What is High Mountain Oolong?
In Taiwan, oolong teas grown at elevations over 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) are often labeled as "high mountain" or gaoshan. They're lauded for powerful fragrances of flowers and pine, as well as a rich, creamy texture that lingers in the mouth long after your final sip.
Mountain cloud cover and dramatic swings between day and nighttime temperatures make these tea plants struggle to thrive, and that struggle yields an especially complex and flavorful cup. So what's all the fuss about a few thousand feet—can you really taste the difference? Let's look at the history and cultivation of high mountain oolong tea in Taiwan.
A bit of Taiwanese tea history
While Taiwan's indigenous population has a tradition of making tea from native wild trees, the island's commercial industry began in the late 18th century with migrants from China planting tea seeds and cultivars from home. Most of these migrants came from coastal Fujian Province, a region renowned for many tea styles, including Tieguanyin and Wuyi oolongs. Planters brought intricate oolong-making techniques with them, settling in regions like Lugu, the future home of Tung Ting oolong.
Taiwan also produces green and black tea, but much of these are commodity lots for export. Oolong is the preferred brew for the island's homegrown tea culture, with people historically drinking the tea that was made locally.
Fast forward to the 1980s, a decade of rapid changes for Taiwan. As the island's economy shifted from rural agriculture to urban industry and the GDP grew year over year, Taiwanese consumers found themselves flush with spending power. Around the same time, advances in horticulture, processing and packing equipment allowed farmers to make tea on steeper slopes in more remote places. Taiwan's densely forested mountain peaks were prime real estate for tea cultivation, and a newly wealthy domestic market was ready to a pay a premium.
What high mountain oolong tastes like
High mountain oolongs are made similarly to other oolong teas, through dozens of withering, bruising, rolling, oxidation and firing steps that can take days to complete. Oolong makers work through the night when a fresh harvest comes in. There's no set timetable: the leaf tells them when it's ready for the next stage.
Does the elevation make a difference? All else being equal, yes. Tea's character, like wine grapes, benefits from the plant having to work for its supper rather than having everything handed to it. High mountain fields are subject to chilly overnight temperatures and misty daytime clouds that limit sunlight. Both of these factors slow plant growth, yielding a smaller harvest with denser flavors and aromas. These conditions also encourage the production of sugars and amino acids in the leaves while limiting bitter catechins and polyphenols. As a bonus, the cooler climate helps to naturally control the pest population, so fewer interventions are needed to keep the bushes healthy.
If you compare the same tea cultivar grown at 400 feet versus 4,000 feet, you may notice a special depth of flavor in the high elevation version; a brighter aroma, richer mouthfeel and more pronounced finish. Does that mean the low elevation tea isn't worth your time? Not at all. All else being equal is a big qualifier, and there's good and bad tea made at every altitude. Our Nantou Four Seasons and Cypress Jade are excellent expressions of low elevation Taiwanese oolong, grown and processed in the same traditional way for more than 150 years. But if you're looking for a little extra oomph from your tea, a high mountain oolong is well worth trying.
Most high mountain teas are processed into lightly oxidized and unroasted "green" oolong styles with intense floral aromas that evoke jasmine, lily or gardenia. They taste a lot like if a green tea traded some of its grassiness for bouquets of flowers and butter. Our new High Mountain Shan Lin Xi bursts with those flavors, plus a refreshing alpine character and velvety, lipsmacking texture.
This stylistic choice is primarily a response to market demand, though it's also a less risky way to process tea than the more traditional higher-oxidized and roasted styles favored by older drinkers. More processing steps means more opportunities for something to go wrong, and high mountain leaf is expensive. The market preference for green oolongs is so strong that it's even traveled back to Chinese growers in Fujian, who now favor the lighter style even for the oolong varieties that inspired Taiwanese tea in the first place. Though the term "high mountain oolong" is about the growing region more than anything else, when someone talks about gaoshan oolong they're usually referring to this lightly oxidized style.
But not always. Our High Mountain Ali Shan Traditional Style is a delicious taste of oolongs past, with fuller oxidation and a more potent roast. The resulting tea is incredibly well balanced with flavors of freshly baked bread with apricot jam, caramel and black pepper. Higher oxidation trades vegetal notes for deeply fruity and nutty ones, and careful processing preserves the tea's inherent floral fragrance. We recommend trying both styles to how they appeal to you.
High mountain oolong growing regions
High mountain oolong teas are typically sold by the mountain of their origin, and some oolong obsessives swear one particular location makes the best tea. Notable spots include Alishan, Lishan, Shan Lin Xi, Dayuling, Yushan and Tung Ting. Bear in mind these are each mountain ranges rather than individual peaks, and all of them collectively form the central mountain range that runs like a spine up and down the island. Tea cultivar, local microclimate and a producer's skill all matter as much as a given mountain, so it's always best to buy from a trusted source with an eye for quality.
How to brew high mountain oolong tea
Gaoshan oolongs—and Taiwanese teas generally—are friendly to all kinds of brewing methods. You can simply drop a teaspoon of leaves in a mug and top it off with water close to boiling. The leaves will expand to many times their size and stay at the bottom of the cup so you can sip straight from the top without a filter, while watching the show as they unfurl. When you've drunk about half, add more water to your vessel and keep going until the leaves lose their flavor. Our porcelain Boston Teapot is perfect for this method; or try it in a chawan designed for matcha.
These teas are also ideal for gongfu style brewing with small pots, high concentrations of leaf and short infusions. This round Dragon Egg Teapot is the perfect shape for cradling rolled oolong tea leaves, and it pairs well with these Sky Blue Chrysanthemum Cups. High mountain oolongs are great teas for practicing your gongfu technique, as different flavors and aromas appear clearly in each steep.
Or for a special treat, pour some high mountain oolong over a cup of vanilla ice cream for an affogato by way of Taiwan. The tea's creamy character is a natural match for vanilla bean, and a reminder that good tea is versatile in all kinds of unexpected ways.