Wang De Chuan (王德傳茶莊)

Wang De Chuan's story begins in 1862, when the founder Wang An-shang crossed from Jinjiang in Fujian to Taiwan and opened the first tea house in the walled city of Tainan. The Taipei flagship is at No. 95, Section 1 of Zhongshan North Road, open every day from 10:00 to 19:00, and the house has five more shops in the city: Dunhua South Road, Yongkang Street, the SOGO Fuxing store, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Nanxi and the Taiwan souvenir hall at Songshan Airport, plus shops in Taichung and in China.

The catalogue runs to nearly two hundred items, sold in 50 g, 100 g, 150 g and 300 g tins and packs. The oolongs cover the island: Alishan, Shanlinxi, Lishan and Dayuling high-mountain teas, Dong Ding, a Zhengcong Tieguanyin, Wenshan Baozhong and Beipu Oriental Beauty. Beside them sit a Sanxia Bi Luo Chun green and a Sanxia white, the Taiwanese blacks (Ruby No. 18, honey black, a Shanlinxi high-mountain black), oolongs scented with jasmine, osmanthus, gardenia and rose, and a pu-erh series the house has produced since 2006.

Prices put it at the upper end of the city: NT$ 1,180 for 150 g of Alishan, NT$ 1,080 for Dong Ding, NT$ 2,580 for the Zhengcong Tieguanyin, and NT$ 480 to NT$ 1,080 for the 50 g packs of Bi Luo Chun, Baozhong, Ruby and Oriental Beauty. Tastings in the shops are booked in advance, there are pyramid and cold-brew tea bags for the office, and the web shop ships across Taiwan.