Late one night my friend Melody and I ride our bikes across Kaohsiung. Moist, polluted air steals our breath and seems to creep along our skin. Lights shining out of a tiny cafe invite us in for a moment. We are enveloped with the sounds of Chinese performers, their soft voices comforting in the middle of the night. Sitting down, we talk quietly over almond milk tea.
Tea comes in different flavors and qualities.
A woman who owned a tea shop in Kaohsiung taught me how to test the quality of oolong tea. If the tea leaves a bitter aftertaste in your mouth it was grown at a lower elevation. The higher the tea is grown, the sweeter the tea. Quality oolong tea comes with a price. Learning is a process not an event.