Eco-Cha Artisan Teas

I’m still sipping down some of my Lewis & Clark TTB samples.

1st steep (60s): Leaves still tightly furled. Rich buttery aroma with hints of spice. Light flavor, strong buttery finish. 2nd (60s): aroma of green beans/asparagus. The taste is more of a straw/spice/wood blend. Much less buttery. Finish is still excellent. 3rd (60s): Still good, with flavors similar to the second steep. This probably could have handled more steeps, but I got distracted and reached the point where I didn’t want more caffeine for the day.

This was a really pleasant tea: flavorful with absolutely no off-flavors. It’s not quite my favorite style, but I still enjoyed it a lot.

A very pretty, big perfect full leafed oolong! Tsui Yu gong fu steeped dances in between notes of savory, buttery, sweet, steamed vegetal (green bean) and floral (butter cup, orchid) with a lovely silky body. Each sip tastes super clean and fresh.

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/tsui-yu-jade-oolong/

In the end, I quite liked this jade oolong, however it tasted more of a tea I’d enjoy in the Spring.

This is a really good milk oolong. So yummy!! Creamy. Delicious.

editing to add a couple pictures

http://instagram.com/p/u0gg0ZgyaX/
http://instagram.com/p/u0_fIiAyU5/

I won! Thank you Eco for sending me this delicious tea.
It’s just what I’ve been craving… a barely roasted green oolong. YUM!
Unfortunately I accidentally steeped this for longer than I should have. The dirty dishes distracted me and I got carried away sorting them out. Sighs.
Oh well, the tea tastes great anyhow. Very floral. The smell reminds me of tulips. or perhaps magnolias. A little earthy in that flowery way. I like it!
The taste is floral as well, but also a bit sweet like the flower is caramelized, and just slightly creamy. The lingering aftertaste is really nice as well. Sweet like a pastry, though not really bready. I can’t wait to try it out in a gaiwan :D

The last couple days have been crazy hectic for me, but also really fun! Since I am leaving in a few weeks I am tying up loose ends and visiting with people who I won’t see for months. Of course I also had my fun at game night, joining a space themed goofy RPG campaign, which in hindsight might have been silly since I will be gone, though they said I can just ‘be on leave’ and if the campaign is still ongoing I can jump back in as ship scientist. Typing this I realize I am utterly tea drunk after a fun afternoon of trying tea with one of my friends, tea drunk is a wonderful state to be in.

Today’s tea is from Eco-Cha Artisan Teas, Charcoal Roasted Dong Ding, specifically the 2014 harvest. Grown at 700m on a small farm in Phoenix Village, free from chemicals and painstakingly roasted in a traditional tea roasting oven. As with all of Eco-Cha’s teas I suggest reading the origin of this tea on the website, it is wonderful knowing about the tea and the people who create it. As readers of this blog probably know, I have an addiction to roasted oolongs, Dong Ding with a charcoal persuasion being my favorite, it is my go to comfort tea that always puts me in a better state of mind and body when drinking it. The aroma of the dry leaves is delightfully rich, a blend of tobacco, bamboo coal, wood, earthiness, and a delightfully sweet sesame butter and honey finish. You can tell this tea was created by those who are very proficient in their art because it has the charcoal notes you expect, but they are mellow and it is not a kick to the face with a boot full of coal.

The brewed leaves are great, it is like a gaiwan full of autumn memories! There are notes of smoke, bamboo coal, a touch of honey, a tiny hint of dried orchids, and a sharp finish of tobacco. The aroma of the liquid starts off mild, it will gain intensity as the leaves unfurl. It is sweet with notes of squash, bamboo, sesame seeds, and charcoal.

As I take my first steep you can hear me sigh with relief, well if you were in the same room as me you would hear it. The taste is mild, it starts off with creamy sesame butter and orchids with a touch of tobacco, this transitions to bamboo coal and dried fruit giving the first steep a sweet finish. The mouthfeel starts smooth and transitions to a slight dryness.

And on to the second steep we go, you know me, I can never stop at just one. The aroma of the liquid is a blend of tobacco, coal, bamboo, and toasted pine nuts with an underlying sweetness that ties all the notes together. Once I finally manage to pull my nose out of the teacup (a hard task) and take a sip, I notice the mouthfeel has a sparkling quality, it does not bubble or feel like a soda, but it has that tingly dryness I associate with fizz, it is quite subtle but enjoyable. The taste is sweet, like plums that have been roasted over hot coals and then sprinkled with a bit of floral spice. This transitions to toasted sesame seeds and a touch of pine nuts with a smoky finish.

The aroma of the third steep is gently smoky and sweet with notes of bamboo, pine nuts, and honey. It blends sweetness, smoke, and nuttiness very well. The taste starts out with sharp notes of coal and tobacco and quickly mellow out to mild coal, bamboo and sweetness. This steep is certainly the most coal filled so far, it is mostly smoky until the finish where the aftertaste is delicately fruity.

Onward to the fourth steeping! The aroma is a mellow blend of coal, bamboo, pine nuts, and a bit of tobacco, there is no sweetness here. The taste is strong, almost entirely coal and tobacco, the mouthfeel is dry and sharp. The fun thing is when I move on to the fifth steeping, the aroma is yeasty bread and only a hint of coal. The taste is mild with a touch of bamboo and minerals with a delicate sweet finish. This tea is an experience that should not be missed, especially if you are a fan of charcoal roasted teas, the essence of this tea is balance, it keeps the coal notes balanced with the others as it grows in intensity.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/09/eco-cha-artisan-teas-charcoal-roasted.html

I like this one quite a bit. It’s a little floral, a little roasty and nutty. Creamy. Tasty. Super comforting. I’m starting to run low, which is sad.

This is not the first time I’ve had this tea, but it’s the first time I’ve written a tasting note.

It’s really good. Sweet. A little floral. A touch almost nutty, but not really. Delicious.

I love oolong at work when things are awful here, because a good cup can keep me company all day. It provides comfort. Multiple infusions.

I’m doing this one western style today because I just don’t have time to deal with even my pseudo gongfu. It works. It works well.

But I think I will take this tea home so I can try it with my cute oolong clay pot. (My tea kitty also wants to drink some of this delicious tea.)

Though roasted, this tea is still light. The aroma is of roasted corn, nuts, and leaves—perfect for the first crisp day of Autumn. Sipping on the tea after brewing, I get a strong taste of barley, but it isn’t strong enough to be off-putting. This would be great brewed as an iced tea with some honey, or brewed extra strong since the flavor was a bit watery for me.

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/