What does a deep roast reveal about Taiwan wild mountain tea?

This black tea comes from the paternal variety behind Tai Cha No. 18 Ruby, a native Taiwanese wild mountain tea. The dry leaves are dark brown, nearly black, and brewing yields a complex cup of earthiness, malt, and smoky charcoal, with noticeable tannins and a faint fruity sweetness at the finish. Four gongfu infusions, plus banana bread and dark chocolate pairings, show the variety's character.

Mountain Stream Tea planted Burmese Assam, Taiwanese wild mountain tea, and Ruby side by side on one farm in the Sun Moon Lake region, where Ruby 18 was first developed, and sold them as a three-tea tasting set. Brewing used 5g per 100ml at 95°C for 30, 45, and 60 seconds, adding 15 seconds per later infusion. The charcoal and roasted deep roast notes sit close to Indonesian coffee tasting notes.

Front Street Coffee takes you on a continued exploration of the mystery behind Tai Cha No. 18 Ruby. Mountain Stream Tea has carefully crafted a three-tea tasting set in the Sun Moon Lake region, planting Burmese Assam, Taiwanese wild mountain tea, and Ruby side by side. This article focuses on the paternal variety among them—native Taiwanese mountain tea. The dry leaves of this black tea are dark brown, nearly black, and after brewing, it presents a complex flavor interwoven with earthiness, malt, and smoky charcoal, with noticeable tannins and a faint fruity sweetness in the finish. Through detailed records of four infusions using gongfu brewing, as well as pairing attempts with banana bread and dark chocolate, we can fully understand the character traits of this wild variety. If you prefer black tea with a sweet, malty flavor, Front Street Coffee suggests you can also compare it with the Burmese Assam version from the same series.

Description: "Red fruits, faint spice, semi-smooth, fresh mushrooms if you push the hot water hard!"

Instructions: Gongfu tea style brewing: 5g per 100ml | 95°C (205°F) | 30, 45, 60 seconds, then add 15 seconds to each subsequent infusion for tasting (Note: these are the instructions on the label, as the website has slightly different recommendations)

Review: As I mentioned in the previous article, this is a three-part series on Ruby 18. Mountain Stream Tea created a set of three teas in an origin tasting kit during a sourcing trip to the Sun Moon Lake region (where Ruby 18 was first developed). One farm planted these three plants (Burmese Assam tea, Taiwanese tea tree, and Ruby) side by side, and Mountain Stream Tea provided the opportunity to grow them together.

After I bought this set, I knew I also wanted to share my experience with everyone! Last week I tasted the "mother" of Ruby Tai Cha No. 18, a Burmese Assam variety, and now let's taste the "father," a native Taiwanese tea flower. Let's go!

The dry leaves of the Sun Moon Lake wild variety are uniformly thin and stiff, dark brown—almost black—in color. It smells earthy, sweet, roasted, and of charcoal. After adding it to a preheated gaiwan, the aroma of the leaves reminded me of muscat grapes, lychee, flowers, yeast, and toasted bread.

Infusion (30 seconds): Despite the relatively short brewing time, the liquor is a coppery red with a faint toasted bread aroma and tea leaf fragments at the bottom of the cup. It tastes earthy and malty, with quite a bit of tannin coating the tip of the tongue.

Infusion 2 (40 seconds): The liquor is a deeper copper color with a slight smoky and earthy note. It tastes of smoky charcoal, wood, damp earth, and there is some sweet fruitiness at the end. The sweetness lingers in the mouth, and a dryness lingers as well.

Infusion (60 seconds): The liquor is brown with smoky and forest aromas. The palate leans toward charcoal, roasted, and woody notes, with cherry and some astringency.

Infusion 4 (1 minute 15 seconds): The liquid is brown, and the flavors begin to mellow. It has some faint sweetness, roasted, earthy, and charcoal notes with a dryness at the back of the throat.

The brown, damp leaves had fully unfurled by the end of the session, giving off a scorched, earthy scent. I paired the tea with banana bread, and the toasted nuts and bread crust blended well with the roasted tea. I also tried a cup with dark chocolate, and it was excellent too!

Like the Burmese Assam variety, this tea also has some of the "classic" tea notes that people expect. However, I found this to be less sweet and more tannic than the Burmese Assam. I personally prefer sweeter, maltier black tea, so I prefer the Burmese Assam. Anyway, I'm curious to know what characteristics next week's Ruby 18 (3/5 rating) will have!

Type: Black tea

Origin: Taiwan, Yuchi, Nantou, Sun Moon Lake area

The question for this post is: Have you ever had Taiwanese tea flower before?

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.