最愛九份茶坊

One very charming teahouse I like a lot, probably the best of them all, is Jioufen Teahouse (九份茶坊), located an hour out of the city in Jiufen, Ruifang (九份，瑞芳). It's a charming, quaint and spacious old house refurbished into this teahouse, keeping the old rafters and wood interiors, and a large courtyard overlooking the cliff and sea beyond.

Jiufen (九份) used to be a gold-mining town. Now, it's just a tourist attraction with scenic views overlooking East China Sea. The ancient streets suck ass because shops looking for the tourist dollar have moved in, and aren't at all unique. They sell run-of-the-mill souvenirs and there's nothing very fun walking along the crowded streets full of busloads of disgorged tourists.

The cramped tea shops in the area didn't sell very good teas. At least those that they allowed us to taste, were of the quality restaurants served too. Eiiiiiii. We tried some, skipped the rest, ate a quick brainless but filling lunch and trudged on to the end of the streets to the quiet galleries and of course, to step into the old world charm of the teahouse where rooms, booths and tables awaited us to brew tea to our hearts' content.

I sighed in happiness at the charcoal used to heat water in ceramic kettles. They took the effort to heat water using charcoal for each table/booth/room. Such fine quality and attention to details. LOVE. We tasted one of the best brews of light but complex here in the teahouse's Da Yu Ling (大禹嶺), and also found a rare dark Red Water Oolong (紅水烏龍) to be full bodied and beautiful.

The owners, Mr Hong Zhi Sheng and his wife, are keen to promote the traditional ways of brewing tea in order to ensure the best possible cup out of quality tea leaves. The tea wares are unique too, as it's designed by the owners and the wife likes cats, and has created a number of cat-themed tea cups and gaiwan (蓋碗). The quality of the tea wares are superb, and we bought many items for ourselves and for tea-loving friends. It was here that A, the non-tea drinker fell in love with Red Water Oolong (紅水烏龍), and their Jin Xuan (金萱) and bought teas. WAH. The first time in her life that she bought such pricey teas. Not just that, she also bought tea wares! WOOT. We've thoroughly influenced her.

We left just as a busload of tourists poured in. In the nick of time. We had such a wonderful sojourn with a learned staff at the teahouse, tasted plenty teas, and deeply appreciated the effort of charcoal, filtered spring water and ceramic kettle to brew that perfect cup of Taiwanese oolong.