With COVID-19 hitting exports, Taiwan’s tea farmers are turning inwards, and the domestic market is responding. Taiwan’s Tea Research and Extension Station is helping, working to promote Taiwan’s tea to a domestic audience that may not have always understood what fine tea is all about.
Taiwan’s tea exports have dropped by nearly 30% in the first half of the year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Taiwan’s own consumption of its tea has shot up, helping make up the difference.
One force behind renewed domestic interest in Taiwan’s tea is the Tea Research and Extension Station, a branch of the government’s Council of Agriculture. The station revealed the results of its latest project to boost domestic tea consumption on Tuesday.
This is a flavor wheel that helps non-experts understand what makes various Taiwanese teas special. Like the world of fine wine, the world of tea-tasting is filled with specialist terms that can be confusing and off-putting to non-connoisseurs. The flavor wheel deliberately avoids these terms in a bid to make Taiwanese tea accessible to all.
It’s a bigger achievement than it might at first seem- it took three years for the 25 experts consulted to agree on everything.
The tea station is now planning a marketing event before the end of the year to make sure that in Taiwan, at least, the teapots never run dry.