Roasted Tsui Yu Oolong Tea

US$10

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  • Flavor: Rich, roasted aroma. Hearty, bold, smoky/nutty flavor. Toasty finish.


    Garden: This artisan consistently achieves high ratings in virtually every Oolong Tea competition in Taiwan, including the largest Oolong Tea competition in the world. He works with a co-op of farmers that share knowledge and resources. A prime example of sustainable methods combined with expertise.


    Harvest: Machine harvested, medium batch. Songboling, Taiwan. Spring 2023.


    Elevation: 400m

  • These well roasted tea leaves offer a bold flavor profile that makes this tea a perfect coffee alternative — particularly for folks who are trying to cut down on their caffeine intake! Roasting tea leaves releases the caffeine from the leaves, lowering the caffeine content in the brewed tea. 

    The brewed tea has a hearty, balanced character with notes of roasted pecans and walnuts. There is a hint of smokiness in the finish, combined with sufficient complexity and a touch of sweetness that makes it quite satisfying.  This tea type is a great daily cuppa that you won't tire of easily, and it's easy on the wallet!

    These leaves were allowed to oxidize significantly more than our unroasted Tsui Yu Oolong tea, in order to achieve optimal results in their roasting. This added time and skilled attention put into to the making of this tea are what make it an especially good value. It is an artisanal tea made from economical resources — making it a prime example of sustainably sourced tea!

  • Tsui Yu Jade Oolong is a hybrid that was registered at the Taiwan Tea Research Extension Station (TRES) in 1981. It was designed for making oolong teas, and is capable of variable oxidation levels. It is known for its flowery aroma which takes on a toasted nutty character if the leaves are roasted post production.

    This batch of tea leaves comes from the most active tea roaster we know. This man enters virtually every oolong tea competition in central Taiwan. He won 3rd Place out of 6,777 entries in the winter 2018 Lugu Farmers' Association Dong Ding Oolong Tea Competition. This is the largest oolong tea competition in the world. He won first prize in the Nantou County Tea Trade Association Dong Ding Tsui Yu Oolong tea competition winter 2013. The competition tea was processed to make a semi-oxidized roasted tea in the style of Dong Ding Oolong Tea. Our Roasted Tsui Yu selection is made in the fashion of this competition's standard. He has also repeatedly won first prize in the Nantou County Tea Trade Association Jin Xuan Dong Ding Oolong tea competition. This is a region that is comprised of some the best tea makers in the world. He is a highly motivated and progressive individual - making him an exemplary figure in his field.

    This batch of tea was grown at 400m elevation, which means the farms are on relatively flat ground, allowing for machine-cut harvesting. The machine is a hand-held type of hedge clipper wielded by two people, one on each side of the row of tea bushes. A vacuum attachment collects the harvested leaves in a cloth bag. While machine harvesting results in a portion of the leaves and stems being cut, this expedient method allows for timely harvest in the late morning hours that ensures the solar withering is done the ideal time for the initial wilting phase of the leaves. Machine harvesting provides more control over these daily conditions simply because it is faster, and does not require scheduling a team of pickers.

  • Mug: 6g tea in 300ml 100°C water. Steep for 4 minutes. Re-steep. Adjust to taste.

    Cold Brew: Use 5g of tea per liter of water. Brew tea at room temperature for 2-3 hours, and enjoy. Or you can put your cold brew bottle in the fridge to brew overnight and be ready to drink the next day.

    Gong Fu: Barely cover the bottom of your Gongfu teapot with tea leaves (about 8-10g for a 175 ml pot). Use boiling temperature water and brew for about 50 seconds. Increase brewing time with each successive brew. The leaves can be brewed 6-8 times.

Customer Reviews

Based on 11 reviews
64%
(7)
27%
(3)
9%
(1)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
S
Sean Rune
NPS score:
0 (Not at all likely)
10 (Extremely likely)
good entry point into heavy roast

Like another reviewer, I found the roasted flavor too intense at the recommended steeping time. I found that shorter times (50+ sec) and lower temps produced a mellower result. Personally I have enjoyed this tea the most when I blend 20% of it with an unroasted tea (Jin Xuan). That way I get the toasty notes mixed with more sweetness and delicate aroma. Would buy again for that purpose.

J
Jeff Abrams
Three tea Comparison

My first purchases from Eco-Cha were: Eco Farm Heavy Roasted Oolong, LUGU COMPETITION DONG DING, AND ROASTED TSUI YU OOLONG.
I did a side-by-side comparison of the three, steeping 4 grams of each tea in 10 oz of just below boiling water. I let them all cool slightly because I can’t recognize the flavors at too high a temperature. I also tasted each when cooled to room temperature.
Here are my observations:

Lugu Competition Dond Ding:
Subtle woody aroma. Full body, rich, full mouth feel, very bold flavors. Smoothest of the 3. As it cooled, floral oolong notes came out.

Eco Farm Heavy Roasted Oolong:
Very similar in aroma to Competition. Bold woody taste. Mouth feel is narrower, it doesn’t explode like the competition. It’s a little more astringent. When cooled, floral notes weren’t present.

ROASTED TSUI YU OOLONG:
WOODY AROMA WITH DEFINITE Spicy notes. The woody taste is more subtle, balanced out by other flavors like licorice, cardamon, and vanilla. All in all, more nuanced. The only drawback was it was a

I think my order of preference is; ROASTED TSUI YU OOLONG, COMPETITION, AND FINALLY THE ECO FARM. HOWEVER, THEY WERE ALL EXCELLENT. I WOULDN’T HESITATE TO PURCHASE ANY OF THEM AGAIN.

A
Andres Vialpando
Good value tea

I find this to be a good valued tea. Hits a sweet spot of roast for me, not too much not too little. The quality of the tea is 7/10 by my standards. I am no expert but I tried this tea in the sampler pack and enjoyed it greatly and found the price-point to quality ratio put it solidly as an excellent value daily drinker tea.

J
J.J
Disappointed with the current batch

Last time I ordered this (may '21) it was amazing - really flavourful and deep.
This time around (Sep 21) it's really disappointing, more astringent, much less deep and satisfying, sort of empty tasting. Wish I hadn't ordered 150gr...

Hi JJ,
Thank you for your second order and for taking the time to post a review! We checked your purchases, and confirmed that the Roasted Tsui Yu Oolong that you bought in May is the very same batch as the one you recently bought. This particular tea selection is offered a year after the harvest date in order for it to be roasted and aged for optimal results. So we have been offering spring 2020 batch since early 2021.

So we encourage you to try varying the proportion of leaves to water, and the brewing time. The brewing vessel can also be a determining factor on flavor and composition. For this heavy roast Oolong, we recommend boiling temperature water. Please let us know if you have any further questions or comments!

K
Keith
Well-balanced, rich with a really pleasant aftertaste that lingers

This is my 4th tea that I've tried from Eco-Cha's sampler, all of which I've enjoyed (some more than others of course). The unroasted Tsui Yu was very light and floral, maybe a bit subtle for my palate. The Dong Ding I tried was very roasty, delicious but maybe sometimes a bit overwhelming with its aroma.

This Roasted Tsui Yu is a perfect balance of the two flavor profiles IMO. I get the smoky and nutty roasted flavors, but they don't take over the floral notes. They intermingle with them in a way that's really pleasant and holds up extremely well across many steeps.

If I were to order more tea from Eco-Cha (and I probably will), I would 100% get more of this. At the price point, it's a no-brainer for a daily-drinker.