Taiwan Black Tea Culture Museum

The Taiwan Black Tea Culture Museum, with its profound historical heritage and rich cultural connotations, is an excellent place to experience tea culture. Stepping into this museum feels like traveling through a time tunnel, reliving the glorious days of the early tea industry, and embarking on a fragrant tea journey. This historic building, a county-designated historical landmark, blends rustic red bricks with wooden window frames. Its predecessor was the "Taiwan Black Tea Co., Ltd." (臺灣紅茶株式會社), founded in 1937 by the local Luo family. At that time, the Luo family's company was one of Taiwan's top ten trading companies, collaborating with over 19 tea factories domestically and exporting high-quality black tea to Europe, America, and various African countries, witnessing the golden age of Taiwan's tea exports. Upon entering the museum, visitors are first drawn to the red brick walls and roof tiles made using the dry-press method introduced by the Japanese, bearing the marks of history. Above, wooden roof structures, beams, and staircases are visible, standing firm after decades of weathering. The metal stenciled walls outside the wooden warehouse appear aged yet possess a chicness often seen in trendy vintage stores. These stencils bear the names of 86 port cities worldwide, formerly used to mark exported tea chests, symbolizing Taiwan's black tea reaching distant lands and indirectly showcasing the influence of Taiwan Black Tea Co., Ltd. at that time. Additionally, the museum displays trade documents, related tools and machinery, old photographs, and pictures of foreign business visitors dating back to 1937, making it a must-see for history enthusiasts. Walking through the museum, filled with a sense of timeless tranquility, visitors will occasionally catch whiffs of tea fragrance. This is not an illusion, as the tea factory is still in operation. If you visit during the tea production season (September/October and March/April annually), the aroma of tea will even fill the entire street. At other times, visitors can participate in the museum's meticulously designed "Tea Cupping Experience," learning about the characteristics of different teas through tasting, and perhaps testing their own sense of smell and taste. The cupping method used is the same one the tea factory typically employs to control tea quality: Japanese green tea, high-mountain tea (Jinxuan or Wenshan Baozhong), Oriental Beauty, and Assam are brewed with the same water temperature and brewing time to compare the distinct colors and aromas produced by teas with varying degrees of fermentation. As visitors are drawn by the tea aroma, and while listening to melodious music, don't forget to savor the unique tea-flavored ice cream and take home souvenirs to extend your delightful tea culture journey.