Sun Moon Lake Red Tea日月潭红茶

Sun Moon Lake Red Tea is a taiwan-red black tea from Yuchi, Nantou County, Taiwan. Brew it at 90°C with 5g of leaf per 100ml of water; expect up to 7 short infusions in a small gaiwan or teapot. No rinse needed.

Tasting notes

Ruby 18 is the tea you can identify blind after one sip. There is a cool camphor-cinnamon thing that hits the roof of the mouth before any of the expected red-tea flavours register — menthol, bark, something almost like a wintergreen leaf crushed between your fingers. That is cinnamaldehyde from the T18 cultivar, a 1999 cross of Burmese assamica and a wild Taiwanese mountain tea, and nothing on the mainland tastes like it. Underneath the spice the liquor is actually quite gentle: brown sugar, cocoa, old cedar. Much lighter than the big-leaf parentage would suggest. The risk with this tea is steeping it like you would Dian Hong — too hot, too long — which flattens the cinnamon top note into something tannic and woody. Keep the water at 90°C, keep the early steeps short, and the signature stays where it belongs: right at the front of the cup.

Flavor profile

Unmistakable cinnamon and fresh mint character that no other red tea matches — the signature of the Ruby cultivar. Underneath the spice sits warm cocoa, aged wood, and a sweetness reminiscent of brown sugar. Lighter and cleaner than Indian Assam despite sharing large-leaf parentage.

Terroir

Lake-side highlands (~700m), humid subtropical, volcanic soil

Cultivar: TRES #18 (Ruby) — Burmese assamica × native Taiwanese wild tea hybrid, released 1999

Brewing

1. Steep 1: 15 seconds
2. Steep 2: 15 seconds
3. Steep 3: 20 seconds
4. Steep 4: 20 seconds
5. Steep 5: 25 seconds
6. Steep 6: 30 seconds
7. Steep 7: 40 seconds

Brew at 90°C or just above to bring out the signature cinnamon-mint aromatics without bitterness. Works well in both porcelain and Yixing.

Aroma & taste

Processing

• withered
• rolled
• fully oxidized
• dried

Sources

• https://meileaf.com/tea/ruby-black/
• https://yoshanteausa.com/products/781-sun-moon-lake-ruby-black-tea
• https://mountainstreamteas.com/products/sun-moon-ruby-18
• https://www.teahong.com/product/red-jade/
• https://www.nickkembel.com/sun-moon-lake-tea/