Taiwanese Tea

Taiwanese Tea

I decided to change it up a little with this post, talking about something that I really enjoy about Taiwan (other than the food) - Tea!

Beautiful Teapots

The Chinese character for tea - 茶

Taiwanese Tea

If you ask any tea connoisseur/expert/lover about Taiwanese tea, you are likely to hear about two specific kinds: 鐵觀音 Iron Buddha (TieGuanYin) and 高山烏龍茶 High mountain oolong.

A comparison between PuEr and High mountain oolong

If you walk into a tea shop and approach the owner sitting at a table unlike one in the picture above, they will absolutely ask you to sit down and offer you some tea. I started to study Chinese at ShiDa Mandarin Training Center 2 years ago and completed 9 months of classes. Regularly throughout that period I would sit down with tea shop owners and practice Chinese, drink tea, and talk about anything and everything we could. I cannot recommend this enough as a learning experience.

My favourite tea - LiShan oolong

The tea shop owner in this store gave me some of my favourite tea to try 

梨山高山烏龍茶 LiShan high mountain oolong.

The flavours in this tea are clean, crisp and delicious. I like this tea so much that it is one of the only ones I will buy for my tea set at home. When I drink it at home it has a fruity flavour, predominantly apple. It also has the characteristic milky flavour that oolong has become famous for.

However, sitting down with the tea shop owner this time, he likened the flavours to freshly cut apple and freshly cut pear. If you cut the fruit in half and smell the inside of the fruit, it's that kind of flavour. He hit the nail on the head!

PuEr Tea 'cakes'

PuEr tea is preserved in a way where the tea is packed into a 'cake' and stored for a long time. As a general rule of thumb - the older the cake, the more expensive the tea. I am going to guess that this tea is worth upwards of $10,000TWD.

How to drink tea, the Taiwanese way

Tasting cup

This is known as the 'smelling/aroma' cup. The tea is put into the long smelling cup and then it is upturned into your tea cup. You should then pull the cup up and let the tea flow into the tea cup beneath, as the aroma of the tea fills your 'smelling' cup, you should get your nose in there and have a good sniff. Just like a fine wine or whisky, you can test yourself to find the different aromas and then confirm them with the brewer of the tea.

Usually they will join you in drinking the tea, this is when you know the quality is really good!

High mountain oolong

When the smelling cup has been disposed of, now it's time to take a drink. 'Slurping' the tea is said to be the best way to get a taste for the different flavours as it is said to release the oxygen from underneath your tongue and to properly coat your mouth with the tea flavours. However, in the west it is deemed rude to slurp your drinks. 

Note: We are not in the west, we are in Taiwan. Slurp that tea and taste those flavours!

Comparison of teas - from left to right: AliShan red oolong tea, PuEr tea and LiShan high mountain oolong tea.

Tea in Taiwan is used in a multitude of different ways. Here's my recommendation: go to a tea shop and taste some of the tea, then buy a bag of what you like. Get a french press/cafetiere (traditionally for coffee, of course) and add enough tea leaves to the bottom so as they are 2 rows deep. Now, pour hot water over the top and leave the plunger at the top. Allow the leaves to expand a little for 30s, then pour out the water, retaining the semi opened tea leaves inside. This time, fill up with water again, wait 50s and plunge the plunger down. Drink the tea, and repeat some more.

If you order tea in Maokong, this is what you'll get, if you don't know how to use it, just ask!

How many times can I use the same leaves?

For a high mountain oolong tea, you can get 6-8 pulls from one pot, so don't go throwing your leaves away after just one pot! If you don't want any more tea, then continue to brew it there and then but just put it into a flask or a separate jug and have it cold later.

For a good quality PuEr tea, you can get anywhere between 10-15 pulls off of that, so definitely make sure you're not wasteful in throwing it away.

Jiufen is also a very popular place to drink tea

How can I choose my own Taiwanese teapot?

This is a tough one, because there are so many different kinds. I would suggest an enamel one like the white one in the pictures above. The size of that one is for 2-4 people, so it's an ideal size, too. You should only clean your pot with hot water, never soap! 

Alternatively, you could go for a more traditional teapot like the ones in the first picture at the top of the article. However, make sure to season the pot, first: brew your first pot of tea and do not drink it. Leave it for 24hours, wash it out with hot water, and now it is good to go.

Maokong is still my favourite place - killer view and killer tea!

I am happy to answer any questions about tea, just throw them over to eatingintaipei@gmail.com, or leave a comment on this post.

Austria, Vienna - Skopik and Lohn

Value for money: 10/10

Cleanliness: 10/10

Service: 10/10

Quality of food: 10/10

Overall: 10/10

It's not in Taipei, sorry. This place in Vienna, Austria, is definitely worth making the trip to if you ever find yourself lucky to be in this area.

As soon as we walked in, we were struck by the white blazers worn by the waiters and servers - definitely a cool touch!

New on the scene in 2015, Skopik and Lohn (the name) is a combination of its founders, serving up traditionally Austrian dishes with a modern edge.

Unfortunately (for you, not us at the time), the light doesn't lend itself well for pictures. So, I apologise for any dark pics.

A nice little touch was a candle in a paper bag. The way the flame dances inside the paper bag mesmerised me constantly throughout the course of the meal.


- The menu - 

Just what I like - a small menu with a great variety.

We started off with some bread: a mix of sourdough and also a type of pumpernickel, both of which were delicious.

Black pudding with potato cream and red cabbage salad
€9.00/$300TWD

Black pudding is such a weakness of mine. Any time I see it, I get it. Here, I saw it, and I wasn't disappointed. The black pudding was crispy on the outside and still slightly red and soft on the inside. 

For any that don't know - Black pudding is essentially a type of blood sausage made from pork blood and fat. 



Red beet soup with roasted apples and daikon
€5/$166TWD

Sweet, earthy and fresh flavours fill this bowl of soup. The soup was hearty and hit the spot.


Braised lamb with white bean puree and savoy cabbage
€15.50/$517TWD

Well, this was my first white bean puree. I don't know if I was much a fan of it by itself, however, together with the lamb it works perfectly.

The lamb was quite clearly braised for a long time as it fell apart even when I looked at it. The gravy was rich and thick and the cabbage was braised perfectly. A flawless dish.

Wiener Schnitzel with potato and cucumber salad
€19.50/$651TWD

The side dishes of potato salad and cucumber salad were both brilliant and we thought about asking for a refill on both bowls, alas, we didn't...

I also struggle to find flaws in this dish, too. The schnitzel was HUGE, which got my alarm bells going when it arrived. As, in Berlin, we had a terrible experience with a disgustingly thick, poster sized schnitzel that was impossible to eat.

This, however, did not fit that bill.

Paper thin, flavour in bucket loads and crispy batter. It is, hands down, the best schnitzel I have had.

Chocolate tart with salted caramel and black sesame ice cream

€8.00/$266TWD

Warm dark chocolate tart gives way to crunchy biscuit scattered on the plate, and a healthy dollop of delicious sesame ice cream.

This was the best meal we had in our 2 day (admittedly, a short time, yet still our pick of the bunch) stay in Vienna, Austria. Shortlist it for when you're there and I assure you, you won't be disappointed. 




17 Leopoldsgasse, 1020, Vienna, Austria

http://skopikundlohn.at/

Happy Eating!

London - Flat Iron

Value for money: 10/10

Cleanliness: 9/10

Service: 8/10

Quality of food: 8/10

Overall: 9/10

Apologies, but there is no outside pic to accompany this post - It was lashing it down with rain throughout our short stay in London, so photo taking wasn't an option outside...

A steak restaurant chain in London, Flat Iron has quite a few branches. There isn't a reservation option, so I am afraid if there is a line, then just go ahead and join it.

Cool ice block!

Each table is given one of these. The popcorn is quite salty, but it is also pretty tasty, using beef fat to give it the flavour. 

I did quite want the burger, too, but figured a steak and a burger was overindulgence...

These aren't particularly useful to everyone who walks in and eats here, but I enjoyed looking at it. I have a bit of a background in cattle and sheep farming, so these things tend to (sadly) interest me.

Flat Iron steak 

£10

($390TWD)

with chips 

£3.50

($136TWD)

and creamed spinach 

£3

($117TWD)

Bearnaise sauce

Included

(and a beer, naturally, £2.25 per half - 87TWD).

Altogether: The spread below = 

£18.75 or $731TWD

Per Person.

The steak is already cut for you, but doesn't that mini clever look fun?

Let me tell you, it doesn't seem like the most prized cut from the animal, but this steak is pretty damn good. I always get my steak Medium Rare, and this was right on the money. Cooked the perfection, seasoned beautifully and presented nicely. You should've seen my face when it arrived.

The chips are deep fried in beef dripping so have a beefy flavour punch that is surprising. They are also pretty good - dip them in the dreamy bearnaise sauce and you're cooking on gas!

The spinach was good, but possibly too salty for my liking. However, it's nice to get some greens down you.

When you've paid be sure to stop by the ice cream on the way out (it is FREE, so why wouldn't you?!).

The chocolate ice cream (only one flavour) was deliciously rich, especially when dipped into this chocolate shavings.

It didn't last long, let me tell you that!

Opening times:

Monday - Saturday

12:00 - 00:00

Sunday

12:00 - 23:30

17 - 18 Henrietta Street, London, WC2E8QH

Happy Eating!