Introduction:Taiwan Tea No. 18 Ruby Red Tea is one of Taiwan’s most representative high-altitude black teas, renowned for its unique spicy and fruity flavor profile. This article will take an in-depth look at the dry tea leaves, leaf base, and liquor appearance, guiding you through its rich layers of aroma and mellow, sweet taste. It also offers practical milk tea brewing suggestions and single-cup steeping ratios, so whether you’re a beginner or a black tea enthusiast, you can master the best ways to enjoy and brew it.
Taiwan Tea No. 18 Ruby Red Tea is a well-known high-altitude black tea variety from Taiwan, celebrated for its highly distinctive aroma and taste, often hailed by tea enthusiasts as “Taiwan’s national treasure-level black tea.” This article will comprehensively analyze its visual characteristics from three aspects: dry tea appearance, leaf base changes, and liquor color, and further explain its aroma profile and flavor expression, allowing you to more accurately grasp its features while tasting.
First, observe the dry tea. The leaves of Taiwan Tea No. 18 Ruby Red Tea usually present as tightly rolled, wiry strands, with an overall dark brown hue. Upon closer inspection, you can also spot some golden-yellow buds scattered among them, giving it a very layered appearance. When hot water is poured in, the leaves gradually unfurl, with a relatively soft and slightly fragile texture — another common trait of high-quality black tea. As for the liquor color, it often displays an inviting warm tone interwoven with tea brown and orange-brown hues.
In terms of aroma, Taiwan Tea No. 18 Ruby Red Tea exhibits a remarkably rich and layered profile. In its dry state, you can often detect a warm woody scent reminiscent of maple, mixed with a hint of nutmeg spice and the sweet aroma of lychee fruit, along with a subtle touch of Eastern herbal notes. Once hot water is added, the wet leaf aroma rapidly transforms, releasing a deep fruity scent akin to plum wine, accompanied by the sweet fragrance of ripe grapes and blackberries, making it hard to resist having a sip right away.
After brewing, if you let the tea liquor sit in the cup for a while, you may also notice an empty-cup aroma that lingers — featuring the sweetness of brown sugar and the warm, roasted scent of sweet potato. These after-aromas are often incredibly memorable.
As for the taste, Taiwan Tea No. 18 Ruby Red Tea showcases a highly distinctive fruity character. The first impression on the palate is the sweet, dried-fruit aroma reminiscent of apple chips, paired with the soft, pulpy mouthfeel of longan, along with the slight astringency and freshness unique to grape skins — all coming together in very balanced harmony. The aftertaste carries warmth from spices akin to clove (a type of spice note) and star anise, along with the nutty aroma of walnuts and the smooth sweetness of honey, resulting in a full-bodied mouthfeel with a lingering, deep finish.
It’s worth noting that this black tea has a full body but extremely low astringency, making it easy for even those unaccustomed to drinking black tea to enjoy. It’s perfect for savoring slowly or as a high-quality everyday tea beverage.
For tea drinkers who enjoy pairing black tea with milk, Taiwan Tea No. 18 Ruby Red Tea is also an excellent choice. However, we recommend tasting the tea liquor on its own first, before adding milk, as this allows you to more clearly perceive the essence of the tea. If you do decide to make milk tea, the generally recommended ratio is about 4:1 tea to milk, or even a lower proportion of milk, in order to preserve the dominant flavor of the tea liquor.
As for whether to pour the tea or the milk first, there is no absolute standard — the key lies in your ability to precisely control the balance between milk quantity and tea strength. A common and easy-to-follow method is: first brew the black tea with an appropriate amount of hot water to your desired concentration, then pour the tea liquor into a cup, and finally add milk according to your personal taste to adjust. This not only ensures the tea is fully extracted, but also prevents the addition of milk beforehand from affecting the tea leaves’ unfolding and flavor release.
If you’d like to try a simple single-cup milk tea recipe, you can follow this ratio: add about 1/4 cup of milk to one cup of brewed Taiwan Tea No. 18 Ruby Red Tea. It is recommended to use freshly boiled hot water (around 90–95°C is ideal) to brew the tea leaves, adjusting steeping time according to personal preference — generally 3–5 minutes is enough to extract a rich yet non-bitter liquor. After filtering out the tea leaves, pour the tea into the cup and blend in milk to taste, and you’ll be able to enjoy a smooth and fragrant black tea latte.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
