Eco-Cha Artisan Teas

Oh wow. I don’t even know where to begin.

This is my favorite tea so far from Steepster Select.

The delicate smell and taste of sweet perfume and fruit are out of this world.

The leaves unfurl beautifully.

I’m looking at enchanting lush photos of Shan Lin Xi (http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=shan%20lin%20xi) and imagining the journey these leaves have taken to get to my tea-pot.

Definitely not my cup of tea.
No taste of cinnamon, cloves or mint.
Rather bland, but in a medicinal way.
I drank a full pot, but couldn’t bear to do a re-steep.
The red liqour is intoxicating & I had high hopes for this one
((Sigh))

Included with January 2014’s Steepster select box.
Well, I didn’t not like it, but I barely did like it…. I got nothing that the card mentioned in the flavour profile.. no cinnamon, no cloves, no mint. It was named correctly though, There’s a lot of red in this black tea. I’ve had better black teas, the taste was mediocre. I steeped twice and tossed the spent leaves out.

Edit:
After reading people’s positive experiences with this tea, and Eco-Cha’s notes and background info, I’ve decided to give the 2nd packet a go, this time gongfu style…

HUGE difference!

Although still not my favourite black, the gongfu method really brought out some of the flavours I missed the first time around. I enjoyed this tea last night, it was a very nice experience. Thanks for taking the time to reply with the extra info and opinions, Eco-cha, it’s changed my opinion of this tea for the better.

Take 2!

Brewing the second pack of this at home, in a 5oz gaiwan. Measured the dry leaf first this time – almost 5 grams! That would definitely explain why 3 minutes in 8oz water seemed like too much last time.

This is really really good. I’m on steep 8 now, I think, starting to lose track of the number. It’s rich, and honeyed, a little like an Assam, a little like a Darjeeling (but not quite as floral, more spicy). There’s some astringency, but not in a bad way – it provides a nice counter to the thick mouthfeel.

I had actually forgotten that I signed up for Steepster select until I got the email that it had shipped! Must’ve been a black Friday or holiday sale? I went for the darkest, most warming tea first, because it’s really really cold today.

I used one full sample bag (there are two of each tea, and the bags are not resealable; I’ll measure the quantity when I get home) for 8oz water. They suggested boiling water, so I heated my mug over the kettle to avoid the temperature drop from pouring into a cold vessel.

First impressions: dry leaf is big, dark, and twisted, like a wuyi oolong, but they list this as a red/black tea. Liquor: very red! Smells like… an assam? Yes, an assam. With all the rich honey notes, but also a hint that the taste might be more tannic. Taste: oddly muted, definitely a little bitter on the front, then mellows out into something more chewy, like a dark wheat bread. I’m not getting any of the cinnamon or clove spices – will have to see if they come out on later steeps.

So far, I’m not too impressed. I will try the other sample of this gongfu style, it seems like it might benefit from shorter, more intense steeps. This manages to be mild and muddled at the same time. It smells delicious though! Maybe milk and sugar? I try not to do that to good teas, but I also don’t drink a lot of black teas completely straight.

Edit: I like the second steep better. I’m getting more of the subtle spice notes now. I think the first steep was just too much leaf/time/temp and got muddy. I ended up steeping this 4 times, steeps 2 and 3 were the best, though the first steep was also improved by a dash of milk and sugar. Fans of Assam and Darjeeling might appreciate this more than I did.

A very pretty leaf, long slender and delicate. Red is a very appropriate name. An earthy woody front, which I wasn’t too fond of gave way to a long oily finish which was very pleasant. A second steep brought out hints of rose and possibly citrus.

Received this tea in January 2014’s Steepster Select box.

The aroma of this steeped is similar, to me, to an unsteeped four seasons oolong. The colour is close to that of a yellow highlighter… It’s almost glowing in my glass cup.
Tastes slightly like some fruit. The included card says pear, but I don’t get a pear taste. Can’t put my finger on it, but I do like it.
Kind of similar to an older tieguanyin.
Overall not my favourite ever, but a very interesting tea to have. I wouldn’t mind having more in my cupboard.

I almost didn’t get a tea review written today, I spent most the day in a state of brain fog making most of my attempts to communicate a garbled mess. Many cups of tea, a hearty serving of beans and toast and several hours of castle renovation in Terraria were needed before I felt comfortable with describing a tea. I am going to blame my brain being foggy on the obnoxious cold weather (all cold, no snow, totally unfair) but at least it is good tea sipping weather.

Today’s tea is Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Black Tea by Eco-Cha Artisan Teas, harvested in Winter 2012, this tea is, as the website describes it, an anomaly. Created when oolong was being oxidized and accidently forgotten about meaning it was oxidized to the point of almost being a black (or red) tea. The aroma of this tea is intense! Bright notes with floral tones at first, but the more I sniff the tea the more I detect; oak notes, and cocoa changing to fruity and sweet, ending with a hint of tobacco leaves. I will be honest, I am amazed by the complexity of the aroma of this tea, it manages to blend the oaky and cocoa notes I associate with black teas with sweet, floral notes of an oolong.

Once brewed the already fluffy leaves just explode, barely fitting in my steeping basket, for once I am glad I did not brew Gongfu because I think my gaiwan could not contain the immensity of the leaves. The aroma is at first oaky and loamy with an undertone of baking bread that fades into a gentle sweetness. The liquid has a sweet and fruity aroma reminiscent of lychees that fade to honey and then cocoa. It certainly smells delicious!

The first steep is very bright with almost fruit like tartness that fades to sweet lychee with an midtaste of oak and a very tiny hint of tobacco. The aftertaste is lightly muscatel and sweet, as it cools the fruit flavors becomes stronger. This steeping even though is very bright is also very smooth with a pleasant mouthfeel with no dryness.

The second steeping has a sweet and stone fruit aroma with hints of honey and oak. The first thing I notice is the tart aspect from the first steep is gone and is replaced by rich sweetness. The tea is very smooth blending mescatel notes with honey and oak wood. The mouthfeel is almost buttery in its smoothness, drinking it is extremely enjoyable. This is another one of those teas that I have fallen in love with but could not drink everyday because it is so intense, when drinking it I feel like I could get lost in the experience. It is a tea I would recommend to everyone because it is complex but also approachable, someone with an ‘unrefined tea palette’ would enjoy it (I tested this on Ben) as well as experienced tea sippers.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/01/eco-cha-artisan-teas-shan-lin-xi-high.html

You know what is really awesome? Having a mobile taming unit, aka, a loaded with supplies T-Rex, because nothing messes with a Rex so I can tame whatever new dino I need in peace. Ok, not totally true, alphas, Gigas, and other Rexes will come and bother me, but usually I have nothing to worry about. Even in the swamp which is a harrowing place I feel very little fear because what is going to bug my big ol Rex friend? I named him Marc Bolan for those who are curious, and when I manage to bag me a female I am naming her Electric Barbarella, and if you get those references you have excellent taste…and if you follow my train of thought on why those names go together consider me impressed!

Today’s tea themed rambling takes us back to long time blog favorite, Eco-Cha! Looking at their Spring 2015 Tsui Yu Jade Oolong, and going to look at it bowl/grandpa style today since in the past I reviewed this tea gongfu style, I like mixing it up a bit! The aroma on this lovely pile of leaves is a blend of green and sweet, mixing gentle notes of sesame with lettuce, sage, broken vegetation, and a touch of distant apples. It almost reminds me of a mix of apples and apple leaves, very gentle and crisp.

Tossing the leaves in the bowl and adding hot water, I notice the aroma takes on a buttery quality to it, blending with fresh vegetation and mellow herbaceous qualities. There is a touch of fruity sweetness, though mostly the aroma has become green and springy. At first the taste is very mellow, not a whole lot going on, gently sweet with apple and sage and accompanying notes of fresh vegetation and sesame.

As the tea unfurls and the water is refreshed the green notes become stronger and crisper with an addition of lettuce and hyacinth and a sweet nectar finish. This is a tea that I love drinking when I am feeling off, there are not a lot of notes and it is somewhat subtle, the notes that are present are very crisp and the tea has a clean, pure quality to it that feels really good to drink when I feel off my game (or when I am gaming, either one really) and it is good both gongfu and bowl style. If you are wanting a more floral green experience go the gaiwan route, it really brings it out.

blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/02/eco-cha-spring-2015-tsui-yu-jade-oolong.html

Last night and most of today my internet was dead, turns out something was off with my wifi modem and it needed updating (or reinstalling…my much more tech-savvy sweetheart fixed it) before it was on speaking terms with the internet again. It was harrowing, I felt so cut off from the world, so I spent the time without the internet tasting new teas and playing Terraria, with intermittent mini Hama bead sorting (that is going to take forever!!!) it turned out to be a good day. To celebrate the return of the internet, here is a review of a Taiwanese tea.

Tsui Yu Jade Oolong by Eco-Cha Artisan Teas is an unroasted Oolong grown at 400m, which is fairly low allowing for machine harvesting, I suggest checking out the origin tab on their website for all the details on how this tea is harvested, it is fascinating! Tsui Yu Jade is also known as Kingfisher Jade, or Formosa Tea No.13. The aroma of this tea is sweet and herbaceous with a warm, yeasty undertone. The aroma reminds me of baking herb bread with a finishing hint of nuttiness that is very faint.

Once I steep the leaves however the tone becomes intensely vegetal with undertones of sage and a lingering sweetness that ends becomes heady as I pulled the steeped leaves away from my nose. It is one of those teas that when I take the lid off of my gaiwan to enjoy the aroma it wafts out and fills the room. The liquid after pouring it into my cup is herbaceous and sweet with faint floral tones.

The first steep is nutty and mild, the taste is green like fresh vegetation but fades into mellow sweetness. The mouthfeel is pleasantly smooth. This steep is mild and subtle, a good initiation to what promises to be a complex tea. The flavors and aromas reminds me of the first warm day of early spring.

The second steep is, as predicted, more complex. The aroma of the leaves is savory herbs, primarily sage with a hint of thyme fading into fresh vegetation. The aroma of the liquid is honey sweet with sage undertones. The taste is incredibly smooth and herbaceous, there are notes of fresh vegetation that fades into floral notes of hyacinth with an aftertaste of sweetness. I really like how this tea starts of savory and fades into floral sweet.

The third steep’s leaves are almost primarily herbaceous with an after aroma of orchid. The liquid’s aroma is heady and sweet. The taste is at first honey sweet with a buttery mouthfeel that fades into vegetal tones, primarily the note of green beans and a hint of spinach. The midtaste is sage and it fades into a floral aftertaste. This tea takes you on a journey of flavor starting herbal and vegetal and moving to floral and sweet, it is like an adventure in my mouth!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/01/eco-cha-artisan-tea-tsui-yu-jade-oolong.html

I have returned from my little hiatus! My birthday was all sorts of awesome, good company, good food, mind-boggling awesome presents, and of course good tea. I still feel a little overwhelmed, basking in the afterglow of a wonderful couple of days, but it is time to return to a semblance of normalcy. On non-birthday news, it is frigid! A very chilly day, meaning it is time to break out the toast hand warmers, delightfully plushie kawaii toasts with heating elements in them, they were a Christmas gift from my sister from another mother, and I always get excited for the cold because it means I can wear incredibly cute toasts on my hands.

Today I am going to do something a little different, I have reviewed a lot of Eco-Cha’s teas, but I always present them Gongfu style, but that is not the only way I drink it. In fact, bowl style (or Grandpa steeping, both names technically work) is fast becoming my favorite way to drink Jin Xuan, and so with that, why not take a look at the Spring 2015 Jin Xuan brewed up bowl style, time to show off how versatile these leaves can be. Also it shows off how huge they can get when really soaked and given lots of room to move around. Before I can drench the leaves in water, I need to give them a good sniffing, and what a joy that is because these leaves are very pleasantly aromatic. Notes if sweet custard, freshly baked pastry (kinda reminds me of a croissant because it is also very buttery) and a delicate touch of toasted sesame seeds. There is also a delicate undertone of fresh growth and woodiness with a distant hint of wildflowers.

Now that I have finally pulled my nose out of the leaves, it is time to steep! For Jin Xuan grandpa style I tend to use 190° water, it can take hotter but it tends to be more savory than sweet that way, and tends to finish quicker. The aroma that comes out of my bowl as I want the leaves dance around is quite yummy, buttery and sweet with rich notes of pastry and sesame seeds, and of course the familiar Jin Xuan custard and spicy lily notes that I adore so much. My first draining of the bowl starts light and sweet, with a creamy mouth. The taste is a blend of buttery pasty and sweet custard, similar to sesame seed custard with a gentle floral and green finish.

The more the leaves unfurl the stronger the tea gets, several bowls later a really unique thing I have only experienced with grandpa style Jin Xuan happens, it gets salty. Not salty as in, someone trolled me and poured salt on my tea, salty in the way that I just licked a rock and it has that mineral salt taste. It is earthy and blends wonderfully with the now quite strong green notes and buttery thickness. This is very distinct, I have had plenty of oolongs give me a mineral slate note, but only bowl style Jin Xuan gives me that saltiness and I absolutely love it, even if the first time I encountered it really surprised me. I got many refills of the tea, it is a tea that is perfect for those days where I want the oolong but either I am lounging in bed, out and about using my travel steeper, or busy painting/writing and don’t want to split my focus between what I am doing and gongfu cha. This is a tea you can spend the whole day with, easily.

For blog and sexy leaf photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/11/eco-cha-jin-xuan-oolong-tea-spring-2015.html

Good news everyone, my stomach seems to be on the mend so I am able to drink Oolong again! Still too sensitive for Black teas and it is hit or miss with Green, but Oolong tea and I are friends again. Auspicious for New Years Eve, also auspicious is that my mini Perler (ok, Hama, their English cousins) arrived. They are so tiny, about the size of a Seed Bead for those who are in the know. I am not looking forward to sorting them all, but using them in projects is very exciting. For now though, on to the tea!

Jin Xuan Oolong Tea by Eco-Cha Artisan Tea is an award winning Taiwanese Oolong tea (and one of my personal favorite Taiwanese Oolongs, fun fact) harvested in the Winter of 2013. Jin Xuan translates to Golden Daylily and is also known as Milk Oolong. The aroma of the leaves is very sweet and floral, the orchid notes are heady and intense. The sweet floral aroma fades to a vegetal, green bean note with an after aroma of fresh bread. The aroma is mouthwatering and pleasant, I found myself just inhaling the aroma long after my kettle was ready with its water.

Once I finally finished sniffing the loose leave and brewed the teas, the aroma of leaves is wonderfully floral and heady and very smooth. There is still the underlying vegetal notes as well. The liquid is smooth and floral with herbaceous notes of sage and slightly woody like bamboo.

The first steep is mild and sweet with subtle flavor notes. There are notes of sage and orchids with a sugarcane midtaste. The finish is creamy and mild and the floral notes linger. I feel as though this steep is just a hint of what is to come and is easing you into a more intense flavor. It is very enjoyable with its subtlety, especially after a break from tea.

The second steep’s leaves have a much headier aroma and very sweet, like fresh sugarcane juice and orchids. The liquid’s aroma is creamy and vegetal and quite tantalizing. The taste is creamy and sweet with much stronger vegetal tones and a sweet aftertaste. The mouthfeel starts buttery and fades to a dry mouthfeel, it is a very enjoyable transition. On to the third steeping!

The third and final steeping has a very heady aroma, not quite as strong as the second steeping but still quite intense. The liquid’s aroma is very sweet and less vegetal, the sweetness is more like honey. The taste is vegetal, mixing green beans and chestnuts with a slightly herbal midtaste. The aftertaste is sweet like sugarcane and the mouthfeel is dry and invigorating.

This tea does not disappoint! It is a wonderful example of how an Oolong grows with each steeping and takes you on a journey. I recommend steeping this tea when you want to relax and just focus on the tea experience or after a light meal. Also I had to show off the packaging, the tea itself is in a nice vacuum sealed container (which is always entertaining to open) but the box has lots of relevant info.

For Blog and Photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/12/eco-cha-artisan-tea-jin-xuan-oolong-tea.html

Happy after the Holidays (almost, still New Years) everyone, I had a good one, and a good little vacation, I hope you all didn’t miss me too much. Sadly though my stomach ulcer is acting up, so all the yummy holiday food cannot be eaten by me. Luckily though I discovered that copious amounts of Oolong tea soothes my stomach. Today I am reviewing some Oolong from Taiwan sent to me from the lovely people at Eco-Cha, I decided to bring out the gaiwan (like I ever put it away?) and my bubble cups for brewing.

Organic High Mountain Oolong Tea by Eco-Cha Artisan Tea is an Oolong tea picked from the He Huan Mountain in Taiwan during the Spring of 2012. I suggest giving their website a view, they give lots of useful information about their teas which I certainly appreciate. The aroma of the loose leaves is sweet and floral with notes of honey and lilac. There are also notes of mild vegetal, spinach in this case, and a very faint fruity note that is evocative of scuppernongs. The aroma of this tea is enticing, not overpowering and heady but like a spring breeze bringing distant aromas through an open window, this tea makes me want to go outside and explore.

Once I give the leaves a steeping in their gaiwan the aroma becomes even fruitier with honeyed notes of scuppernongs and floral hyacinths. There are also vegetal notes and a very mild whiff of pepper. The aroma of the brewed liquid is very mild and sweet, like honey and a hint of orchids.

The first (of several) steeps blends sweetness and floral flavors together for a very mild tea. The taste is like candied violets and honey with a mild vegetal midtaste ending with sweetness again. The mouthfeel starts out buttery smooth and finishes with an abrupt sharpness that wakes up the mouth. The first steeping starts off relaxing and soothing and ends with a crescendo making me excited for the next steep.

The second steeping gives a slightly darker liquid with a sweet aroma and a note of lemon verbena giving it both a citrus and herbal tone. The first thing I notice is the incredibly smooth and buttery mouthfeel, the taste is mild with subtle notes of honey and lilacs with a finishing note of chestnuts. As it cools there is a hint of cherries as an aftertaste.

The third steep brings a more floral aroma from my little bubble cup and it is quite heady. The taste is sweet like honey with a rich orchid note. The mouthfeel is still very buttery smooth and delightful to drink, I feel very soothed. There is a fruity aftertaste that lingers for a bit.

The last steep is subtly sweet with more of a vegetal note than floral with a slight midtaste of chestnuts. The mouthfeel is still extremely smooth and soothing, it is definitely one of my favorite aspects of this tea. This tea is great for sipping Gong Fu style and reminds me of early Springtime, it also is soothing to my angry stomach so that is a huge plus.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/12/eco-cha-artisan-tea-organic-high.html

They did a quick fix so I can add my review to the proper place here, yay! Steepster is pretty great sometimes. (:

So, sorry for the redundancy. This tea is wonderful. I have this weird kitchen set-up where when the dishwasher’s on I can’t use my electric kettle (shorts the electricity) nor use the kitchen sink as a water source (our dishwasher hooks up to the faucet…I knew that’d be a huge pain and begged my husband to bother connecting it directly to the water tank but he wouldn’t, so here we are :b). This gets really annoying this time of year when by the time I have a guaranteed free moment for some real tea time right after dinner it’s hard because the dishwasher needs to be on doing the day’s load. I think I’ve figured out a decent solution for now though—I prewarm my king thermos and then fill it with the right temp water from my electric kettle, seal it nice and tight, get out the gaiwan and a tea meant for resteeping (so oolong or green usually), and then turn on the washer. As it does its thing I have a little private gongfu session. Very nice!

Anyway, got this as part of Eco Cha’s recent promotion. The site directions for gongfu brewing are kind of confusingly unusual, so I didn’t follow them exactly but did what I’m used to doing (quick rinse, more leaf and less water, short steeping times, a bit cooler than boiling). Figured if it wasn’t optimal and I should follow their directions I have enough left to do so. But I was pleased with my setup—the first few cups yielded a marvelous true-fresh-flower fragrance, a little like jasmine but also like honeysuckle or summer flowers. Remarkable stuff, not unlike some of Verdant’s best spring offerings (Hand-Picked Early Spring Tieguanyin, White Jasmine). The flavor is sweet and clean and slightly herbal, smelling a bit like clean hay as the flower scent tapers off. Eco Cha mentions this is great cold steeped, and I can definitely see that—it has a lot of the qualities the tastiest cold steeped green teas I had this summer (like Bilochun Green) have. It edges towards grassy as it cools, but the sweetness and true-flower aroma make that pleasant. In the middle of winter this is a fantastic way to transport yourself to a warm sunny field out in the country on a late spring or early summer day. This is a spectacular tea that merits the hype of the company’s copy. The price is quite reasonable considering the quality too—under $4 an ounce or (if I’m calculating right) about $1 a session.