Eco-Cha Artisan Teas

very sad sipdown

And since it’s the end of the packet, it seems to have quite a few broken leaves in it, all from my mishandling of it. My own fault.

It still tastes delicious, though.

And I still apparently haven’t written a good note for this tea. So I’ll have to rectify that today.

A touch floral, somewhat fruity, creamy….no, this is more buttery than creamy. But Oh Emm Gee delicious.

I really, really like this tea.

Interesting. I have had the empty packet of this tea from the one (free) Steepster Select box I got sitting on my desk so I’d remember it and order it if I ever placed an order with Eco-Cha for months. I never wrote a review or added it to my wish list, apparently.

And I didn’t take tasting notes today because I was sure I’d written a review before. I just don’t see it.

But this oolong has kept me company all day long. It’s been a cruddy day at work, but the tea has been excellent.

This Jade oolong is my afternoon tea today. Very vegetal, almost grassy with a hint of citrus. It leaves very clear and cool aftertaste, almost in a way that mint does, which also makes it very refreshing. It’s kind of hot out there today, so this works great, even though it’s warm. I bet it would also work great iced but as it is now I am trying to “get rid of” teas I care less about by cold brewing them for work. This tea I definitely care more about, so… it stays as a refreshing but hot drink!

The reason I don’t rate it higher is because I consider jade oolongs to be a little too… unsophisticated in general, although this one is definitely the most sophisticated of the ones I’ve tried. Good stuff!

(Backlog)

This tea embodies what I love about oolong.

First, the dry leaf is green, I mean, really green. Emerald City green.

Anticipation. A premiss of what is about to happen. Cause I just know it won’t disappoint.

The dry scent is floral and a little spicy.

I do a quick rinse to bring the leaves to life.

And boy to they come alive.

First steep and I already get tons of flavours. It’s as green as can be for oolong, vegetal and very floral.

Nice buttery and creamy mouthfeel going on, with a touch of spice. The finish is so fresh, like an evergreen breeze.

I did multiple infusions, and the later steeps lost that floral imprint in the mouth as more piney notes emerged.

And the leaves took so much room in my little gaiwan as they expanded, just beautiful!

Another amazing product from Eco Cha. All three oolongs I have purchased from them are fantastic.

Pics:

http://instagram.com/p/sGn3Yawh4x/

http://instagram.com/p/sG2djOQh_i/

I’ve been exploring my Eco-Cha tea…I must admit I am impressed at the quality so far.

This tea is stunning, in every way possible.

First, it just looks perfect to me. Fifty shades of green.

You can feel the love and care in every single little nugget.

The taste is remarkable. A clean high mountain fresh mouthfeel.

Floral breeze, buttery and creamy. It’s vegetal with a soft mineral rock taste. The wet leaf smells heavily of spinach.

I could drink this forever, just beautiful and so soothing.

The dried and unfurled leaves looked so perfect, they inspired me to photograph them.

I highly recommend this.

Pics of the session:

http://instagram.com/p/r0eC6Twh1I/

http://instagram.com/p/r0t8P3Qhzw/

http://instagram.com/p/r0syJ9Qhxm/

First, I’d like to thank Eco-Cha for giving me the opportunity to be one of the 10 lucky people to get a free yixing clay pot on their recent giveaway. I got my order today with such a lovely little pot! Came in a nice box, all wrapped in a pretty asian style red towel.

I am already brewing one of their tea in it tonight.

I did not know what to expect from this award winning Dong Ding. If anything, award winning won’t necessarily make me like a tea.

I do a quick rinse. This is heavily roasted so I’m expecting some big char notes, and this is pretty much what I get on steep one. Nothing special, just very roasted.

Then…vavavoom! Whoa, fruit! I get a mango mouthful. Yes I know, it’s not really supposed to be there, but that’s what I get! And it’s not subtle, I get that even from the wet leaf.

But that’s not it, this tea is kind sweet and savoury. It’s paired with creamy butternut squash…and roasted root vegetables.

Wow, it is so fragrant, every time I open the pot, I get tropical mango wafts.

As expected, it produced many steeps, but of course, I never count when I get caught up in the moment.

This tea was expensive, but totally worth the bucks.

My first Eco-Cha experience, and I am quite impressed. Quality in every possible way, with an impeccable presentation.

Thank you!

Pics of the order and session:

http://instagram.com/p/ru67ULwh_J/

http://instagram.com/p/rvjrjTQhwr/

What a long-lasting tea! At first steeping of 3 minutes in a 6oz. yixing after rinsing, I was shocked by how forward the smoky flavor was. Very complex nutty, slightly sweet aftertaste, with a slight back-of-the-throat lingering tannic flavor you get from a greener oolong. I steeped this 6 times, and the flavor was still decently strong at that point. The smokiness was less overpowering each steeping, and the sweet, stonefruit-like flavors became stronger until the 5th steeping or so. The first steeping was a bit unbalanced, but the 2nd through 4th steeping were great.

Backlog:

A really lovely Oolong! I can’t say that I had tried a Tsui Yu Oolong before I tried this one, but this one was absolutely lovely.

You can read about my different infusions and my experiences with those infusions here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/05/09/tsui-yu-jade-oolong-tea-from-eco-cha/

Eco Cha is one of my favorite companies because the teas stand out to me as being top-notch. This is a remarkable Oolong and one that should be explored! I highly recommend it.

This is last years tea but OMG, it’s still pretty darned amazing. It helps that my sample was vacuum sealed. The taste was incredibly light and sweet with crazy complexity. I’m getting fruits, florals and even a bit of creaminess.

This is my second bug-bitten oolong, and since Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong form Eco-Cha is one of my favorite teas, I’m excited to try this. After the rinse I get aromas of toast, apples, and cannabis. The main difference here from the other concubine oolong I had is that this one has been roasted more so I’m getting more toasted notes.

The taste is sweet and mellow, a wonderful honey and apple flavor with notes of toast. This tea is so sweet and tastes like candied apples with a bit of spice. It’s a real treat so far. The second steeping seems to release more spice-like notes of cinnamon to combine with the sweet apple tones. There are subtle woodsy tones in the background, but this tea is much less foresty all-around than the original Shan Lin Xi Oolong from Eco-Cha. The third and fourth steepings are similar and build on the richness of this tea.

Overall this is a very lovely tea. It doesn’t have the bright floral notes of a lot of similar oolongs, so it stays very mellow, rich and sweet. I really love this tea! I think it would make a really wonderful tea to drink in Autumn.

Steeped in a gaiwan: 15 seconds + 15 for repeat infusions, 194F/90C, 4.5g tea per 100ml water

The Oolong balls are medium/large in size and are made up of brown, dark green, burnt yellow and medium green coloured leaves. I can see no impurities on the leaves such as spots or loss of colour nor can I see twigs/sticks amongst the balls. A quick sniff-spection reveals a wonderful sweet grass and floral scent which is lightly perfumed and vegetal.

Once steeped the tea is yellow in colour with a sweet grass scent. In flavour this is of medium strength with pure sweet grass and sweet flower notes. Also some vegetal notes too. Sweetpea, sweetcorn, fresh asparagus and buttercup all in one delicious, smooth yet vibrant tea.

I found the Shan Li Xin High Mountain the tastiest and it has everything I look for in a low oxidised Oolong. It’s freshness and purity makes it one of the nicest I have tried.

For more information and pictures please visit my blog.
http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2014/06/26/2014-oolong-from-eco-cha/

The Oolong balls are medium/large in size and are made up of brown, dark green, burnt yellow and medium green coloured leaves. I can see no impurities on the leaves such as spots or loss of colour nor can I see twigs/sticks amongst the balls. A quick sniff-spection reveals an elegant sweet and floral scent with a touch of grass.

Once steeped the tea is golden yellow in colour with a sweet floral and grassy scent. In flavour this is of medium/strong strength with sweet floral and grassy yet vegetal notes. The somewhat greenness flavour makes this taste very fresh. Quite earthy vegetables but green like string bean or sweet pea.

For more information and pictures please view my blog.
http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2014/06/26/2014-oolong-from-eco-cha/

The Oolong balls are small/medium in size and are made up of brown, dark green, burnt yellow and medium green coloured leaves. I can see no impurities on the leaves such as spots or loss of colour nor can I see twigs/sticks amongst the balls. A quick sniff-spection reveals a beautiful sweet and floral scent with a touch of cream and butter.

Once steeped the tea is yellow in colour with a highly buttery and floral scent. In flavour this is of medium strength with sweet floral and creamy butter notes that melt in the mouth and leave a fresh yet fragrant after taste. Also has some vegetal notes that resemble sweetcorn. Very fresh and delicious overall, more floral than milk and I think the balance is perfect.

For more information and pictures please view my blog entry.
http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2014/06/26/2014-oolong-from-eco-cha/

Ooh! This roasted Dong Ding starts out with this wonderful mild roasted nutty flavor like a Houjicha, but then it opens up to the dried fruit and honey like qualities of Dong Ding, with so much lingering sweetness. For a roasted tea, this one tastes very clean and leaves a nice clean feeling in the mouth and a tingly minty kind of freshness.

On the second steeping the roasted flavor has died off quite a bit revealing more of the sweet, nectar-like qualities of the tea. The more steepings in you go, the more creamy and mellow it gets, and the more it gives way to subtle floral, fruit and honey notes. This is a wonderful oolong for enjoying gongfu style to see how the many infusions change.

This tastes like a dark tomato soup. It’s crazy!

There’s the fruitiness and tartness of a nice grape tomato. There’s some herbal medicinal thing going on as well. I can possibly imagine the mint. I can’t imagine any clove or cinnamon.

It’s not a bad cup but I’m not keen to repeat the experience.

Red Jade Tea from Taiwan (also known as No. 18):
This is a prize-winning tea from Eco-Cha, using little to no fertilisers or pesticides. I believe the leaf comes from a hybrid of the assam plant and wild tea plant.
The character of Red Jade is unique among black teas. The taste is complex and lacks the astringency or bitterness of classic blacks.
The smell of the dry leaf was strongly of ‘warmed spaghetti (from a can)’, but there were notes of mint beneath. The leaf is long and large, twisted tightly along middle vein, reasonably intact. Once water is added the leaf slowly unfurls, unlocking each layer of the taste.
The scent comes through into the flavor of Red Jade. It is slightly pungent: savoury with winter vegetables (mint) and spices (cloves, cinnamon). The after-taste is of brown sugar and lingers long in the mouth. There is no dryness.
The infused leaf has notes of minty sweetness, sandalwood, cinnamon.
This is a good winter tea, but its strong unique taste may take some getting used to.

This Spring 2013 oolong hails from Dong Ding Mountain. It is not high altitude (1000ft), but the terrain is steep and often covered with fog. The soil is incredibly rich. In addition, this region is home to the most concentrated population of the most skilled oolong tea artisans in Taiwan.
The tea is hand-picked in small batches.
The dry leaf looks amazing – tiny coils that resemble snails – and the scent is wood and spring shrub or vegetative, plus some smokiness.
The taste is mellow, sweet syrupy, chestnut notes with slight raisin and smoked notes. There is a definite English floral note that lingers. It could be hyacinth (green, sweet, floral). There is minimal astringency, no dryness.
The second infusion delivered a sweeter flavor – time for those raisin notes to shine.
Overall, it delivers a complex taste – as well as many cups (up to four infusions last count).

I’ve really enjoyed this one today at work. I think oolong is my new thing. I’ve been drinking an awful lot of oolong lately. This one is really nice. Slightly sweet, slightly fruity, really smooth. Resteeps well. It’s kept me company through multiple mugs during a crazy frustrating day at the office. I don’t get piney from this one, like the description says, but I am really enjoying it. I’m debating on ordering more right now, or if I need to hold off as I have way way way too much tea on its way. This one will probably wait for a while, but Eco-Cha, you are on my list.

This is from the January 2014 Steepster Select Box.

I have trying my best to drink all the little odds and ends of tea that I have sitting around. Everything that is in the 2-4 cup range. I have significantly reduced the number of teas in my cupboard, but then more tea just keeps coming in:)

I have been using my new gaiwan to brew oolongs lately. I have always been an oolong fan and now with the start of summer and the gaiwan, the more green oolongs seem to be something I am starting to crave. This one is really hitting the spot tonight. It is light, floral, slightly buttery, and I get a bit of tang at the end of the sip. I really need to do a green oolong sampler one of these days to see if I can detect more subtle flavors. With the greenish oolongs, the flavor for me seems to vary by the amount of floral, buttery-ness, and the slight bitterness at the end of the sip. Sometimes I get a slight hint of fruit, other times the bitterness overtakes the fruity notes. This seems to be a nice balance between all the components.

You don’t know what you got until it’s gone.

I filled my yixing with whatever was left of my bag (probably at least 10-15 grams lol) from last year in an effort to drink within freshness and to clear room in my cupboard.

This is still one the most unique black teas I have ever tasted. Fruity, sweet, silky, complex, with just the right amount of body. I taste over-ripened plum very pleasant sweet add a tail of sourness, with hints of thyme/oregano or some other woody spicy herb in the background. This one is a crowd pleaser for sure I even poured some for my guests who have american “pepsi palates” and they actually enjoyed and asked for seconds(usually the best I can get out of friends is a sip and a patronizing “not bad”). The flavor profile is the complete opposite of chinese hongcha, a lot sweeter/smoother /fruitier, less astringent, a nice break from my usual fare.

The calming effect and unbelievably perfect body makes the leaves origin apparent, far more than being a marketing ploy of buzz words associated with the description. This high mountain black tea has theanine left from the roasting to give you the gao shan relaxed buzz but with a taste thats more bold and “heavier” than a typical floral green oolong.

Is it worth the $11/oz price tag? Depends on your budget I suppose but I would repurchase for sure. But like anything else the quality bump that comes with the high price tag would not be appreciated from new comers. I have come to appreciate teas too much to let price tags bother me especially when I stop comparing prices to other teas and start comparing prices to other beverages . I also don’t mind supporting eco cha as a company they seem to have a friendly, transparent orientation.

This is a weird one, good just strange. Not sure were this tea falls caffeine wise but since it is Gao Shan Cha it still possesses the tea drunk aromatic oils :) so I am super mellow and smiley. I’ve western brewed in the past but decided to gongfu today. The first few steeping I got tart dark cherries sour sweet and tart plum at the tail, later a strong berry flavor appeared and remained constant for the rest of the steepings. A sort of piney, woody maybe fruit branch flavor accompanied the fruity flavor. I say fruit branch since it still had the berry taste it reminded me of berry branches that some time make it through the sorting in the frozen berry mix I like to buy.

An interesting tea, not something Id reach for daily (also just realized it was $11/oz yikes) but definitely enjoyable and glad I got to try this one.