Wen Shan Bao Zhong is one of the representative Taiwanese teas. The tea leaves are lightly rolled and lightly fermented, resulting in a very strong floral fragrance with a hint of green tea aroma, and a sweet, refreshing taste.
Wen Shan Bao Zhong is known for its floral fragrance as its trademark. However, in recent years, many Wen Shan Bao Zhong teas have a seaweed-like aroma, making it difficult to find a tea with a satisfactory fragrance.
Therefore, we treat our Wen Shan Bao Zhong at low temperatures in-house to bring out the original floral fragrance and immediately cool it to prevent condensation.
You can enjoy the strong floral fragrance of Wen Shan Bao Zhong.
Many experts consider oolong tea to be the most difficult tea to produce. This is due to the wide range of fermentation levels (10–80%) that oolong tea can have, making the control of fermentation very difficult.
Wen Shan Bao Zhong is one of the lightly fermented teas among them. Because of this, people new to it often mistake it for green tea.
Wen Shan Bao Zhong is characterized by a very strong floral fragrance, a hint of green tea aroma, and a sweet, refreshing taste. We select spring tea.
Increasingly Common Seaweed-like Aroma in Recent Years
Wen Shan Bao Zhong is known for its floral fragrance as its trademark. However, in recent years, many Wen Shan Bao Zhong teas have a seaweed-like aroma.
In fact, even when sourcing in Taiwan, many Wen Shan Bao Zhong teas have a somewhat green seaweed-like aroma.
Many producers insist this is the aroma of Wen Shan Bao Zhong, but from our experience, many Wen Shan Bao Zhong teas used to truly have a floral fragrance.
The change can be attributed to insufficient cooling after drying, such as packaging the tea while it is still warm. Ideally, tea should be cooled by blowing air after heating.
Hot tea leaves generate steam, causing condensation on the surface of the leaves and leading to oxidation. Oxidized Wen Shan Bao Zhong smells like seaweed.
Therefore, we treat our Wen Shan Bao Zhong at low temperatures to bring out the original floral fragrance and immediately cool it to prevent condensation.
Please enjoy the traditional floral fragrance of Wen Shan Bao Zhong.
History of Wen Shan Bao Zhong
Wen Shan Bao Zhong has a history of over 100 years. The Wenshan area in Taiwan is said to be the first place where oolong tea trees were planted.
The name Bao Zhong was initially used in Anxi and Fuzhou in Fujian Province. It comes from the way the tea was packaged.
Around 1820, Anxi tea was made by imitating the method of making oolong tea from Wuyi Mountain.
However, at that time, oolong tea made in Anxi was sent to Fuzhou, where it was scented with flowers and sold as flavored oolong tea.
This tea was called Bao Zhong because it was packaged in rectangular boxes wrapped in paper. In Chinese, Bao Zhong means "package type."
By 1873, oolong tea was being produced in the Wenshan area of Taiwan.
At that time, the global economy was sluggish and the tea market was also slow. Moreover, the price of Taiwanese tea was high, so Taiwanese traders did not buy Taiwanese oolong tea, resulting in a large stockpile of unsold inventory.
To overcome this situation, Taiwanese producers sent unsold oolong tea to Fujian Province, where it was scented with flowers and sold as flavored tea in Southeast Asia.
Like Bao Zhong tea from Anxi, Taiwanese flavored oolong tea was also called Bao Zhong because it was packaged in paper.
By 1881, tea masters were invited from Fujian Province to Taiwan, where flavored tea was produced and sold in Southeast Asia.
After 1885, further research and improvements were made to the quality and processing methods of Bao Zhong tea. As a result, light fermentation technology was developed, successfully bringing out a natural sweet floral fragrance.
Although it is no longer packaged in paper bags, the name Bao Zhong (Wen Shan Bao Zhong) is still used today.
Production Area and Cultivar of Wen Shan Bao Zhong
The main production area of Wen Shan Bao Zhong is distributed around Pinglin Township in Wenshan District, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
This area is relatively close to Taipei, with an altitude of about 600–800 meters. The main cultivar is Qingxin Oolong, characterized by its deep fragrance.
The cultivated variety is Qing Xin Oolong.
Processing Details of Wen Shan Bao Zhong
Wen Shan Bao Zhong is the least fermented tea among Taiwanese oolong teas and is made by lightly rolling the leaves. This leads many people to believe that its production is relatively easy, but the opposite is true.
Because of the low level of fermentation, it requires precise control of fermentation, which necessitates uniform leaf shape and careful management from the tea-plucking stage.
The processing steps of Wen Shan Bao Zhong are as follows:
- Tea Plucking
- Outdoor Withering
- Indoor Withering
- Inactivate Enzyme
- Rolling
- Drying
1. Tea Plucking
The tea plucking season for Wen Shan Bao Zhong is around early April.
Usually, 1 bud and 2–3 leaves are hand-plucked. If the leaves are damaged during plucking or transportation, unintended fermentation starts, making it impossible to bring out the characteristic floral fragrance of Wen Shan Bao Zhong.
Therefore, careful handling of the leaves is essential.
2. Outdoor Withering
The tea leaves are spread thinly on sheets and withered in the sun for 10–20 minutes on sunny days and 30–40 minutes on cloudy days.
During this time, the temperature of the leaves must be maintained at 30–35°C. If it exceeds 40°C, the leaves deteriorate due to heat. The purpose of this process is to reduce the moisture content of the leaves, making them ready for the subsequent fermentation process.
3. Indoor Withering
The ideal environment for enzyme reactions is room temperature at 23–25°C and relative humidity of 70–80%.
After sun withering, the leaves are spread on bamboo mats and gently stirred by hand.
The friction during this process creates fine wounds on the edges of the leaves, initiating fermentation as the polyphenols and enzymes in the leaves come into contact.
After stirring, the leaves are left to rest on bamboo mats to promote fermentation. Although it may seem like a simple task, achieving uniform stirring and precise control of fermentation levels requires considerable skill.
If the stirring is too strong, the edges of the leaves turn red, weakening the floral fragrance and increasing astringency. On the other hand, if the stirring is too weak, the leaves continue to lose moisture, resulting in insufficient fermentation and a greenish aroma.
Stirring must be done gently yet effectively, requiring experienced hands.
4. Inactivation of Enzyme
When the tea is sufficiently fermented, it is heated in a stainless steel drum at 140–160°C.
This process removes excess moisture, deactivates enzymes through heat, and softens the leaves.
The higher the temperature—provided the leaves do not burn—the more floral and clear the fragrance of the finished tea will be.
If the temperature is too low or the heating time is insufficient, the remaining enzymes activate, causing the tea to become cloudy and over-fermented, resulting in a weak aroma and astringency.
On the other hand, if over-heated, the moisture content of the leaves drops below a safe threshold, causing burning and an increase in tea dust.
This also weakens the fragrance due to heat damage.
5. Rolling
Rolling is done with light pressure. It compacts the leaves and creates fine wounds, making the tea easier to extract when brewed.
6. Drying
The rolled leaves are dried, adjusting the moisture content to about 5%.
Drying is done at 100–105°C for 25–30 minutes, or in 2 stages: 105–115°C for 10 minutes, then 85–95°C for 40–60 minutes. The parameters vary depending on the processing volume.
