Tea Making Boot Camp
Difficulty
Hard
Persons
4+
Duration
36+ hours
Destination
Ruisui, Hualien
Costs PP
299US$ or less
This activity is not a normal 'tea tourism' type of event. Instead of cultural costumes and photoshoots this is a full on tea making boot camp of solid, but not particularly strenuous, work for a day and a half. Your reward for the hard work will be some sore muscles, a great appreciation of the labor that goes into making our favorite beverage and a bag full of tea that you can truly and honestly say 'I made this, would you like to try some?"
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The experience begins the day before the picking begins as you will need to stay in a comfy hotel located right beside the tea gardens. (Two nights accommodation is included in the price) The next day begins at 7am with some breakfast before heading straight to the tea gardens to begin picking. We will work slowly but steadily through the day picking, wilting, oxidizing, rolling and finishing our tea before heading to bed at 12am. (It is possible to call it quits a little earlier if you want) By 8am the next day we will have the finished product that we will have a blind taste test competition to see who made the best tea!
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Again, this is not a typical tea tourism type of activity but a deep dive into the entire tea making process from the soil to the cup and everything in between. Our Tea Garden Day Tours are great if you want a more relaxed tea experience.
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If you have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch!
Itinerary
First Day
6am -- Quick breakfast and off the tea garden to start picking
6:30-11am -- Appreciate the labor that goes into making tea as we pick until we have enough tea
11-3pm -- Tea withers as we have a factory tour and tea tasting, lunch and break
3:30-6:30pm 2-3 hours of non stop hand rolling of our tea. More appreciation of where tea comes from
6:30-11:30pm -- We take a break as the tea ferments in the fermentation room
11:30-1:30 am -- First drying phase
2-8am-- Tea Roasting
Day Two
7-8am -- Breakfast
8-11am -- Finished tea competition, comparison and packing
FAQ
How much will it cost?
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Costs for 4 people are 8800NT$ per person and include all food, two nights accommodation, materials, equipment and anything else you might need. Costs go down if more people join in. Based on double occupancy.
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What should we bring?
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Just some weather appropriate clothing and a few extra of your favorite teas to share during the breaks. Everything else will be taken care of!
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What about the weather?
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We can make teas even on rainy days but if in the rare chance that we have to cancel because of the weather there is no costs to you! If the weather is bad the trip itinerary might change in very small ways but the experience will be essentially the same.
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About your host
Matt Hopkins has been living and working in Hualien, Taiwan for over 15 years with his wife and two children. He is the owner of both Hualien Outdoors, an outdoor adventure company, and Mountain Stream Teas, a source for high quality Taiwanese teas.
Mountain Stream Tea Tours is a natural evolution of those experiences venturing into the mountains and valleys of Taiwan. A blending of passions that has created a great opportunity to introduce even more people to the beauty of Taiwan and its people.
Group discounts available for more than 4 people.
All food and snacks included
Two nights accommodation included
Learn about the tea making process from experts
