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FORMOSA HONEY BLACK TEA
小紅娘/蜜香紅茶
Formosa-Honey Black/ Oriental Beauty tea is one of the most famous oolongs from Taiwan. It is white tip oolong tea or Champagne oolong. This tea is a heavily fermented and made by light fire-baked traditional technology.
Only one bud with two top leaves are picked by hand to produce this high quality oolong tea. The buds are bitten by the Jacobiasca formosana (one kind of Leafhoppers) and then the chemical changes features the honey-like taste of the finished tea. Because of this insect, farmers couldn’t use any insecticide. As a result, the tea farms for Formosa-Honey Black/ Oriental beauty tea become totally natural and organic.
It is known that when Queen Elizabeth II tested it, she loved this tea for its beautiful tea leaves and unforgettable taste and tea was named after Queen as Formosa-Honey Black/Oriental Beauty Tea.
The precious honey black tea will be produced by baking after picking it.This tea brews up notes of honey and cinnamon in a lighter but smooth and flavorful cup.
B2B: NT$640 (€22.5)/150g
(Exclude Shipping Fee)
All About It
蜜香茶的秘密
端午節過後，台灣氣候變得溫暖潮濕，茶園裡有許多活躍的昆蟲穿梭，其中，有一種個頭約莫芝麻粒大小，甚至比芝麻粒還要更小個頭的綠色小蟲在茶欉間蹦跳飛躍穿梭，牠叫做「小綠葉蟬 英文學名叫Jacobiasca formosana」。「溫暖潮濕的氣候」與「茶芽嫩葉」都是小綠葉蟬的最愛。
小綠葉蟬依靠吸咬茶芽嫩葉內的汁液維生，只不過，被小綠葉蟬吸咬後茶葉會出現一點一點的小紅點傷口，停止成長並萎縮捲曲了起來。當茶葉不再成長，對茶農而言就是意味著產量要減少了。
收成減少當然不是茶農樂見的，不過，被小綠葉蟬刺吸過的小傷口卻能讓茶葉在欉發酵，意外激發出一股迷人的蜂蜜香，讓茶葉風味變得高級而特別。
被小綠葉蟬刺吸後，茶樹為何會產生討人喜歡的蜂蜜香氣？原因不是茶樹為了討人類喜歡，而是茶樹因為遇到小綠葉蟬帶來的生存逆境，而設法在體內產生一種具有蜂蜜氣味的次級代謝物質來吸引跟小綠葉蟬一樣很會跳的「獵蛛類」蜘蛛來到茶園捕食小綠葉蟬。
獵蛛是小綠葉蟬的天敵，喜歡蜂蜜氣味。因此，當獵蛛被蜜香吸引進入了茶園，茶樹因小綠葉蟬所帶來的生存壓力自然就會減輕了一些。