Batch 110 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is a Qi Lai Shan High Mountain Oolong Tea from winter 2024 harvest. We wanted a fresh, yet substantial character of tea to bring in the new year, and this winter crop of High Mountain Tea embodies what we were looking for — including its source. We first met Mr. Xu several years ago at Taiwan's Nantou Global Tea Expo, and were impressed by the tea he offered, as well as his manner of representing it. He had a depth of sincerity and intent that made us want to learn more about him and his work in tea.

Well, the Tea Expo is always a blur of meeting new contacts and catching up with old friends... In short, our brief interactions over several years finally have come to fruition with sourcing this batch of tea, and learning more about this farmer, his skill set, and his beautiful tea garden in a remote, relatively unknown tea growing region.

Qi Lai Shan is the name of a mountain that represents a tea growing region that is located not very far south of the Li Shan region. He Huan Shan is the mountain/tea region between the two. These three place names comprise Taiwan's northern high elevation tea growing region, with Shan Lin Xi and Alishan further south. The elevations of this northern region are generally higher than the regions south of it. 

One point about Mr. Xu's farm that caught our attention is that it lies across a valley, south of Qi Lai Shan proper, at a bit lower elevation. Given the geological terrain of this northern region, we consider this a plus. In general, higher elevations in this northern mountain range are comprised of a top soil that has a lot of shale. This can be beneficial during extended rainy periods due to its ability to drain easily. But the tea trees are significantly more dependent on fertilizers, due to the lack of nutrient-rich soil. The terroir of Mr. Xu's farm is distinctly different. At 1600m elevation, it's on a forested mountainside with naturally occurring "black soil" as they call it. Basically, his farm has a soil base that sets it apart from other farms we've visited on Qi Lai Shan, and further north through the other two neighboring regions. And after all, tea grows from soil! The climate is important, but clearly comes second after the ground from which the tea trees grow. Mr. Xu also runs a business producing natural fertilizers specially formulated for tea farming. So his farming practice coincides with his decades of research in making fertilizer for tea farming.

We have a good feeling about connecting with Mr. Xu and learning more about his work, and we certainly have been appreciating the winter batch of tea that we procured from him to start off 2025 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club! Check our tasting notes blog post to learn more about how these leaves brew!

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