In Luye, Taitung, a region without high mountains, Tsai Yue-Jun has mastered the arts of rolling, roasting, and flavor through experience and perseverance. With hands thickened by years of calluses, he brings forth the refined aroma of Red Oolong.
Tsai's top-grade Red Oolong reveals a surprising elegance akin to Oriental Beauty. To tame Red Oolong's wild nature into such grace is no small feat. The calloused hands that pour the tea are a record of years spent in deep craftsmanship.
His family, as much as they are proud, are also worried sometimes. "His hands often cracked and bleeding because of dryness. It hurts terribly," says his daughter, Chuang Pei-Chin. As a child, she proudly told others that her father could lift eight bricks in one hand. Only later did she understand those hands not only held up their family, but they also helped carry half the weight of Luye's tea industry.
Captured with a shutter speed of a thousandth of a second, the tea-rolling machine reveals clothed tea balls taut with energy.
A Fate-Woven Journey into Tea
Though still in his forties, Tsai Yue-Jun already has over 30 years of experience under his belt. His journey into tea was not by choice but by fate. Not long after entering high school, he lost both parents in quick succession. Left on his own, he gave up the family's inherited pineapple fields and began apprenticing at his uncle's tea factory.
When he completed his training, Tsai had no tea factory, no tea farm of his own. He worked wherever he was needed, moving from one tea-growing region to another. From Luye to Lugu, he moved between low- and high-altitude plantations, honing his withering techniques of Luye's tea masters and the rolling skills of those in Shanlinxi. Over time, he developed his own distinctive style, earning wide recognition and the title "the master of cloth rolling in Luye." "There's not a single tea factory in Luye where I haven't worked," he says. To say his hands have shaped the destiny of tea is more fact than an exaggeration.
Right beside the tea table stands the workshop, where Tsai Yue-Jun is often accompanied by his wife and daughter. Tea is the symbol that unites this family.
Tsai and his rolling crew have battled countless tea mountains, honing their unique cloth rolling technique.
From crafting and selling tea to marketing and promotion, Tsai Yue-Jun’s wife (third from left) and daughter all take part, together forming a true Luye tea family.
Compression, loosening, compression again, loosening again — people and tea leaves wrestle fiercely through the cloth.
The high-speed spinning of the canvas wrapping-rolling machine is demanding and dangerous; a single misstep can cause injury. This is why tea rolling is known as the most labor-intensive step of tea making.
The Grueling Craft of Forty Rounds of Rolling
Among the many steps in tea-making, cloth rolling is one of the most physically demanding and high-risk. The process involves repeatedly wrapping the tea in cloth, kneading, pressing, and breaking it until the leaves gradually form a tight spherical shape. To complete the shape, a canvas wrapping-rolling machine is used to refine and fix the form. The machine rotates at high speed and must be handled with care.
Any misstep can lead to injury. Red Oolong requires heavy rolling and partial drying during the process. Typically repeated 35 to 40 times, the task is an intense test of endurance and skill.
Each clothed tea ball can weigh 18 to 24 kg, and though Tsai handles them with apparent ease, the frequent, high-pressure contact between hands and cloth is punishing. His fingers are gnarled and overstrained; the palms calloused, split, and healed over again and again, forming hardened layers like eroded ridgelines. These rugged hands calibrate the taste of Luye tea with remarkable precision. Watching Tsai at work is like witnessing a battle between man and tea leaf, a process that requires both daring and delicacy. The tea's moisture must be perfectly managed so that, after thousands of turns, the leaves emerge beautifully shaped into tight, elegant spheres.
Hands stacked with his high-school son’s, Tsai Yue-Jun’s broad palms stand out, so strong he can hold eight bricks at once.
Building a Family Craft
Tsai Yue-Jun began his journey as a tea technician, working independently across various tea factories. In 2016, with encouragement from his wife Chuang Mei-Yu, he established his own brand. The brand name "Jun Yu" draws a character each from their names, symbolizing the spirit of family and shared commitment. Today, their three sons and daughter are gradually joining the endeavor.
Tsai's journey started with purchasing raw leaves and borrowing factory space. Eventually, he began cultivating his own tea gardens. Drawing on the high-mountain cultivation methods he studied in Nantou, he nurtures tea from the seedling stage using premium, pesticide-free soybean meal that costs more than twice the standard methods. By carefully managing the timing and structure of spring pruning, he has achieved high-altitude-level quality from lowland tea gardens under natural farming practices.
To channel pure spring water into his tea fields, Tsai Yue-Jun must drive steep mountain roads every few days, then climb by hand to open the source gate.
Drawing mountain spring water from more than a hundred meters above, Tsai believes that with careful stewardship, even low-elevation fields can yield tea leaves to rival those grown in high-mountain fields.
In every handful of tea is fused the philosophy of deep withering, vigorous tossing, and full fermentation — the distillation of Tsai’s thirty years of craft.
With practiced skill, Tsai brings to Jhinhsuan Red Oolong the delicate “floral sweetness” usually found in Oriental Beauty.
The Jun Yu brand, built from nothing, is a shared accomplishment of Tsai and his family.
"I want to put thirty years of experience into the tea," he says. "To show what heavy withering, heavy tossing, and deep oxidation really mean."
In Red Oolong making, heavy withering brings out fruity aromas; small green leafhopper-bitten leaves offer honeyed notes; but floral fragrance is typically attributed to the cultivar itself and is rarely a product of technique alone. Tsai challenges that view. By selecting Jhinshuan and Cuiyu cultivars for different flavor directions, he captures the trio of Red Oolong signatures—honey, fruit, and floral—entirely through craft. His Jhinshuan Red Oolong evokes the elegant "sweet with a floral lift" character of Oriental Beauty. "As long as the picking maturity and the timing of withering align," he says, “bringing out floral notes in Jhinshuan isn't hard."
In Taiwan, high-mountain regions are known for producing teas with exceptional depth and complexity. Luye may not have the elevation, but that same depth and richness can be brought out through Tsai's hands—through sheer craftsmanship.
The husband makes the tea, the wife sells it. Foundation in partnership, roots in love, growth in shared vision.
Honey-Scented Red Oolong Tea (75g / 150g, White Packaging)
Red Oolong with a unique honeyed aroma, created when tea leaves are nibbled by the small green leafhoppers.
Fruit-Aromatic Red Oolong Tea (75g / 150g, Red Packaging)
A Red Oolong celebrated for its bright, distinct fruit fragrance—an especially vivid expression within the Red Oolong family.
Floral Red Oolong Tea (75g / 150g, Black Packaging)
A Red Oolong prized for its natural floral scent, sometimes likened to wild ginger lily or osmanthus.
Other Products
Red Oolong Tea Nougat (200g)
Crafted with natural trehalose and crunchy almonds, blended with Jun Yu’s Red Oolong tea powder. A charming little treat that delights without being too sticky or hard.
Red Oolong Tea Infused Coffee (12g)
A pour-over creation of Arabica coffee beans infused with Red Oolong tea, where the bold richness of coffee meets the lingering fragrance of tea.
