WHO IS MASTER OU
Let us introduce one of the finest tea roasters in Taiwan, also highly regarded in China for his skills. Born into a family of tea farmers, he grew up watching his grandparents and parents work with immense effort tending the plants, harvesting and producing, which is why as a young man he decided to do something completely different. “But there is no work that is not tiring for the body or for the mind,” says Ou, “so I realized that I should devote my efforts to the family plantations, so that I could in turn pass them on to my children and turn hard work into delicious, natural teas that I can be proud of!” When asked “What does tea mean to you?”, Ou replies that at first it was just a job, but over time, in contact with the plants, tea became much more: a friend, a support, my teacher in life. Ou is also a musician, as are his wife and much of his family, and music is part of their lives just as tea is.
“I love music and I create my own melodies connected to my work; what I need to tell and pass on is in the tea. I am the tea and the tea is me. For me it is very simple”
Master Ou lives and works near the village of Shanmu in Xinyi Township, Nantou County. Ou’s plantations lie between 1,000 and 1,700 meters and include Qingxin and Jinxuan plants, cultivars originating from Wuyi, and Tieguanyin; the terroir consists of gravelly soil, and there are numerous streams near the plantations.
Yushan is just a stone’s throw from his plantations; it is the highest peak on the island as well as a truly one-of-a-kind terroir. For many years Ou has been letting jinxuan plants, grown from seed on the mountain at about 1,300 meters, return to the wild, and we hope to soon savor the fruits of this very special plantation.
Ou is also a master roaster: making our Heavy roasted Shuixian takes a full nine months of post-processing and a great deal of skill in managing the embers and the roasting times. Ou roasts both over traditional wood embers, a method called “tan bei”, and in an electric oven, known as “dian bei”. Ou alternates the two techniques or chooses one of them to give his teas more floral, fruity, or warm and woody notes. Fire can give a tea energy and personality, but you need to be able to handle the process masterfully to avoid flattening the body of the tea and ruining its floral and aromatic side.
Deciding to roast a tea is a personal and risky choice; sometimes Ou takes many months or even years, because some teas need to wait for the right moment to undergo this post-processing. A good roaster can enhance and bring out the best in a tea, creating aromatic notes that were previously hidden deep within the leaves, but on the other hand, a mistake can ruin all the previous work. We offer you a selection of his most iconic roasted teas and, in the future, many more new ones.
In our shop you will find several teas produced and roasted by Ou himself, with time and care. We would like to let you know, however, that batches may often have slightly different characteristics and nuances, sometimes fruitier, at other times more floral or spicy. This is because natural tea changes in response to environmental stress, and consequently the roasting temperature and times may change too, as the roasting must always adapt to the leaf, follow its characteristics and never mask its fragrance.
“If anyone in this world had to think of a leaf, which one would it be? A tea leaf, of course!”
MASTER OU