
- HOME >
- New Arrival at HOJO Online Shop
New Release of Taiping Houkui 2017
- [2017.06.21] Posted By Akira Hojo
We just released new crop of Taiping Houkui 2017. Since the quality was outstanding this year, we bought two types; one of it is the special tribute Taiping Houkui.
Orchid floral flavor
Taiping Houkui is the signature green tea represented Anhui province. The appearance of Taiping Houkui is very distinctive. The tea leaf is long and flat. At first glance it is like pressed-flower. Because of its unique appearance, a number of people tend to think that this tea is made of a huge tea cultivar. However, the fresh tea used for making Taiping Houkui is the same as other types of tea.
The distinctive appearance of Taiping Houkui is because of the timing of tea plucking is slightly later, and it undergone special rolling process. Although I called it rolling, it is not really rolled with rotary motion. Every single twig of fresh tea leaf is manually arranged carefully and pressed with a roller, and then it is baked in the oven for drying. The flat and long shape is formed thanks to these processes.
Generally, a number of Chinese green teas are made of younger tea leaves. It is to emphasize the mellowness in taste and creamy mouth-feel. Nevertheless, I personally prefer the tea which processed from more matured leaf. The matured tea leaf gives less umami but more floral flavor and thick in taste with more complex drinking sensation. In a way, I love the plucking standard of Taiping Houkui. As this tea is made of the matured leaf, it gives very clear and floral scent that reminds me of orchid flowers. It gives flavor reminiscent Taiwanese high mountain oolong too. It is a very pleasant tea with comfortable finishing; I do not mind drinking it for all days long. I guess those who like Taiwanese oolong would enjoy this tea too.
We release two types of quality
We bought two types of quality, the standard and the special tribute quality.
The standard Taiping Houkui gives more up-lifting fresh leafy note with a hint of orchid floral flavor.
The special tribute is collected from the garden that is located at higher altitude. The special tribute gives much softer taste and more long-lasting flavor than the standard grade, finished with a clear drinking sensation.
In my impression, I felt that the standard grade is pretty good. Though you may need to consider the special tribute only if you are highly committed for the high quality.
Use higher temperature for brewing
Our Taiping Houkui gives very less Umami since it is grown without nitrogen fertilizer. We suggest the brewing technique as follow:
1. Use boiling water to warm up all the vessels
2. Pour in the tealeaf, pour in the just-boiled hot water and infuse shorter than usual (preferably within 30 seconds).
This brewing method will effectively extract poly phenol and it gives more refreshing floral scent.
In China, it is very popular to brew Taiping Houkui in a long glass. You can enjoy the beautiful leaf as well as the up-lifting floral flavor. For brewing tea in a glass, you can choose any type of glass. However, please avoid colored glass as it affects the taste.
Taiping
Taiping Houkui is suitable for cold water brewing too. For cold water brewing, please use the boiled water and let it cool down. Water contains calcium bi-carbonate that will be converted into calcium carbonate when it is boiled.
Normally, I use 5g of tea leaf in 1 Liter of water and leave it in a fridge for a few hours. It is very refreshing and pleasant to drink especially in warm weather.
Related Articles
How to get the latest update on HOJO Tea?
1. Follow Twitter, 2. Click "Like" on Facebook, and 3. Subscribe in newsletter. You can have the latest tea news from HOJO Tea.
Subscribe the Newsletter to enjoy the privileges
- You may receive a free sample upon purchase, or you may have the priority to purchase special products. So please remember to subscribe our newsletter as well as the social network.
- New Release of Tsuge Zairai Sencha from Sustainable Tea Garden
- Tsuge Zairai Sencha 都祁在来煎茶 is made from “zairai” tea plucked in spring, from the naturally farmed tea garden located in Tsuge, Nara City, Nara Prefecture. The tea garden of Tsuge Zairai Sencha is maintained in sustainable manner applying neither pesticide nor fertilizer. Tsuge Zairai Sencha has a subtle and refreshing floral scent with a hint …
- New Release of Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea Cake 2021
- Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2021 is available now. This tea is always very popular in our shop. In Japan, we brought in loose tea this year, and for Malaysia we produced 200g cake. Mao cha before compressing into cake Very limited resources This tea is made from the wild tea, called Camelia taliensis. …
NEW ARTICLES
New Release of Tsuge Zairai Sencha from Sustainable Tea Garden
- Tsuge Zairai Sencha 都祁在来煎茶 is made from “zairai” tea plucked in spring, from the naturally farmed tea garden located in Tsuge, Nara City, Nara Prefecture. The tea garden of Tsuge Zairai Sencha is maintained in sustainable manner applying neither pesticide nor fertilizer. Tsuge Zairai Sencha has a subtle and refreshing floral scent with a hint …
New Release of Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea Cake 2021
- Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2021 is available now. This tea is always very popular in our shop. In Japan, we brought in loose tea this year, and for Malaysia we produced 200g cake. Mao cha before compressing into cake Very limited resources This tea is made from the wild tea, called Camelia taliensis. …
New Release of 2 Types of Darjeeling 1st Flush
- We have released two types of Darjeeling 1st Flush Tea. The reason why the Darjeeling 1st Flush is greenish In Darjeeling tea, the 1st flush refers to the first-plucked spring tea. Usually, the Darjeeling 1st Flush tea is greenish. From the outlook, it looks like a green tea. Many people misunderstand that it is green …
Gushu Dian Hong, The Rare Yunnan Black Tea made from Ancient Tea Tree
- The characteristic of Gushu Dian Hong is its intense aftertaste, and this is far better than ordinary black tea. Dian Hong means Yunnan Black Tea Yunnan black tea is called “Dian Hong” in Chinese. “Dian” means Yunnan, and “Hong” means black tea. Gushu means Ancient Tree in Chinese. After all, Gu Shu Dian Hong means …
Limited Release of Single Tree Raw Pu-erh Tea from Pine Forest Ancient Tea Garden
- We have released Pine Forest Single Tree Raw Pu-erh 2019. This tea was made from the fresh tea leaves collected from very old tea trees grown under the shade of the pine forest. The tea trees are more than 300 years old. It is a good chance for you to experience the distinctive characteristic of …
New Release of Wu Jia Zhai Raw Pu-erh Tea 2018 Loose
- We have released Wu Jia Zhai Raw Pu-erh Tea. It is a Loose Tea (Mao-cha). This tea was made in 2018 and has been aged for nearly three years. Thanks to the aging, it has developed more distinctive flavour with sweet scent of sugar cane and dried fruits. Sustainable Tea Garden at high altitude of …
New Release of Tong Mu Shui Xian Black Tea
- We have released very rare black tea, Tong Mu Shui Xian Black Tea. This tea is from Tong Mu Guan in Wuyishan, Fujian Province, China. The tea garden is located at 1000m above sea level, and the tea garden is totally sustainable, the tea trees are grown without pesticide and fertilizer. Tong Mu Shui Xian …
New Release of Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2020
- We have launched Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea 2020, in loose tea. For Malaysia, we release the 200g cake version. This year, we have made major improvements in the raw material, producer, and production method, resulting in a very satisfying quality. However, the production volume is extremely small; it will likely to be sold …
Limited Release of Yunnan 10 Years Vintage Black Tea 2010
- We release 10-year vintage Yunnan black tea. This tea was produced in 2010 and aged in Yunnan for 8 years in aerobic storage. We bought this year in 2018, and it has been aged in Japan and Malaysia for two years in anoxic storage condition. The production area is very near to the Myanmar border …
Da Xue Shan Wild Raw Pu-erh Tea 2020 was Released
- We have launched 2020 wild puerh tea. This wild tea is from Da Xue Shan located in Lincang of Yunnan Province, China. We started to introduce Da Xue Shan Wild tea since 2010. But 2020 version was completely renewed. This year, we changed the source of tea, the producers and the production method too. Why …
Shop Info

Address:Lot No. T-215, 3rd Floor, The Gardens Mall, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603-2287-4537
Business Hour: 10am to 10pm
Category
- New Arrival at HOJO Online Shop
- Featured Articles
- Newsletter
- Types of Tea
- Origin of Tea
- Teapot and Tea Equipment
- Tea Column
- How to enjoy tea
- Tea Processing
- How to choose quality tea
- Tea constituents and functional effect
- Safety of Tea
- Foods
- Tea Business Operation
- Hobby and Outdoor Activity
- Ranking of Tea
- Video
- FAQ
- Media Release
Profile

- AKIRA HOJO
- I invite you to experience my tea selections.I was born in Nagano, Japan. In university, I studied agricultural chemistry, and I have the master degree in food science. I worked in Japanese food industry for 10 years. I involved in R&D, QC and QA. As a factory manager, I implemented ISO9000 series and managed the factory.
- The Art of Tea Magazine
- We posted the article on “The Art of Tea Magazine No.9, the magazine is published in Taiwan. We featured some scientific view about the tetsubin
- New Straits Times
- The Malaysian National Newspaper, New Straits Times featured HOJO Tea on 17-Oct-2007.