What It Is

山芳良油 (originally 三芳製油廠 — San Fang Oil Factory; branded since 2022 as Sumfine) is a family-owned cold-press edible oil workshop founded in 1978 on the flat ground at the base of Muzha's tea-growing hillsides. First-generation owner 鄭允晟 (Zheng Yun-sheng) established the factory to process peanut oil, sesame oil, and Shandong small-mill sesame oil (山東小磨麻油). Over the following decades, the factory's position at the foot of the Maokong (貓空) tea hills — whose slopes produce the Tieguanyin oolong served across Taipei's tea houses — brought a second raw material into the production: 茶籽 (tea seed).

Tea seed is the agricultural byproduct of the tea fruit that grows after the tea plant flowers. Farmers from Shenkeng (深坑), Shiding (石碇), and Pinglin (坪林) have historically brought harvested tea-fruit seeds to the factory for pressing. The resulting oil — 苦茶油 (camellia oil / bitter tea oil) — is cold-pressed at low temperature, unrefined, and opaque. It is not available in standard supermarkets and has a flavour, smoke point, and oleic acid profile distinct from olive oil.

The second generation — 鄭承恩 (Zheng Cheng-en) and 鄭博麟 (Zheng Bo-lin) — took over and restructured the former warehouse space in 2022 under the Taipei City 台北造起來 ("Taipei Made") traditional industry revitalization programme. The original pressing machinery was retained inside the shop and is visible to visitors. The rebrand renamed the shop Sumfine but kept the production unchanged.

Location

District: Wenshan (文山區)
Address: No. 9, Section 1, Zhinan Road, 1F, Wenshan District (台北市文山區指南路一段9號1樓)
Nearest MRT: Muzha Station (木柵站), Wenhu Brown Line — approximately 10–12 minutes on foot north along Muzha Road, turning onto Zhinan Road.
Phone: 02-2939-5789
Website: sumfineoil.com
Instagram: @sumfine1978

Opening Hours

Monday–Saturday 09:00–18:30. Sunday 09:00–14:00.

Price Range

  • Cold-pressed camellia oil 苦茶油 (250 ml): NTD 480
  • Cold-pressed camellia oil 苦茶油 (600 ml): NTD 980
  • Roasted tea seed oil 焙炒茶籽油 (600 ml): NTD 800
  • Black sesame oil 黑芝麻油 (250 ml): NTD 220

Specific Items Worth Buying

冷壓苦茶油 — Cold-pressed camellia oil, NTD 480 (250 ml) / NTD 980 (600 ml). Unrefined, low-temperature pressed from tea seeds sourced from farms in the Maokong, Shenkeng, and Pinglin tea belts. The same plant that produces the Tieguanyin in Muzha's tea houses also produces this oil. Not available in standard retail.
焙炒茶籽油 — Roasted tea seed oil, NTD 800 (600 ml). Same seed source, lightly roasted before pressing — fuller flavour, lower smoke point than the cold-pressed version. A different product from camellia oil despite the shared seed origin.
黑芝麻油 — Black sesame oil, NTD 220 (250 ml). In-house pressed; the original product line from 1978. Identifiable by colour and intensity compared to supermarket equivalents.

Why It Is Unusual

Maokong is one of the most visited tea destinations in Taipei, accessible by gondola and described in every travel guide. The tea seed oil pressed from those same hillside farms at a factory 700 metres from the MRT station is invisible in that same literature. The geographic link — Tieguanyin tea plant to camellia oil, continuous since the 1970s — is an agricultural supply chain operating below the tourist layer of Wenshan District.

The production machinery from 1978 remains in the shop. The 2022 rebrand introduced a cleaner retail experience, but the pressing process is unchanged and the machines are on view. Workshops have been hosted as public events — a December 2025 programme was listed on Accupass as part of the Wenshan Memory Bus Festival (文山記憶巴士祭), suggesting periodic hands-on access to the production process.

It is the only place in Taipei where camellia oil from tea farms in the surrounding hills is pressed and sold at the point of production.

Verified currently operating: Taipei City Friendly Store Directory (friendlystore.taipei, property 8093); Accupass event listing Dec 2025 (event ID 2512080638151451639133); Instagram @sumfine1978 active; Vocus.cc food blog documentation of address and product lineup.