Taiwanese tea entrepreneurs brew up new twist on tradition

Cheap instant “bubble tea” is one of Taiwan’s best-known culinary exports; now a new wave of entrepreneurs hope a high-end modern take on traditional brews will also be sipped worldwide.

Taiwan has been producing tea for more than 200 years and a cup of the island’s famous oolong is obligatory for many visitors, but exports have been knocked by rising labour costs and bubble tea has eclipsed the old-style carefully crafted cuppa.

Often artificially flavoured and loaded with milk, sugar and tapioca pearls, bubble tea has gained a global following.

Ultra-modern tea shop “Xie Xie” is one business trying to turn the tide back to sophistication.

Founder Xie Yu-tung, 30, comes from a family of tea producers and uses leaves from their plantations in Taiwan’s mountainous Dayuling and Lishan areas.

Her sleek all-white tea boutique at Taipei’s Mandarin Oriental hotel is stacked with teabags in book-like boxes and clear cylindrical bottles of ready-to-drink cold brews.

“I think Taiwan has the best oolong and it’s a pity that it’s not seen all over the world,” says Xie, who