Imperial Formosan Tea Photos
I spent an extremely pleasant morning in Lugu taking these tea field photos for the gorgeously designed Imperial Formosan Tea website.We arrived in the very early morning to a colorful and clear sunrise, took some photos in refreshingly dewy tea fields and drank pots of high quality teas looking down into the valleys before finishing up with some late morning photos.Hard to get a bad shot, really. If only all assignments were like this…Imperial Formosan is the place for the tea connoisseur to buy exclusively whole leaf, hand picked, high mountain artisan teas from the beautiful island of Formosa.
Artisan teas sourced exclusively from the highest elevation tea gardens of Formosa.
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Imperial Formosan website is packed with interesting tea knowledge. Formosan teas were first introduced to the West in 1869 by John Dodd, a British entrepreneur living in Taiwan
It became fashionable in Taiwan during the 1960s to present tea in tightly rolled balls. These balls of tea, when brewed, would unfold and expand to show the full undamaged whole leaf. This is a testament to the patience and rare skills of Formosan tea artisans.
These fine high-mountain teas are in such demand they are rarely, if ever allowed to leave the island. Quite simply there is not enough for the knowledgeable, demanding and affluent domestic market, let alone overseas markets. Some of the teas passed off as high-quality Taiwanese teas are either far from premium or not even genuine. (So get your teas from Imperial Formosan)
Tea plants grown at high elevation are thought to produce richer, more complex flavoured teas. This is due to several key factors unique to the tea gardens of Formosa.
The tea plants are nourished and cooled by pure spring mountain water. They are regularly exposed to warm sunlight in the morning, before being shrouded in mist and clouds during the afternoon. These mountain mists prevent overexposure to direct sunlight, leaving the young tea leaves tender and succulent.
Additionally, the cold temperatures at night slow the growth of the plants, creating the high density of amino acids which makes for such rich and complex flavours.