2011 TOST - What are our members doing?

(Thia photo took by Jospehine back on 10/19/2010 at TRES/Yuchih Station)

One of the adorable moments during our trip...
We were making Classic TungTing Oolong.........
when the Instructor, Steve Huang, said "smell the tea leaf....."....
all members leaned over, put heads down at the same time...so cute.............

Thomas Shu This is a great shot...that will be in good memory of many.

Yvonne Wang Great!!!!!


詹純甄 it looks cute!!! heee...


Jerry Liu I wish you could send that smell via the internet!


Elise Scott Like kittens staring at a mouse


Thomas Shu
Jerry, didn't you smell it? Those Camellia sinensis leaves after solar withering, were moved indoor for the additional indoor withering...every 1 hour or half subject to the weather condition...these soft touches made our tea so good in aro...ma and taste...See More


Flockof TeaCosy Mmmmmm. I look forward to one day having the same experience. I'm sure the aroma was illuminating.


Judith Krall-Russo It was a great moment!!! The aroma was even better!


Josephine Pan It was, Judith....I miss every one of you, all my children!!!!

2010 TOST mission accomplished!

2010 TOST (Taiwan Oolongs Study Tour) with 18 members studied in Taiwan during 10/17-10/24/2010...a wonderful mission accomplished.
We have so many photos and videos that are sorting and will be posted soon.
From Wenshan Pouchong to Classic Tung-Ting, to Alishan Tea Gardens and then PonFonCha in Hsinchu... A lot been done in a short week with one long day that ended at 1:30AM...

2010 WTE - Reunion Party for TOST 2008/2009 Members (6/2010)

Our members of TOST 2008 and 2009 get to meet up for a reunion party during World Tea Expo 2010. It is always very joyful to share good memory among all that studied together on the field trips...

Scouting for 2010 TOST

I made a trip to Taiwan during 3/22-28/2010 for scouting the possible facilities for our members of TOST 2010 to have their hands on tea making experiment. Also to discuss in details on our itinerary of each day during the event with Master Huang, Chairman Norman Shu and Secretary General Ted Fan from TTMA.

Hearty appreciation to their assistance, we visited a few places and checked out several locations, concluded our focused courses... We are making sure that TOST 2010 will be even better than previous ones.

2009 TOST - Oriental Beauty - Drying, Rolling and Drying (6/26/2009)

If you are not there to eyewitness the whole processing...you will think that it might be all the same just like the CHART showing each step... However, with our tea masters' persistence and the competition, they will repeat the drying steps and rolling steps...also, again, because the tender leaves they are handling, they must make sure to keep the leaves' one sprout with two tender leaves intact. (**That usually is an important criteria to decide the Quality of Oriental Beauty.) Therefore, they will not dry the tea instantly, and try to apply with wet towels to hold the leaves while they are rolling with half-moon roller, or hand-rolling...We are lucky to see these two masters are competing each other...
An unforgettable experience for most of our members to observe the craftsmanship. (**My father used to tell me that "No master is true master, if he/she cannot cope with the weather, the equipments, and adjust with the tea's changing status...) Well, leave the toughness for these tea farmers and their masters. We are just as curious, and want to cup the tea we just "made". TTMA will help to dry these tea and pack in tins for every member to take home to enjoy.

2009 TOST - Oriental Beauty - Panning (6/26/2009)

Judged by the two masters, they started to pull all the leaves that have gone through indoor withered together, and set for Panning. They worked really carefully to make sure that leaves will not be broken. When the panning done, the leaves were covered with towels to get soften
with moisture contains inside. The aroma of Oriental Beauty is spreading in the air...

2009 TOST - Oriental Beauty - indoor withering (6/26/2009)

Honestly, we took a break a little bit too long to miss moving tea leaves from out door to inside the factory. Sun withered and sun burned makes huge difference...we have to be extra careful to examine the leaves' status...
During the indoor withering, we were guided to do the fluffing and softly shaking the spreading the tea leaves for few times. Our Oriental Beauty are resting on the racks...and we were treated with lichee, watermelon, banana...by Ted's sister. Norman also worked with Mr. Shen to have his competition teas for our members to evaluate...well, those tea leaves got their breaks...we, we need to review our cuppings at TRES/Taitung branch on 6/25/2009. Please refer to our post:
http://taiwanteatour.blogspot.com/2009/10/cupping-and-reviewing-at-taitung-branch.html

2009 TOST - Oriental Beauty - solar withering (6/26/2009)

Mr. Shen and several friends are waiting for us...
In the countryside, a bunch of foreign visitors show up in a tea plant to learn how to make tea...that makes news all right. His neighbors and several local farmers were there to greet us.
Solar withering plays a very important role in Oriental Beauty's processing. Usually, summer time in Taiwan could be super hot with astonishing sunshine... The shade for controlling the heat is very critical. When sun is out, we pull the shades on...when direct sun is needed again, the shades will be off. Some tea plants in Taiwan have installed remote control for their shades, but at this plant we need our young forces, Ricki and Greg, they were having fun to help out...
Each member got 2 kgs of fresh tea leaves and 5 bamboo trays. We were guided by Master Liu and Master Shen to spread the leaves evenly in 5 trays...with extra soft touch. How long the solar withering, depends on the sun shine, temperature, and humidity. We were told by our teachers to check the tea leaves to judge when the leave are done for moving to next step...indoor withering.