Pinglin Baozhong

The dark leaves already signal a traditional processing, standing apart from the bright-green Baozhong more commonly found today.

Crafted by a four-generation tea family in Pinglin, this batch was chosen after extensive tastings from several farmers. The wet leaves unfold with surprising complexity: soft milky tones and flower-nectar sweetness, more often expected in Taiwan’s high-mountain oolongs.

The liquor itself defies expectations. While floral notes remain, they soon give way to a delicate fruity sweetness—reminiscent of Galia melon, ripe gooseberries, and white currants. Not grassy or acidic, it recalls the freshness of Sencha, but without bitterness and with greater aromatic depth. Subtle vegetal flashes, like fresh parsley, appear occasionally and add nuance.

The texture is velvety and fine, inviting you to hold the liquor in your mouth and move it gently from side to side, prolonging the smooth, silky sensation.

This Baozhong was selected for those who appreciate traditional Taiwan craftsmanship but also seek the brightness and lively aromatics that make Pinglin Baozhong so distinctive.

Written by Gabriele

About the cultivar

Tainong No. 2028 is an unreleased experimental breeding line, developed in the 1980s from Jin Xuan (#2027 TTES-12) and Cui Yu (#2029 TTES-13). It shares the same parentage as Cui Yu: the female parent Ying Zhi Hong Xin and the male parent Tainong No. 80. Both parents are traditional germplasm lines preserved at TRES and used in breeding, but neither is an officially registered TTES cultivar. Tainong No. 2028 is genetically related to Jin Xuan (one parent in common) and Cui Yu (both parents in common), so the taste is also expected to be related to the two.