Luye Township Taitung County—Lin Wang Tea Factory
What comes to mind at the mention of Taitung? That’s right, the great air, mountains, and waters are what this land is known for. Lin Wang Tea Factory is located in Luye, the tea trees are grown in pollution-free land, watered with the purest water sources, grown and hand-picked with love to produce the highest quality and healthiest tea. The founder of Lin Wang Tea Factory has a background in landscape engineering and started the factory after a career change. While the factory is considerably younger among the many established tea factories, Lin Wang Tea Factory was the first in the East Coast area to become an ISO22000 certified tea factory. The factory was also recognized as a national 5-star tea factory in 2012 and 2013, and the owner, Mr. Lin Yaojing, was awarded Taiwan’s Top Ten Farmer Award in 2018.
Mr. Lin Yaojing’s motivation for entering the tea business was quite simple. His original plan was to become a happy farmer once he entered retirement. At the time, tea was selected due to the fact that it would be able to withstand typhoons, earthquakes, had rich cultural and artistic value, and could bring many opportunities. Him and his wife dove into the world of tea. The owner couple, Mr. Lin Yaojing, and his wife, Mrs. Chunxia, remained true to their original intent to be kind to the land. They insist on weeding manually, using plant based organic fertilizer, and keeping a clean production environment that is cigarette, alcohol, and betel-nut free, special clothing must be worn before entering the factory to prevent the introduction of contaminants. These high standards are all in place to ensure that customers can enjoy the healthiest and safest tea.
Lin Wang Tea Factory is organic from the farm to the factory. Each tree is grown with love and care, and great effort goes into maintaining the cleanest tea production factory. The factory is ISO 22000 certified, and since the tea is hand-picked, the final product is also certified. Under Mr. Lin Yaojing’s leadership and innovative technology, the tea has recently undergone Halal certification. Lin plans to promote Lin Wang Tea and introduce it on an international scale.
If you have the opportunity to visit Lin Wang Tea Factory, make sure you don’t miss out on the unique 38 Fruit Tea DIY course. Depending on the season, the activity will use locally grown pomello or lemons, paired with Taitung’s natural sunlight to air dry the fruit and tea, to create a unique 38 Fruit Tea. Guests can make a reservation to join the DIY course and bring home their creations. The idea was born when there was a surplus of pomelo in 2009. To help with the overflow of pomelo fruit, Mr. Lin Yaojing found the traditional tea production method and organized the DIY tea making activity so guests could have the fun experience.
There are two main steps in pomelo tea production. The pomelo must first be cleaned and the fruit separated from the seeds and rind. The fruit and tea leaves are thoroughly mixed and stuffed back into the pomelo rind. After the 38-week process of nine steams and nine drawings, the tea and pomelo are gracefully combined to produce a fruity and sweet tea. The tea is 100% hand-made through a tedious process so only a limited amount is produced each year.
Besides making pomelo tea, Lin Wang Tea Factory also has a Lemon Fruit Tea DIY course. The farm will provide the fresh lemons, black tea leaves, cotton string, and special metal cylinder tools you will need to make the lemon tea. After the lemons are cleaned, use the metal cylinder to puncture the lemons and scoop the pulp out of that hole. Make sure to get all the pulp out and then juice the pulp. After removing the seeds and white filmy segment walls, mix the juice in with the teal leaves and set aside for 15 minutes, allowing the tea to be infused with the lemon juice. Next, fill the saturated tea leaves back into the hollowed-out lemon peel, seal it up and secure it with the cotton string. The lemons are steamed and later roasted and dried multiple times before they are completely dried and darkened in color. The process can take up to three months, creating a final dark and dried lemon product that will be sent to the guest’s homes once ready.
Besides the fun and educational fruit tea DIY course, Lin Wang Tea Factory also boasts a specialty black oolong tea. The prized black oolong tea was created after countless trials by Mr. Lin Yaojing. The unique production process ensures the quality of the tea. The exquisite weather conditions of Luye paired with oolong and black tea production techniques is what makes this a black oolong tea unique to Taitung. The black oolong tea has the rich flavors of black tea while retaining the fragrant and sweet traits of oolong. The production process of black oolong is complex and tedious, requiring long hours of mixing, rubbing, and fermentation. If kept under the right conditions, this tea certainly has the potential to become a prized aged tea that will continue to develop rich flavors with time. The next time you plan to visit Taitung, make sure to arrange a trip to Lin Wang Tea Factory, it will surely be worth the visit!
