Pinglin Day Trip: Tasting Taiwan’s Teas
On June 6, 2020, my two friends and I rented a car for a day trip out to Pinglin in New Taipei City, Taiwan. My friend Josh and I are very into tea and love learning more the process of picking, processing, selling and consuming tea! We even started thinking about how to make our own tea company… and this is how we started the research process.
I was googling around for some tea farms around Taipei that we could visit to talk to tea farmers and to learn more about the different varieties of tea that are famous in Taiwan. We might know of where to get a great cup of tea here in Taipei - but how much do we actually know about tea itself? I stumbled upon the Green Light Farm owned by Chen Lu-ho and reached out via email and then moved over to Line.
Green Light Farm 綠光農園 - 232, New Taipei City, Pinglin District, 漁光里大舌湖11-2號
We first drove to Pinglin Old Street for a bite to eat at Just Pinglin 坪感覺, which is a very cute restaurant and small shop that serves drinks, desserts and set meals with local ingredients and tea-infused flavors. We got the Tea Gua Bao (Taiwanese “hamburger” bao with stewed pork belly)茶香滷肉刈包, Baozhong tea matcha latte 包種拿鐵 and minced pork stew with Mixiang black tea and soy sauce sets 蜜香紅茶滷肉飯. So delicious!
Would recommend making a reservation or confirming hours beforehand - they were holding an event that day and we almost weren’t able to get a table. We actually went over to the Pinglin Tea Museum to kill some time first but then they called to let us know a table was free. Check out the menu description below - we loved the description of the “Korean Kimchi made by Vietnamese who married with Pinglin tea farmer” :)
After lunch, we headed over to check out the exhibits at the Pinglin Tea Museum across the bridge. The exhibits here were very detailed and interesting - we learned a lot in a short amount of time.
I believe it was 80 NT for entrance, or a little under $3 USD. Check out the cool tea wheel of flavors, roasting and fermentation below. I also enjoyed the scent area, where you can really discover the small, nuanced differences between tea varieties.
Finally, it was time to head over to Mr. Chen’s farm!
The farm is a little bit out of the way, but Mr. Chen is willing to pick you up from the local bus stop if you notify him in advance. The buses don’t run too frequently, especially on weekdays, so be sure to plan accordingly.
We entered into the farm and started tasting the tea that they pick and process on-site, and learned a little bit about the growing conditions and the wildlife that they have encountered in the area. Mr. Chen and his wife were so friendly and willing to answer every question we had about tea and patient with us as we asked very basic questions haha!
It seems that New Taipei City has an entire department that is dedicated to the marketing and PR for the farmers that grow tea there. Mr. Chen’s farm in particular is focused on organic tea leaves, free of pesticides and fertilizers. He explained that Baozhong tea is now mainly grown in the mountains of New Taipei City. It is true - most varieties of tea actually come from the same type of plant and have different flavors based on the roasting or fermentation process. The age and the location of the plant actually influences the quality of the tea as well. We explored their tea farm and started to pick the younger leaves at the stem and collected them in our woven baskets. We then went back inside as it started raining and tried different varieties of black and white tea, as well as a powdered green tea that you can shake into your water bottle.
The different types of tea that Mr. Chen sells includes Wenshan Baozhong, oolong tea, Jiayelong tea (GABA) 佳葉龍茶, Oriental Beauty and black tea.
Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. & Mrs. Chen!
