Taiwan Premium Black Tea Flavor Evaluation: Yang Minzhu Wins Grand Prize with Miaoli Maoli Hong
The Miaoli County "Maoli Hong" premium black tea evaluation competition enters its 8th year this year, with 32 tea farmers and merchants from across the county entering a total of 178 entries. After two days of judging yesterday and today, Yang Minzhu of Miaoli City won the Grand Prize, with a price per Taiwan catty reaching as high as 28,000 yuan. The judges believe this year's
The Miaoli County "Maoli Hong" premium black tea evaluation competition enters its 8th year this year, with 32 tea farmers and merchants from across the county entering a total of 178 entries. After two days of judging yesterday and today, Yang Minzhu of Miaoli City won the Grand Prize, with a price per Taiwan catty reaching as high as 28,000 yuan. The judges believe this year's quality has improved over last year's, with the black tea's floral and fruity aromas fully expressed, no longer inferior to Oriental Beauty tea.
In the Nanshi and Bajia areas of Miaoli City, tea cultivation was prevalent in earlier years, but the industry declined due to industrial changes. To revitalize the local tea industry, the City Farmers' Association sought assistance 8 years ago from the Taichung Branch of the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau under the Council of Agriculture and the Tea Research and Extension Station, and gained support from the Miaoli County Government and Miaoli City Office. They reorganized the production and marketing group, managed tea gardens, coordinated contract purchasing channels for tea leaves, provided guidance for new planting and renewal of tea gardens, and created the "Maoli Hong" brand.
The "Maoli Hong" brand black tea uses carefully selected one bud and two leaves and a special tea-making method, giving the tea a superb flavor with honey notes at the front, fruit in the middle, and a sweet aftertaste at the end. Its quality and reputation have risen year by year. It has an aroma similar to Oriental Beauty tea, with a richer mouthfeel. In recent years, tea farmers have further refined the taste and other qualities, making it increasingly popular.
This year, Qiu Chuifeng, deputy director of the Tea Research and Extension Station under the Executive Yuan's Council of Agriculture, and others served as judges, selecting 1 Grand Prize, 5 Top Prizes, 10 Gold Awards, 16 Silver Awards, and 21 Bronze Awards.
As a result, Yang Minzhu of Miaoli City won the Grand Prize, Nonglin Company of Tongluo Township won a Top Prize, Xie Nianting of Nanzhuang Township won three Top Prizes and Gold Awards, and Qiu Junkui of Miaoli City won two Top Prizes and six Gold Awards.
Xie Jinming, director-general of the Miaoli City Farmers' Association, pointed out that the association hopes to use the evaluation event to enhance the quality and reputation of "Maoli Hong" black tea so it can rival Oriental Beauty tea. This year, the packaging for the competition tea was also changed; in addition to the beautiful scenery of hand-picked tea in the gardens, it incorporates elements such as the leopard cat, which represents a friendly environment. On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, it offers black tea lovers more diverse choices at affordable prices.