Batch 106 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is an Eco-Farmed GABA Oolong Tea, harvested in July. We coined the term Eco-Farmed to designate teas that are sourced from a certified organic tea farm, without representing the organic certifications. This family of farmers implements the most natural farming methods we've seen in the local tea industry here in Taiwan. Our friends have independently pioneered these farming methods, and after more than 20 years of challenging research, are now successfully managing several plots of tea and producing specialty types of organic tea. Check our tasting notes blogpost for details on how this batch brews, and watch the tasting video as well!

They've painstakingly transitioned and repurposed abandoned conventionally farmed plots of tea into productive naturally farmed tea gardens. This batch of tea is made from hand-picked leaves of the Four Seasons Spring cultivar, which has proven to be a preferable tea strain for making heavily processed teas, such as GABA, roasted Oolong, and Black Tea. While most of their produce is machine harvested, they hand-pick a single crop a year to make the best quality GABA tea possible from their naturally grown tea leaves.

GABA is the acronym for gamma-Aminobutyric acid, which is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter that is responsible for relaxation. In recent decades, GABA in the form of food supplements have become popular, with the claim of having stress-reducing qualities. Japanese scientists discovered a method of processing tea leaves that converts the glutamic acid in tea leaves into GABA. This is done by wilting the leaves in an anaerobic environment.

Our organic tea farmer friends make their GABA tea using Oolong Tea processing methods. The only variation from Oolong Tea making is that tea leaves that are made into GABA must be wilted in an oxygen-free atmosphere. The photo above shows the steel drums that our source of GABA tea uses for this process. Tea leaves are put in a netted sack, and placed in these sealed drums, the air inside is then mechanically extracted. The leaves are left to wilt in these sealed drums for 10 hour intervals, causing transformations in the chemical compounds in the tea leaves. They are taken out of the drums and tumbled in large bamboo cylinders for a few hours between the periods of wilting in the vacuum sealed drums. Overall, the leaves undergo about 30 hours of wilting in an anaerobic environment, with 6-8 hours of tumbling in between. They are then put through tumble heating, rolling and drying using the same basic methods of Oolong Tea processing.

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This photo was taken when we offered Batch 7 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club in 2016.  We had met Mr. Xie a couple years earlier, and quickly developed a strong connection that has continued to deepen over the years. Mr. Xie passed on earlier this year. His loss is alleviated by the fact that he has left behind a legacy for the next generation of organic farmers to follow, including his son, who now manages the farm and makes the tea. Experiencing the local tea culture through dear friendships over decades and generations simply leaves us humbled and grateful.

Having known Mr. Xie's son for years already, it has been a natural transition for us beyond the loss of his father. We now sit at the tea table of Mr. Xie's heir, and continue the cooperation in our shared vocations.

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