Green Oolong · Puzhong Village, Taiwan
Organic Cui Yu "Green Jade" Oolong
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Tasting notes
About these tasting notes
These are the tasting notes we and others pick up most often. Palates vary, so you may catch some, all, or different ones — flavor is personal and subjective. Nothing is added: there are no added flavorings in this tea. Any notes you find developed naturally in the tea plant through rediscovered artisanal processing techniques.
About these tasting notes
These are the tasting notes we and others pick up most often. Palates vary, so you may catch some, all, or different ones — flavor is personal and subjective. Nothing is added: there are no added flavorings in this tea. Any notes you find developed naturally in the tea plant through rediscovered artisanal processing techniques.
Effects
About these effects
These are the effects people most often report from this tea. Bodies differ, so treat them as a common guide rather than a promise — most people notice at least one, but what you feel is personal.
About these effects
These are the effects people most often report from this tea. Bodies differ, so treat them as a common guide rather than a promise — most people notice at least one, but what you feel is personal.
Cui Yu — The Rare "Green Emerald" Oolong
While most Taiwan oolongs rely on the common Jin Xuan or Si Ji Chun cultivars, this tea is grown from Cui Yu — the rarest of Taiwanese oolong's "main three." Small harvests make authentic, high-quality Cui Yu genuinely hard to source, and what little exists rarely leaves Taiwan for International markets.
The reward is a cup unlike the buttery, milky high-mountain oolongs you're used to: crisp, floral, and the most aromatically complex of the three cultivars.
Notes from Staff: A true "green" oolong! Bright, floral, and fruity rather than roasted or caramel-forward. Cold-brews beautifully with surprising depth for a lighter oolong, and the quality of the leaf means multiple cold or hot steeps while the delicate flavor continues to develop.
Why charcoal roasting costs more
Most tea today is roasted using an electric method, because it is faster, cheaper, and requires less skill, thus making it more consistent. This tea was roasted the traditional way: by an artisan's hand, over charcoal embers, using low heat over the course of many days under careful supervision. It takes far more knowledge, fuel, and time than electric roasting, but it rewards the tea with deeper flavor and the ability to age gracefully for decades.
Old Mountain Tea Guarantee
Our teas are guaranteed free from harmful chemicals. We source directly from small, clean family farms that take real pride in their work — no middlemen, no anonymous blends. Many of these teas are bug-bitten, and leafhoppers only feed on gardens grown without pesticides, so the leaf itself is living proof the garden is clean. Every tea is grown to organic standards and traceable to the farm that made it.
Origin & Terroir
- Cultivar
About this cultivar
A distinctive cultivar prized for delicate florals, silky "mouthfeel" and fresh garden aroma. Developed in 1981 by the Taiwan Tea Research and Extension Station (TTES) through the parent cultivars of "Yingchi Hongxin" (硬枝紅心) and Tai Cha #8 ((臺灣茶八號), Cui Yu is also known as Tai Cha #13 or Selection #2029 in the Taiwanese Tea industry.
- Cui Yu(翠玉) (literally, "Green Emerald" or "Green Jade")
- Status
- Rare
- Processing method
- Lightly Oxidized(Green Oolong)
- Charcoal roast level
Why charcoal roasting costs more
Roasted by hand over low charcoal embers across multiple sessions and days, far slower than electric roasting. It deepens flavor and lets the tea age well, which is why charcoal-roasted teas cost more.
- Region
- Puzhong Village, Mingjian Township, Nantou County, Taiwan
- Harvest
- Summer 2026(Organic)
- Elevation
- 550 meters
- Climate
- Humid, Tropical
- Oxidation level
What oxidation level means
Oxidation is what turns green tea into oolong or black tea — as leaves are bruised and rested, enzymes react with oxygen and deepen their color and flavor. Green tea sees almost none; oolong ranges widely; black tea is oxidized fully.
- Picking style
Why picking style matters
Hand-plucking means workers select each bud and leaf by touch, one at a time — far slower and more expensive than machine harvesting, but gentler on the leaf. As labor costs rise, fewer gardens still pick this way, making hand-plucked tea increasingly rare.
- Hand Plucked
How to brew it
Leaf · 5 g
Water · purified soft water, freshly boiled
First infusion · 20 seconds
Each infusion after · add 15 sec
Up to 12 infusions
Leaf · 5 g
Water · purified soft water, freshly boiled
First infusion · 2 minutes
Second infusion · 5 minutes
Third infusion · 10 minutes
