I am bringing a group of travellers to Taiwan who all love tea. Any good recommendations as to where in Taipei I can take the to try out and buy different types of Taiwan teas?
Well, for starters, there is Pinlin, with the tea museum and tea fields. Closer in downtown Taipei, there is Dadaocheng:
[quote]Taipei Tea Merchants Association
back
Established in 1889, it is the oldest association in Taiwan that witnessed the wonderful time of Taiwan tea exports and was devoted to promote tea culture. The association possesses many precious historical documents of Taiwan tea, such as, the award won in 1900 for export、 Taiwan Oolong tea packing papers and the commercial posters. It also has 「Cha Jiao Ma Zu」 from FuJian, which is the only one in Taiwan, to be the guardian angel of tea merchants.
Address: 6F No.24 Gangu Street Taipei City
TEL：(02)2555-7598
Opening Hour：Every second and fourth Saturdays 9:00~12:00
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taipeitea.org.tw/findtea/en_t3.html
One of my favorite places is right on Chengde Road, a stone’s throw away from the Daqiaotou MRT station. It is a centenarian shop, ran by father and son. They sell leaves in barrels by weight, and have the processing plant open for tourists. Very old school. Lin Hua Tai Tea Co. You have to check it out.
Yeah icon’s recommendations are good.
Hui Liu near Taipower MRT is also a good place. Nice stylish atmosphere and good selection of rarer and organic teas.
Water Moon Tea House is also excellent:
lonelyplanet.com/taiwan/taip … -tea-house
Of course just to try tea you want to go to Maokong, just behind the Taipei Zoo, where you can sit outside in the mountains and sip tea. The gondola drops you off right in the midst of the teafields.
This thread is old but afaik all the places are still open:
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … ht=maokong
If they are tea aficionados then I would second the Maokong tea fields. It is pretty cool to have a great view (not so much in the winter) at a tea house although it might be too cold to be fun right now.
If they like luxury settings: TWG
Won’t be cold: blog.udn.com/justnike0803/13274584