the tea aroma not to last as long. Farmers must take care to blend the right mixture of young leaves and branches to produce the richest winter treasure.