Si Ji Chun (Four Seasons)
Si Ji Chun ('four seasons spring') is a hardy, highly productive Taiwanese oolong cultivar that can be harvested almost year-round, which is how it got its name. It is typically grown at low to middle elevation and made as a lightly oxidized, ball-rolled oolong, giving a bright, strongly floral cup with a light body. The variable to understand is that this is a cultivar and an everyday tea, not a high-mountain origin: its charm is aromatic and affordable rather than deep.
Small, tightly rolled green balls similar in look to high-mountain oolong but usually from lower gardens. The hallmark is a loud, sweet floral aroma, often compared to gardenia, lilac or osmanthus, with a clean, light, slightly thin body. Good Si Ji Chun is fragrant and refreshing; weak lots are flat or briefly aromatic and then watery. Because it is inexpensive and grows almost anywhere, it is widely planted in Vietnam and Thailand as well as Taiwan, so origin claims matter less than freshness here. It has little aging potential and is best drunk young.
A Taiwanese cultivar said to have been discovered in the Muzha (Mucha) area near Taipei, prized by growers for its vigor and ability to flush in nearly every season. It is grown across Taiwan's lower and mid-elevation gardens and has been exported as a cultivar to Vietnam, Thailand and beyond. Processing is standard light-oxidation ball-rolled oolong, usually with little to no roast to preserve the floral aromatics.
Gongfu: 6-7 g per 100 ml, 90-95°C, 40-60 seconds for the first steep (the balls open slowly), then ascending; 5-7 infusions. Western: 3-4 g per 200 ml, 90-95°C, 2-3 minutes. It makes a particularly good, fragrant cold brew: about 8-10 g per litre, 6-12 hours in the fridge.
An affordable everyday oolong: €8-20 (about $9-22) per 100 g for typical leaf, with cleaner, more aromatic lots reaching €20-35 (about $22-38) per 100 g.
Prices reviewed June 2026
Jin Xuan (Milk Oolong)
The other ubiquitous Taiwanese workhorse cultivar; Jin Xuan is milky and buttery, Si Ji Chun brighter and more floral.
Shan Lin Xi
What Si Ji Chun is not: a true high-mountain tea. Shan Lin Xi shows the elevation depth Si Ji Chun's lowland floral charm cannot match.
Baozhong
Another light, floral Taiwanese oolong; Baozhong is strip-style and more refined, Si Ji Chun ball-rolled and more everyday.
Vietnamese Oolong
Si Ji Chun is widely planted in Vietnam too; the comparison shows how the cultivar travels beyond Taiwan.
Si Ji Chun earns its 'four seasons' name literally: it is vigorous enough to flush in spring, summer, autumn and even mild winters, which makes it a favorite of growers who want repeated harvests. That same hardiness is why it has spread far beyond Taiwan into the oolong gardens of Vietnam and Thailand.