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Eco-Cha Tea Club: Alishan Late Spring Oolong Tea Tasting Notes
The complex aroma of the brewed tea leaves has subtle hints of a bug bitten character, but not very obvious. The sufficient oxidation offers a fresh scone scent, with a touch of honey, making us think that there is some influence from the Green Leafhopper. It is very likely that this note is subtle due to the fact that it had rained very near harvest time, which is said to dilute or dissipate the chemical compounds that are responsible for this character of flavor. The texture is smooth and balanced, with delicate complexity. View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Alishan Late Spring Oolong Tea
We discovered this batch of tea through our mentor, Lisa Lin, who had already purchased a significant amount of this day's harvest. We introduced Lisa to Mr. Ye a few years ago, and she has been sourcing batches of bug bitten spring tea from him every year since. About a month ago, we were sitting at Lisa's tea table, and just happened to ask if she had bought any spring tea from Mr Ye. She said yes, and promptly brewed some for us to try. We were impressed, and called Mr. Ye the next day to see if any of this day's harvest was still available. He said yes. View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Traditional Lugu Oolong Tea Tasting Notes
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.
View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Traditional Lugu Oolong Tea
Mr. Zhang's father cultivated tea on their homesteaded land in Xiaobantian, on the southside of Lugu Township, where he grew up in the midst of traditional tea making. At 20 something, he decided to embody his local tradition by clearing land to cultivate his own plot of tea. For the last 20 years, he has managed his own humble, privately owned plot of tea. Throughout this period, he also acquired seasonal work in tea factories in Lugu, Shanlinxi, Alishan, Fanzaitian, and Lishan. In a word, he learned the ropes of tea making in a comprehensive way, like most tea farmers of his generation. Lugu hosts the highest concentration of tea makers in Taiwan, and is a hub of specialty tea making culture.
View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Charcoal Roasted High Altitude Oolong Tea Tasting Notes
Tea grown at high altitude is known for its substantial composition and smooth texture, particularly when the leaves have been sufficiently oxidized. This batch of tea offers that creamy texture and subtle complexity of flavor as a base, with a pronounced charcoal roasted component at the forefront. The charcoal roast is prominent in the first few brews, and the underlying complexity of the tea flavor comes through more and more with each brew. View full article →New High Mountain Teas Are In!
Spring growing season had a long slow start this year, due to almost no rain until the beginning of April. The long awaited rain gave the tea trees what they needed to bring their spring buds into maturity. And we got a full week of good weather toward the end of the month, which turned out to be perfect timing for both our Shan Lin Xi and Alishan High Mountain Oolong sources. View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Charcoal Roasted High Altitude Oolong Tea
We feel that the constitution of these tea leaves that were grown at high altitude with optimal farming methods, and crafted by some of the top tea producers in the industry, is what makes this batch so special. We cherish both the knowledge and the quality tea that Mr. Zhuang generously shared with us. We will miss him dearly. View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Jin Xuan GABA Black Tea Tasting Notes
Mr. Xie has been producing significant quantities of GABA Oolong Tea for several years, but this is the first batch of GABA tea that he processed as a Black Tea. After sharing his hand-picked, naturally farmed GABA Oolong that had been aged for a full year last July, we are excited to share this batch that was harvested last June, and aged 9 months. While these time periods do not qualify as "aging" tea, they do allow the composition of the leaves to mellow and offer a richer, more full-bodied character. View full article →Red Jade Black Tea: Taiwan's Black Tea Specialty
What is called "red tea" (紅茶 / 红茶) in Chinese is known as Black Tea in English. Taiwan has its own special Black Tea named Red Jade Black Tea due to its luminescent reddish-ochre brew. Also known as Taiwan Tea No. 18, Red Jade Black Tea is a hybrid of the Assam tea plant and the wild tea tree that grows naturally in the mountain forests of Taiwan. View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Jin Xuan GABA Black Tea
After years of honing his GABA tea making skills using Oolong processing methods, Mr. Xie decided to process this harvest as a GABA Black Tea for the first time. The entire harvest amounted to less than 20 kg, and by the time we found out about it, there was barely enough to be shared with our Tea Club members! View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Light Roast Concubine Oolong Tasting Notes
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! View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Light Roast Concubine Oolong Tea
Andy visited the farm a second time because the older brother had told him that he had transitioned his own plots of tea to completely natural farming, i.e. not using any chemical pesticides or fertilizers. The image above clearly shows the contrast of a transitional plot of tea in the foreground, compared to the commercially farmed plots of tea on the neighboring farm below in the background. View full article →A Roasted Tsui Yu Oolong Tea
Great news for roasted tea lovers! We have a new roasted tea selection on our shelves that is both affordable and delectable! Our new Roasted Tsui Yu Oolong is the perfect coffee alternative, for those looking to cut down on their caffeine intake. It has a rich, bold, hearty character that makes it a great coffee sub View full article →How Much Caffeine is in Oolong Tea
How much caffeine is in Oolong Tea isn't as cut and dry as you might think. It's not just simply a listing of the the milligrams of caffeine in a cup of tea. Important factors like brewing temperature, ratio of water to leaves, brewing method, and the specific type of tea, all affect caffeine content. Here we've put together comprehensive guide to how much caffeine is in your cup of Oolong Tea. View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Qing Xin Oolong Black Tea Tasting Notes
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. View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Qing Xin Oolong Black Tea
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. View full article →How Oolong Tea is Made
Taiwan’s Oolong Tea production methods are renowned for being some of the best in the world. There are a lot of steps in making Oolong Tea and each affects the taste of the final product. Here, we provide an overview of what goes into making a great loose leaf Oolong Tea. View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Long Feng Xia High Mountain Oolong Tea Tasting Notes
Batch #38 of the Eco-Cha Tea Club is kicking off 2019 with a cutting edge rendition of Taiwanese High Mountain Oolong Tea. We're inspired to share this batch of tea because of its differentiating value from the conventional market grade High Mountain Tea that has become well known in Taiwan and beyond. View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Long Feng Xia High Mountain Oolong Tea
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. View full article →How Long Does Tea Stay Fresh?
The shelf life of tea is a common topic of discussion among tea drinkers. We often see questions such as:
- Can tea go bad?
- How do I keep my loose leaf tea fresh?
- Which teas have longer or shorter shelf lives?
Let's look at some of the factors that affect how long your tea stays fresh.
View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Red Oolong Tasting Notes
Appearance of the dried leaves is the first step in assessing any loose leaf tea. We can see by the coloration that these leaves are partially oxidized, with both green hues and darker tones. This is the first sign that it is a traditionally made Oolong tea. In recent trends, tea made in this fashion has been given the name "hong Oolong" or Red Oolong. It's actually just a new name for an old recipe. View full article →Eco-Cha Tea Club: Red Oolong Tea
This is what inspired us to share this batch of tea that was produced in Nantou County. We consider this batch of tea to be properly named Red Oolong, simply because the leaves are obviously only partially oxidized. The flavor of the tea has aspects of a Black Tea character while maintaining the fragrant, aromatic complexity of an Oolong. View full article →The Science of How Tea Can Prolong Our Lifespan
Drinking tea can actually help protect the health of our DNA, which can prolong our lives. Research has shown that a healthy habit of tea drinking may extend our lives up to five years!
A large group of older Chinese men who drank 3 cups or more of tea daily recorded longer telomere lengths, and almost five years of added life, compared with people who drank one cup or less. The study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, applies to green and black tea.
