Batch 93 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is a Roasted Wuyi Oolong Tea from Songboling in Nantou County, Taiwan. This plot of tea was planted about 10 years ago and has been naturally cultivated — without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
We had tasted and procured this batch of tea before it was entered into the New Taipei City Farmers' Association spring 2023 competition. We later learned that it achieved "Youliang" (優良獎) Award — placing it in the top 50% among 1576 total entries.
Batch 92 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is an Award Winning Wenshan Baozhong Tea from spring 2023 harvest. We tasted and chose this batch right out of the drying oven, just as it was completely cured. The stems had not been removed yet, but its maker had already designated is as a potential competition entry. After destemming and tasting again, our source chose this for his spring competition entry, and it received an award in the New Taipei City Farmers' Association spring 2023 tea competition.
Batch 91 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is an Award Winning Alishan Jin Xuan Oolong Tea. This tea received Gold Medal Award at the Meishan Township Farmers' Association spring 2023 competition. We chose to share this tea with the tea club for its flavor profile more than the award it received, however. We wanted to give our club members a chance to experience a top quality Alishan Jin Xuan as a light-medium roast Oolong.
Batch 91 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is an Alishan Jin Xuan Oolong Tea that received Gold Medal Award in the Meishan Farmers' Association spring 2023 Jin Xuan Competition. The Jin Xuan Competition is separate from the main competition of Qing Xin Oolong — the original tea strain from China that is used for making High Mountain Oolong Tea, unless otherwise specified. We shared this same award winning tea as batch 22 of the Tea Club about six years ago. It's a worthy category to represent as one of Taiwan's specialty Oolongs, and we are happy to have a chance to share it again.
The leaves of this batch of tea were hand-picked from organically grown Four Seasons Spring tea trees. It was a very minimal harvest of new-growth from late summer 2022. We've learned that this singular hand-picked crop of tea produces the best quality GABA Oolong Tea that we've ever tasted. They only make it once a year, and it's very limited in quantity. So we feel like it's a perfect pick for the Eco-Cha Tea Club!
Batch 90 of theEco-Cha Tea Clubis anEco-Farmed GABA Oolong Tea. We coined the termEco-Farmedto 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 friend has independently pioneered these farming methods, and after more than 20 years of challenging research, is now successfully managing several plots of tea and producing specialty types of organic tea.
Batch 87 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is a Dong Ding Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea. You can read about the source of this teaHERE. These leaves are from spring 2022 harvest in Lugu, Taiwan. They have undergone repeated roastings for more than 80 hours total over a few months. They were then allowed to "rest" for more than six months before we packaged them up to share with the tea club.
Batch 87 of theEco-Cha Tea Clubis a Dong Ding Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea made from spring 2022 harvest in Yonglong Village, Lugu Township, Taiwan. This is the fourth time we are sharing this type of tea over the seven plus years of the tea club. We first offered it inDecember 2015, and a second time inJanuary 2018. These two batches were made by the patriarch of the Su Clan, and that January 2018 batch was the last batch of tea we procured from this local legend of a tea maker.Batch 77was made by his nephew, as is this current batch. We've known and learned about tea from the Su Family for a decade now.
Batch 86 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is a Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong Tea that stands apart in both its quality and the pristine environment in which it grows. Read about the farm and its caretakers in our sourcing post, and watch the video below for visuals of its environs.
Batch 86 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is a Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong Tea. But this tea garden in the highest elevations of the Shan Lin Xi tea growing region is an anomaly that dates back to the Japanese occupation of Taiwan (1895-1945). During this time the Japanese cut down original growth forests in any accessible regions, including this area. This family's ancestor was employed by the Japanese to reforest the area with bamboo and pine trees. In the process, they were given land rights in this region, which allowed them to plant a small plot of tea in an area that is now within a forest park. This is the only tea garden on this mountainside.
Batch 85 kicks off our eighth year running of the Eco-Cha Tea Club, and we are celebrating with Mr. Lin's seventh winter harvest from his certified organic tea farm. You can learn all about our connection to this tea farmer and his work in oursourcing blogpost.