The pandemic is making life stressful, so why not make yourself a cup of good tea, sit back and relax. This year, due to the stable climate, the famous Wen Shan Pouchong tea from Pinglin, New Taipei City, is particularly delicious, and even tea-loving Mayor Hou Yu-Ih of New Taipei City praised its aroma and flavor. Today (6/15), he also turned into a shopping expert for the fourth time and came on the “Eastern Farm” shopping program of EETV shopping channel to enthusiastically promote the good tea of New Taipei. In addition to offering brewing tips for Pouchong tea, he also promoted this quality-guaranteed competition-grade tea. President Gary Wang of Eastern Group also showed his support by offering a 50% ET coin rebate to boost sales. Although the tea quantity was limited, there was such an enthusiastic response from customers that Hou Yu-Ih asked to have more products available.
New Taipei City is the birthplace of the “million-dollar champion tea,” and also the largest Pouchong tea planting region in Taiwan, which includes Pinglin, Shiding, Shenkeng, Pingxi, and Xizhi, with an annual output of 418 tons. Among them, Pinglin is known as the “hometown of tea.” The Wen Shan Pouchong tea produced there is jade green in appearance, with firm and naturally curled tea leaves, while the tea brew is honey-green in color. Not only is the tea sweet to taste, it also fills the nose with an elegant floral aroma. Hou Yu-Ih revealed that he likes Wen Shan Pouchong tea very much, with the sweetness of the flavor and the good mood it creates after drinking it. In addition to hot brewing, now that summer has arrived, the tea is also very suitable for cold brewing and the taste is just as fragrant.
In addition to the five characteristics of “fragrance, strength, purity, flavor, and beauty” showcased by Wen Shan Pouchong tea, this year’s tea is of particularly high quality. Chen Wen-Ching, Chairperson of the Pinglin Farmers’ Association, said that this year’s weather was stable with moderate rainfall, and so the tea trees grew well and the quality of the tea leaves was excellent; in addition, the yield was about 20% to 30% higher than last year’s. Furthermore, the weather during this year’s tea-making season was particularly good, with many sunny days, so the tea leaves were able to ferment properly, resulting in an elegant and clear tea with a bold floral aroma.
To let more people taste the good tea of New Taipei City, Eastern Farm and the New Taipei City Government have not only joined hands to sell Wen Shan Pouchong tea gift boxes, but the tea itself has also passed a special tea evaluation contest, where it won an award for excellence, receiving praise from the judges and the consumer market. The tea is marketed through the ETMall platform, with a limited time sale of NT$1,099 for a box of two cannisters and up to 550 ET coins upon placing an order. The tea gift boxes will be delivered directly from the production area of Pinglin. In response, many Pouchong tea lovers as well as tea enthusiasts snatched up the offer.
The champion tea has always been in demand. This time, a limited number of 400 sets were launched on ETMall, and the sets were almost sold out in less than 40 minutes after the show started, which showed how popular the tea was. Shopping expert Yi-Chun wanted to ask for more sets for the audience, but once Hou Yu-Ih made the request, the Chairperson of the Farmer’s Association immediately made another 100 sets available with no questions asked. According to Hou Yu-Ih, “Wen Shan Pouchong tea is not only an excellent tea from New Taipei City, but more importantly, because of the clean mountain environment and good water sources, which create nurturing mists, the quality of the tea plants is outstanding. I am very grateful to President Gary Wang and ETMall for helping the small farmers of New Taipei City promote their agricultural products, so that many people can buy the best spring Wen Shan Pouchong tea this year. ”
Hou Yu-Ih said that thanks to the participation of the New Taipei City Government and the Farmers’ Association, all competing teas must go through the most impartial selection process, which is a very strict process. After the competition, the teas are completely packaged, sealed, and certified by the New Taipei City Government to guarantee their quality. In addition, in the national fermented tea competition, New Taipei City’s Pouchong tea has won the championship every year, but it is not easy to buy the limited-quantity tea. The fact that the tea has been made available on ETMall is a quality assurance. He hoped that the tea can be promoted all over Taiwan, so that people can fall in love with Wen Shan Pouchong tea.
Adhering to the spirit of standing with small farmers, ETMall has also experienced the impact of the pandemic on local communities; in fact, we were the first to join the national agricultural and fishery products sales team. With our support, we sold 1,600 Chiayi Aurora muskmelons, 3,500 sets of Taitung atemoya, and 16,000 Tainan Matou Wendan pomelos in seconds, 4,000 sets of Tainan Guanmiao pineapples, and 8,000 fourfinger threadfins and dragon tiger groupers, achieving excellent sales performances each time. We not only uphold the spirit of EHS Select to choose the best produce, but also help farmers with domestic sales. By doing so, we can share with consumers the taste of local specialties. Eastern Farm adheres to the spirit of EHS Select to look for quality products based on a rigorous selection process. All of the products are delivered directly from the place of origin. The program has been warmly praised and received positive feedback from the members.
All of the agricultural produce sold on Eastern Farm are also available on the “Mama Bear Shopping” platform. ETMall will remain committed to the spirit of EHS Select and continue to search for high quality produce around Taiwan. At the same time, we also hope to lead by example, so that all sectors can support the local agriculture of Taiwan together.