Stories of Orient-Beauty-Tea 東方美人茶 Have at Least Three Versions

Among all the Taiwanese green tea products, the Orient Beauty Tea 東方美人茶 is probably the most expensive one. While an expensive Alisan's High Mountain Tea 阿里山高山茶 is sold at a price of approximately NT $2000 per Taiwanese Jin (台斤; 1 Taiwanese Jin 台斤 = 600 grams), it is common to sell Orient Beauty Tea 東方美人茶 at a price of NT $3000-4000 per Taiwanese Jin (per 600 grams). Yet, Orient Beauty Tea 東方美人茶 has the highest degree of fermentation (or oxidation) which implies it has the lowest antioxidant level. The published record from Taiwan Tea Development-and-Improvement Experimental Farm ( 台灣茶葉改良場) is 60% for the extent of fermentation of the Orient Beauty Tea 東方美人茶; however the fermentation extent in the Hsing-Ju and Miao-Li areas (新竹苗栗地區) can reach a level as high as 75%-85%. One special characteristic of the Orient Beauty Tea is that it is free from the pesticides. During the growth period, it is essential for the tea plant to be symbiotic (共生) with an insect called Jacobiasca formosana (小綠葉蟬) and no insect can grow if the pesticide are present. Another characteristic of the Orient Beauty Tea is that because of its high degree of oxidation or fermentation, it is very smooth and does not have bitter note in the taste. It is for this reason that becomes a favor tea for the Europeans and the tea can be sold at a good price.

Sometimes, the Orient Beauty Tea is also called the 'Greatly Exaggerated Tea' (膨風茶). During the May 24 Tea presentation, the speaker asked the audience about the stories behind the names of this special kind of tea. There were two versions from the audience, and one final one from the speaker. Overall, there are three versions.

Version 1, from Edwin Chan. Edwin is from Pei-Pu 北埔 Village of Hsing-Ju, the place which produces the Orient Beauty Tea. This is his story version.

The story happened during the Japanese occupation time. One day, the emperor-appointed governor of Taiwan went back to Japan to see the emperor. Because the governor was in a hurry, he hastily took some tea products from the Pei-Pu 北埔 village and presented to the emperor, saying this is the best tea in Taiwan and the tea is called the Orient Beauty. Because the governor had presented his story in a greatly exaggerated way, this tea is later called the 'Greatly Exaggerated Tea 膨風茶).

Version 2, from Ms. Wang of the audience. This is her story.

One day, an English merchant bought the tea from the tea market at Pei-Pu 北埔 Village of Hsing-Ju. The tea was then presented to the Queen of England. The Queen loved it and name the tea the Orient Beauty Tea 東方美人茶.

Version 3, from the presenter. He added the following story to the Version 2 story.

A Pei-Pu 北埔 tea farmer had noticed that a special kind of insect was growing on the tea leaves. The farmer harvested the tea anyway because it would be wasteful to throw the tea away. However, because the farmer thought this tea had less quality, he was less diligent in working on the routines of processing the tea. When it was finished, surprisingly, the tea had a special flavor. The farmer eventually brought the tea to the market. An English merchant came to the market and tasted the tea. He liked it and bought the tea with 10 times more of the regular tea price. The farmer ran back hoping not to be 'caught' by the English merchant to ask the money back. When he told the story on how he sold the tea to the Englishman, the neighbor said that the tea is a 'Greatly Exaggerated Tea 膨風茶.