Bringing Alishan Home in a Cup

One of the things we brought home from our time in Alishan was its beautiful oolong tea.

The region is especially known for its high mountain tea, grown in the cool misty air that gives it such a soft and delicate flavor. It has a lovely balance — light and floral, yet still rich and comforting.

Ever since the trip, making a cup of Alishan oolong has become a small way of bringing those quiet mountain days back home.

We picked it up at a small shop in the area, where bags of loose-leaf tea were stacked on shelves and the owner let us sip a few different cultivars before we chose. It’s the kind of purchase that feels right in the moment — and then even better once you’re back home and opening the bag again weeks later.

Alishan oolong is grown at around 1,000 to 1,500 metres. The altitude slows the leaves down, which is supposedly why the flavour comes out rounder and softer than lowland teas. You can read that on the packaging of almost any high mountain oolong, but after tasting it side-by-side with other teas at home, the difference really is there.

Brewing it has become a small morning thing.

We use a simple teapot, hot water just off the boil — not fully boiling — and give the leaves a short first steep, maybe thirty seconds or so. The first pour is light and almost green, with a clean floral aroma. The leaves want to be used a few times: the second steep is the one that really opens up, and we usually get three or four pours out of the same leaves before the flavour starts to fade.

That’s one of the things I’ve come to like about it. One bag lasts a long time, and each brewing feels less like a single cup of tea and more like a small session that stretches through the morning.

The flavour itself is hard to describe without sounding overly flowery, but there’s a softness to it — something like orchids on the first steep, a bit nuttier and sweeter later on, and always that slight buttery finish that Alishan teas are known for. It doesn’t need sugar, milk, or anything else. Just the tea and hot water, and a few minutes to sit with it.

It reminds us of the misty hikes, the peaceful atmosphere, and the slow mornings in the mountains.

A simple cup of tea, but such a beautiful memory.