{"title":"New Tea Drop","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"taiwan-ruby-18-black","title":"Ruby 18","description":"\u003cp\u003eDeliciously rich and smooth Taiwanese red tea from Yuchi (near Sun Moon Lake). We have tasted many Ruby 18's in our career, but enjoyed relatively few. This one caught me by surprise as it is full and creamy like hot chocolate, but with a potent assam-like briskness. The characteristic mint aroma is present but well integrated. It is an excellent Ruby 18 that shows off the awesome potential of black tea grown in Taiwan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI like to give it a little flash steep to help it open up, and the aroma of the wet leaves gives a wintergreen and betel-nut like herbal scent which give levity to a rich base flavor of caramel and sweet potato. The aroma is clear and unfettered, easily making its way deep into the body. Broth is potent and structured, with a tannic grip that is both assertive and well rounded. It embodies the martial arts concept of 'iron in silk', a powerful inner strength encapsulated in a soft exterior. As it penetrates into the body I feel solid and calm, and the aftertaste just goes on and on.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth the assam related cultivar and its tender picking standard mean that this tea really is potent, so start low with your leaf amount and increase gradually once you get a feel for the tea. A little goes a long way, and you can still get a lot of infusions. I find short steeps with nice hot water gets me right where I want to be.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFacts\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHarvest Location : Yuchi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHarvest Date : June 2025\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCultivar : Ruby 18 [Hongyu #18]\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFarming Method : Sustainable\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Floating Leaves Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":39651320299727,"sku":"","price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"75g","offer_id":39651320332495,"sku":"","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0561\/0455\/0607\/files\/ruby_18.jpg?v=1784232945"},{"product_id":"2017-ailao-shan","title":"Wildcraft Puer \u0026 White Tea","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn this page are listed two different cakes of tea, a sheng (raw) puer and a white tea, from the same wild trees in Ailao Shan Yunnan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen we say wildcraft, we use this word to denote that it is foraged from actual wild growing tea trees in Yunnan. The word wild is sometimes used to mean different things in the tea world, but plants that propagated themselves by natural means without any human selection and were discovered in the woods (i.e. actually wild tea) is relatively rare. It is also a different species of tea plant. My understanding is that camelia sinensis is all selectively bred, chosen by people for special characteristics that we like. That includes 'Gushu'\/'Qiaomu' or ancient arbor trees. They were planted by \u003cem\u003esomeone \u003c\/em\u003eat \u003cem\u003esome \u003c\/em\u003epoint. The trees that produce our 'wildcraft' teas have a high canopy and long trunk, and must be climbed by the tea pickers. Age dating trees is speculation, but judging by their height and thickness of trunks it's at least hundred\u003cem\u003es\u003c\/em\u003e of years old.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe like this tea because of its medicinal quality. I'm not recommending it based on claimed health benefits, but I do want to share my own experience of the feeling in my body and how I use it to feel better. It is wonderfully cooling. When I'm feeling overheated in the summertime, no other tea cools me down in the same way. It also helps any time of the year when I'm feeling internally hot, like after I eat too much greasy food or heavy roasted meat. This is a good example of the perfect use case for me : When I'm standing over a hot bbq all day in the summer heat and eating fatty grilled food, this tea makes ice cold beer obsolete.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe taste is nice and balanced with a pleasant sweetness. It is also bitter. If you don't brew too strong it is a pleasantly cooling bitterness that you may not even register. The tea works well this way. If you brew it strong it will have the kind of bitterness that could be harder to take depending on the drinker, but I still feel it is well contained - balanced and intensely refreshing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhite Tea vs Puer : The white tea tastes like white tea and the puer taste like puer. Both have their merits! They are harvested from the same exact trees. The white tea is new from this year, so it is more vibrant and the white processing gives it a fruitier taste. The puer has been stored in Seattle since it was made back in 2019, so it has mellowed out some but not really developed an aged taste. I would say, if you want a fresh youthful presentation go for the white and if you want an earthier taste go for the puer. Or try both!\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst picture is Puer, second picture is White Tea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFacts\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHarvest Location : Ailao Shan, Yunnan\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePuer Harvest Date : March 2019\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhite Tea Harvest Date : March 2026\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFarming : Wild Growing\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVariety : Camelia Taliensis\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Floating Leaves Tea","offers":[{"title":"Puer Cake (357g)","offer_id":39651324166351,"sku":"","price":110.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"White Tea Cake (200g)","offer_id":45602133475535,"sku":null,"price":65.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"25g Puer Sample","offer_id":39651324231887,"sku":"","price":13.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"25g White Tea Sample","offer_id":45602134425807,"sku":null,"price":13.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0561\/0455\/0607\/files\/wildcraft_shengpu.jpg?v=1784230815"},{"product_id":"ent-wine-aged-white","title":"Sanxia Mingqian Baimudan","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis tea only comes in a 40 gram canister to prevent breakage of the delicate leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is harvested from a certified 'natural grown' farm in the traditionally green-tea-growing region of Sanxia in northern Taiwan. The leaves were picked young to make Baimudan, before the Qingming Festival in early Spring. It is full of fresh, spring energy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI like this tea brewed 'bowl style' rather than gongfu style. I mean that I'll steep it directly in a wide cup or bowl without a strainer or infuser. I hesitate to use the phrase 'grandpa style' because I brew it with focused intent, letting it brew itself but following along thoughtfully with fresh hot water at the right moment to see the changes unfold over the session. Meditative like gongfu, but less active. This method brings forth a deep, rooted sweetness and refreshingly fruity aroma from these leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCalming and deeply hydrating, this tea offers a different perspective into the terroir of Taiwan than I've ever experienced. White tea being minimally processed, the essence of the tea extracts very slowly into the water giving it a broader view of the mountainside it grew on. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's a well crafted tea from a clean garden. I'm really enjoying it as I feel it gives me a long, quiet moment on these hotter summer days. I'm drinking one can this summer and saving a can to age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFacts\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHarvest Location : Sanxia District, New Taipei, Taiwan\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHarvest Date : March 2026\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVariety : Qingxin Ganzai\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFarming Method : Unsprayed\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Floating Leaves US","offers":[{"title":"40g Canister","offer_id":43960099799247,"sku":null,"price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0561\/0455\/0607\/files\/baimudan.jpg?v=1784232694"}],"url":"https:\/\/floatingleaves.live\/collections\/warming-teas.oembed","provider":"Floating Leaves Tea","version":"1.0","type":"link"}