Eco-Cha Tea Club
Honey Hong Shui Oolong Tasting Notes | Eco-Cha Tea Club
The Chinese "hong shui" means "red water", and the term has been adopted (or revived, depending on who you ask) as a name for heavily oxidized Oolong Tea. The name is used to designate a type of Oolong to stand on its own, and not be devalued by popular judging standards and marketing trends in Taiwan. The popular High Mountain Oolong Tea is a lightly oxidized tea with a bright golden, yellowish-green color. And even the competition standards set for Dong Ding Oolong Tea are a lighter golden-orange. But Hong Shui is, in fact, a proper tea on its own, and the level of oxidation is simply a variation in processing, not a fault or shortcoming in terms of its value. The processing methods to make this type of tea are actually how tea was made in Lugu (and many other places most likely), Taiwan, before tea became a commercial commodity.
Honey Hong Shui Oolong Tea | Eco-Cha Tea Club
This month's batch #54 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is a Honey Hong Shui Oolong Tea sourced from our friends who have provided our Dong Ding Oolong Tea and our Small Leaf Black Tea in recent years. They also made Batch #33 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club which we shared in August 2018. Batch #33 was similar to this month's batch in that they were both made with the help of the Green Leafhopper.
Tieguanyin Light Roast Oolong Tea Tasting Notes | Eco-Cha Tea Club
Batch #46 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is a Tieguanyin Light Roast Oolong Tea from Yonglong Village in Lugu, Taiwan. The leaves were harvested in June from a plot of heirloom Tieguanyin tea plants. They were cured in the local traditional fashion of Oolong Tea making. The leaves are at least 40% oxidized, and were roasted for about 14 hours.
Competition Grade Dong Ding Oolong Tea Tasting Notes | Eco-Cha Tea Club
These leaves were harvested by hand from the residential farm that is our ongoing source of Dong Ding Oolong Tea. They were also de-stemmed by hand and roasted extensively to meet the competition standard. The brewed tea has a bold roasted character that is balanced out by a rich, smooth textured and complex flavor profile. It is reminiscent of fire-roasted yams and butternut squash.
Competition Grade Dong Ding Oolong Tea | Eco-Cha Tea Club
This month's edition of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is from the same day's harvest of spring tea that our source received the Top 2% Award out of 750 odd participants in the spring 2019 competition. This month's batch of tea was prepared the same way as the award winning tea — removing the stems by hand and undergoing repeated roastings to meet the standard of quality set by this local competition. Only residents of this small community of traditional tea makers are eligible to enter this competition. But this is the heart of Dong Ding Oolong Country, and this community boasts the densest population of traditional Oolong Tea artisans in Taiwan, and probably in the world!
Traditional Lugu Oolong Tea Tasting Notes | Eco-Cha Tea Club
The medium oxidized leaves have undergone extensive, repeated roastings that have resulted in a very balanced, integrated character. The initial steepings offer a freshly cut wood aroma with a toasted nutty flavor. This proceeds to open up into a sweeter, more complex profile that is strikingly reminiscent of roasted winter vegetables, including parsnip, caramelized onion and butternut squash.
Light Roast Concubine Oolong Tasting Notes | Eco-Cha Tea Club
We were captivated by the flavor profile with the first sip when our mentor Lisa Lin brewed for us on an impromptu visit to her home. It's vibrant, fresh, complex, and also smooth and balanced. Its overall profile carries delicate floral aromatic notes, and a distinct honey-like flavor suspended in a thick, smooth composition. The most distinctive aspect of this batch is that it maintains a very fresh character while having no green vegetal or herbal qualities. It's an amazing balance of delicate floweriness and freshly baked scones. In sum, it's a proper tribute to the magic of bug bitten tea!
Qing Xin Oolong Black Tea Tasting Notes | Eco-Cha Tea Club
In addition to the name of the tea strain, this batch of tea was made by an artisan of Dong Ding Oolong Tea with his family plot of heirloom tea trees. He incorporated Oolong Tea methods in the very first step of solar withering, and the very last step of tightly rolling the tea leaves. So the raw material of the summer crop of heirloom Qing Xin Oolong tea leaves, processed by an Oolong Tea maker by trade offers us this superior quality Black Tea.
Qing Xin Oolong Black Tea | Eco-Cha Tea Club
We chose the name "Qing Xin Oolong Black Tea" in accordance with the local terminology, which would be simply "Oolong Black Tea" (烏龍紅茶). But because in English, Oolong is the name given to partially oxidized teas, we added the Chinese pinyin of this traditional strain of tea plant that originated in mainland China. Qing Xin literally means "green heart" which describes the appearance of the stem of the leaf.
Long Feng Xia High Mountain Oolong Tea | Eco-Cha Tea Club
Long Feng Xia (龍鳳峽) or Dragon Phoenix Gorge is a deep river valley on the south side of the Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Tea growing region. Long Feng Xia is also the place name of the ridge overlooking this gorge, and is well known in Taiwan as the source of some of the best quality Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong Tea.
Gold Medal Award Winnng Dong Ding Cui Yu Oolong Tea Tasting Notes | Eco-Cha Tea Club
The hybrid strain of Cui Yu (翠玉), a.k.a. Tsui Yu, or Jade Oolong, can withstand traditional processing methods of heavier oxidation and roasting with good results. This hybrid strain that became popular in the late 1980's and 1990's along with Jin Xuan, is now becoming relatively rare.
Gold Medal Award Winning Dong Ding Cui Yu Oolong Tea | Eco-Cha Tea Club
This month's batch of tea being shared with the Eco-Cha Tea Club was entered into in the spring 2018 Nantou County Tea Trade Association's Dong Ding Tsui Yu (Cui Yu) Tea Competition, and received the Gold Medal Award. This award ranks within the top 5% of all entries.