October’s shipment from +Global Tea Hut was the tea that I have been waiting for all year, their annual Sun Moon Lake black tea. The leaves of this tea were quite beautiful and definitely worthy of bowl brewing. They brewed up a really pretty copper color and became quite large after a few infusions. Mellow fruity and malty notes ended in a clean finish. It never lost its smoothness, even when left steeping for some time. I use a fairly small rice bowl and was able to brew them at least four times over. Being produced from semi-wild trees, the tea was noticeably more uplifting than other examples that I’ve tried from this famous Taiwanese region.
The magazine issues are always packed with interesting articles. This month focused heavily on the concept for Qi. It’s a bit of an abstract concept that has never really been part of my tea experiences. Sure that are teas that make you feel amazing, but who is to say what exactly causes that? I was hoping to have a bit more insight into the history of Sun Moon Lake tea. It is very unusual because the Assamica variety of the tea plant was propagated there by Japan for research purposes. Each shipment from Global Tea Hut includes a small gift and this month’s was some nifty sealers for bags of tea. They’ve all already been put to good use.