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I’ll be covering a lot in this article, including varieties of Taiwanese tea, how to order tea from Taiwan, where to buy tea in Taipei and Taiwan, Taipei tea houses, how to brew Taiwanese tea, tea tours in Taipei, and tea-related attractions around Taiwan. Get a pencil and notepad ready!



If you’re planning a trip to Taiwan and need travel advice, I’ve got a huge amount of Taiwan content on this site. Start with my 50 favorite places in Taiwan and my 50 favorite places in Taipei! If you’re just here for tea info, then read on!

Here’s a discount code for my favorite Taiwanese tea provider, Eco-Cha: if you click this link then select any teas, a 10% discount will be applied at check-out. Eco-Cha supports small-scale farms using sustainable methods and can mail internationally.

Please note, if you represent a tea shop outside of Taiwan and are looking for connections to tea farmers or organic teas in Taiwan, I’m sorry that I don’t have any specific leads (I often receive emails about this).

Best Tea tours in Taiwan that I recommend: – To organize a full-scale tea tour in Taiwan, please contact me and I can recommend the most suitable local operator for your needs. – For shorter options, there are some great tea-related attractions that you can explore as day trips from Taipei, which I will cover in detail in this article. This includes a visit to Taiwan’s largest tea museum and a tea plantation with phenomenal views in New Taipei City – This similar tea day tour also includes the Maokong tea growing area in Taipei City. Get a TWD100 discount on this or any other Klook activity by signing up with this link first. – This only includes Maokong, which as a very different atmosphere at night. – Learn about the different types of Taiwanese tea and how to brew them in this 1.5-hour tea tasting class (recommended for newbies), or in this slighly longer class more focused on tea ceremony. – If you prefer being on your feet, try this customizable walking tea tour, which takes place in one of my favorite Taipei neighborhoods, Dadaocheng.

The two main varieties of tea are Camellia sinensis var. sinensis (Chinese tea) and Camellia sinensis var. assamica (Indian tea). Caffeine levels vary in tea, but contrary to what some say, your typical cup of tea has less caffeine that a cup of coffee. Tea may be higher in caffeine by volume, but quite a bit less tea leaves are used than coffee beans to brew a single cup.

While the majority of Chinese and Taiwanese teas are unflavored, you may encounter some with flavors, which may be real or artificial. Popular ones include jasmine (茉莉) and lychee (荔枝). Herbal (花草茶), fruit (水果茶) and flower (花茶) teas are also common in China and Taiwan, but are not true teas.

A Short History of Taiwanese Tea

Taiwan actually has an indigenous tea that early settlers found growing in the mountains and being used by the aboriginals. Some believe that it may be a tea variety of its own, Camellia formosensis.

Camellia sinensis (Chinese tea) was first brought over to Taiwan in the 19th century from Fujian province in China, where the famous Wuyi tea region is located. Many of Wuyi’s teas are known as yancha (rock tea or 岩茶) after the distinctive rocky terroir they are grown in). Oolong tea was found to grow particularly well in Taiwan after it was planted in the Lugu area of Nantou and in northern Taiwan.

Following the First Opium War and Treaty of Tianjin, Taiwan was forced to open its ports to trade with the West. Tea became a major export, and around the time the capital of Taiwan was moved to the north, a thriving riverside port called Dadaocheng developed around the tea trade. The neighborhood remains one of the best places to experience Taiwan’s tea culture. See more details in my walking guide to Dadaocheng neighborhood and see some of Dadaocheng’s incredible temples in my guide to the best temples in Taipei.

After Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895, the Japanese shifted from oolong to black tea production in Taiwan to compete with the British. They planted Camellia assamica (Indian tea) in the Sun Moon Lake area (see my complete article on Sun Moon Lake’s incredible black teas).

The Japanese also established the Tea Research and Extension Station in 1903, which sought to develop new cultivars and improve or perfect existing ones. To this day, the institution has developed 22 or more new cultivars, some of which are internationally sought and even grown in other countries, such as Thailand. See more details on that in my guide to tea in Thailand.

After the Japanese left in 1945, production of black tea dwindled, but a small industry remains, with Ruby Red (TRES tea #18), which is a cross between native Camelia formosensis and Camelia assamica from Burma, pretty much universally accepted as the best black tea made in Taiwan, thanks to its very unique minty and cinnamon notes.

The Push to Go Higher

Starting in the 1980s, the TRES and Taiwanese government began encouraging local farmers to experiment with growing tea at higher altitudes. Little did these early pioneers know that they were onto something that would have a massive impact on the Taiwanese tea industry.

The oolong tea grown at higher altitudes was found to have an incredible flavor. Lower amounts of oxygen in the air meant that the tea plants grew slower, with flavor chemicals becoming more concentrated in the leaves. Damp air from the sea and misty slopes of the Central Mountain Range were found to produce teas so fine, the name High Mountain Tea was coined. The Alishan region was the first testing ground, and even today, Alishan High Mountain Tea remains the most famous. See more details in my complete guide to Alishan’s teas.

Teas grown at 1000 meters of higher are considered high mountain, and most of Alishan’s teas grown around 1000-2000 meters. However, farmers have tried to go even higher in other parts of Taiwan, under the assumption that the higher you go, the better the tea will test. Some of Taiwan’s most expensive teas are grown as high as 2600 meters at Dayuling.

High mountain tea farming is known to be bad for the environment, as it leads to deforestation and soil erosion, so the government is even dismantling some of its high mountain tea farms. What’s more, demand for Taiwanese teas far exceeds production, which has even led to the phenomenon of “counterfeit” Taiwanese teas, which are typically grown in Southeast Asia.

In fact, Taiwan produces such a limited amount of tea that almost none of it is exported, and the country has to import a large amount of tea to meet local demand, particularly for bottled and iced tea beverages, which are massively popular among all ages in Taiwan.

This is why you may find that tea from Taiwan is quite expensive by international standards, and export is mainly limited to small artisanal distributors like Eco-Cha. It’s just really damn good, and there isn’t much of it.

Main Varieties of Tea from Taiwan