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It was a gorgeous day as we slowly made our way back home, stopping along the way and auspiciously meeting some tea people. The first was a local tea farmer who cultivated a plot of Qing Xin Oolong on a remote ridge at 1700m in the valley below Jade Mountain, Taiwan's highest peak. He inherited the tea garden his father planted 30 years ago, perhaps the first in the area. Mr. Wu was a soft-spoken, genuinely friendly guy who served us his winter crop of High Mountain Oolong. It was especially fragrant for a winter tea, and really nice.

The Lugu Farmers' Association standard of quality that they set for their competition is in a class of Oolong that draws our attention due to a synthesis of two general categories: Traditionally cured, heavily oxidized and heavily roasted Dong Ding Oolong combined with a new trend of sufficiently oxidized, lightly roasted High Mountain Oolong.  In the final analysis, it is a relatively light Dong Ding Oolong Tea, especially when put in perspective of the local tradition.

All of the above are really just the highlights of an event that represents a living tea culture in Taiwan. The broad spectrum of activities and exhibits, not to mention hundreds of vendors selling their own tea and other local specialties is truly an anomaly. There is nowhere else on the planet that represents tea as a traditional product of regional origin in such a comprehensive and extravagant way. For anyone interested in experiencing the pinnacle of a tea cultural event, the Nantou County Global Tea Expo is a must destination. 

Watermarked photos courtesy of 陳信綸

On October 10th, Double Ten Day — National Day of the Republic of China, as we began winding down the 6th annual Global Tea Expo, we had the opportunity to host some tea people from New York!

In concurrence with the Nantou Global Tea Expo, the National Craft Research And Development Institute hosted activities and exhibits related to Taiwan's tea culture. One of these was an amazing exhibit of modern bamboo structures designed for traditional tea parties.

I showed up at the tea factory for the first batch of winter tea harvest being supervised by some of the most skilled professionals I know. Both the manager of the farm and the manager of the processing are tea judges in the world's largest Oolong Tea competition, and they are both friends of mine. I haven't tasted the finished product, but I did take home a handful of semi-dried leaves from the factory that night and brewed it the next day, about 24 hours after the leaves were picked. It was really floral, balanced and fresh tasting. I'll see what I can do to get at least a small amount of this batch, as I personally already find it special.

Even within the local industry of Central Taiwan, we find enough variety to keep us intrigued for decades-on-end. And now that we are officially establishing a subscription program, we are compelled to go beyond our local stomping grounds in search of unique teas to share. We will be choosing small and otherwise unavailable batches of tea that will be divvied up into 75g shares and distributed to our club members on a monthly basis.

 Read the article about Eco-Cha in Immigration Bi-Monthly. 

Eco-Cha was born not only out of having a great love of tea, but out of a life-long friendship. It began in 1993, when Eco-Cha co-founder Andy Kincart returned to Taiwan after having lived here for a couple years. He returned to Taiwan determined to source tea directly from farms that he knew were only a short distance from his residence in Taichung County.

We are excited to present our designer gift sets that offer a selection of quality unroasted and roasted Oolongs, as well as Alishan High Mountain Black Tea. 

We live in Taiwan, minutes from the source of our teas. We've been here for over 20 years, and that's a good thing for anyone drinking Eco-Cha Tea. We believe there is no substitute for being here on the ground in terms of immersion in and representation of contemporary Taiwanese Tea Culture.

From crispy tea tofu to oolong donuts, here are few more ideas of how you can incorporate your favorite tea into a dish!