Thai or Taiwanese tea? Taiwan’s influence on Thai tea farming and production

Join UKTA Taiwanese tea tutor, Chau-Jean Lin, for a fun evening that explores teas from Thailand and Taiwan. The teas of Taiwan were gifts to the Royal family of Thailand to regenerate the area near Chiang Rai once known for the opium trade.

The ticket price includes delivery of 6 teas to brew and taste during the event.

We will blind taste 6 teas in pairs:

1 and 2. Taiwanese Chin Shin Oolong from Chau-Jean's farm and Thai Chin Shin
3 and 4. Oriental Beauty from Hsinchu vs Thai Oriental Beauty
5 and 6. Sun Moon Lake Ruby 18 Black Tea vs Thai black tea

More info about the link between Thai and Taiwanese Tea: Large scale tea cultivation started in Thailand in the 1980s when the then King, Bhumibol Adulyadej Rama IX, encouraged farmers to switch from growing opium poppies, smuggling drugs and black marketing, to growing tea. Thailand is home to a large number of Chinese people who fled there during China’s civil war between Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek. They brought their tea making skills with them, settled in Doi Mae Salong and Doi Wawee in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand and, as the Royal Development project gained momentum in the 1980s, they became involved in growing and processing tea. Tea seedlings, and particularly the Jin Xuan (Golden Day Lily) and the Qing Xin (Green Heart) cultivars (both of which are excellent for making oolongs) were imported from Taiwan and China and were planted in the Chiang Rai region. The Taiwanese supported the project with machinery, expertise and training, and through the 1990s, the industry flourished.

Today some 16,000 hectares of land are now given over to tea cultivation. In the north of Thailand, old assamica trees, known as wild Shan tea, are used to make black and green teas, while the imported Taiwanese cultivars are used to make Taiwanese-style balled oolongs. The country also produces jasmine tea, osmanthus-flavoured tea, darker oolongs a little like Oriental Beauty, and (for local consumption) ‘chewing tea’ made by fermenting steamed tea leaves or about three months.

About Dr Chau-Jean Lin

Dr Lin started Marulin in London to share teas from her family farm in Taiwan – specialists in Taiwanese Oolong tea.

After four generations of tea farming, Chau-Jean’s family has become specialists in Taiwanese Oolong tea and has developed relationships lasting generations with other farmers. Her uncle is an artisanal tea maker and manages tea orchards in their village, and her aunt teaches tea ceremony in Kaohsiung and grew up on a tea farm in the high mountains of Alishan.

Marulin’s most recent development has been blending oolong teas in tea bags and creating new tea powders that go beyond matcha.

Dr Lin teaches our Taiwanese Tea Masterclass and the Taiwanese module of our Level 2 course.

What will I need?

Your phone, computer or tablet to join the webinar via Zoom
Brewing equipment (kettle, gaiwan/teapot etc - see recommendations above.) and a surface on which to brew the teas during the webinar

Prices (inclusive of VAT and delivery of teas):

UK - £35
EU - £40
Rest of World - £45

Webinar only, no teas: £8
If you don’t have time to receive the delivery of the teas, or just wish to watch along, you can join the webinar for this lower price.

Please note, INTERNATIONAL BOOKINGS WILL CLOSE 3 WEEKS BEORE THE EVENT , to allow for packing and postage of teas. UK bookings will close 1 week before the event.

Restrictions apply for international postage, please make sure you read the information on this page carefully before making your booking, especially if you live in Spain or Portugal.

Things to know:

- We cannot ship to PO Boxes
- Once teas have been shipped, we cannot refund the ticket price if you cannot attend.