Tsui Yu Jade Oolong

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.

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

Just to put this in context, this is a terrific tea, and if you like the greener end of oolongs, you’ll love it. Really. BUT, I’ve had far too many really gorgeous oolongs lately, and this one doesn’t cut it in tough company. Maybe it’s a little too light for my tastes, since I like a good body in all my teas, but it’s a nice, light, vegetal flavor with, oddly enough, a smoky overtone (very light – and more in taste than in character, if that makes any sense at all). I’m following it up with another cup of Eco-Cha’s Shan Li Xin High Mountain Concubine, and it’s making me quite a bit happier.

Very nice refreshing tea, lots of notes of orchid and sweetness with a good creamy background. Almost an undertone of vanilla as well. At first I thought it was pretty light but I did a longer first steep and it’s delicious.

A great mild tasting tea. Takes a while for leaves to fully unfold, but even as the taste gets stronger as the leaves open it’s still a nice mild tea. Relaxing and easy to keep drinking. Also has a mild smell. Smooth tea, great for everyday.

2017 harvest. Strong florals – honeysuckle and jasmine. Sweet and light. Some nuttiness comes through on later steeps.

Thanks so much for the samples, Eco-Cha! I really wanted to try some of the unroasted oolongs, and the three I have tried have been of superior deliciousness. This one is another tighter bundled than usual and darker green than usual. I think a teaspoon and a half worked perfectly with this oolong, but of course I will be trying it with different parameters. This flavor is another one tough to describe the elements. It’s smooth and sweet and whatever the flavor or the steep, it’s always tasty. Sometimes it’s a little savory, butter, hints of coconut, sometimes hints of one of the grass-like green tea flavors. This one is constantly shifting and tough to pin down. To be honest, I do like it better when I can distinguish elements (like the Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong’s lovely consistent unique coconut) but I guess this one just tastes like OOLONG. I’m sorry I can’t expand on this one… the leaves certainly deserve it. I’m very impressed with all of Eco-Cha’s teas that I have tried!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 15 minutes after boiling // 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 5 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #3 // 5 min after boiling // 2 minute steep

This is a sample Liquid Proust sent me. Thank you!

So, I don’t tend to be a huge fan of light oolongs, but this might be an exception. I really like the smooth, floral flavor of this one. I’ve been curious about floral oolongs for a while now since I tend to really like floral teas, and this makes me think it’s definitely a category I want to explore more.

In other news, I’ve been dealing with nasty migraines lately. In the past I’ve gotten them on very rare occasions, but something about this pregnancy is triggering them more often. Not fun.

After drinking this between three different days I have decided that it will be one out of three that will compete to be my work stash. I had thought about putting a kilogram of oolong in a tin at work since it’s my favorite tea, but I wasn’t sure which one to use. After having all the thoughts I realized that I wanted something consistent and enjoyable inside, outside, cold, and hot. The bonus to this one meeting those conditions was the price. I’ve never bought from Eco Cha so I didn’t know what I would be looking at… dang, they are cheap.

The contest will happen soon and I am excited :)

This is a nice, lightly floral green oolong with a balanced mix of sweet and vegetal. I was surprised at how dramatically different this tea tastes when alternating between western and gongfu style brewing. Steeped western style, I get a lot more vegetal notes and a slight bitterness. The florals are mostly muted and the overall flavor is more like green tea.

But this tea’s true colors really shine when steeped gong fu style. It’s flavor changes to sweet and floral, slightly fruity with a soft vegetal finish and almost thick mouthfeel. Gongfu brewing is definitely the way to go with this tea.

Overall, a very pleasant jade oolong with a nice, balanced flavor profile. Eco-Cha’s price ($7 for 75 grams) is an excellent value for such an impressive tea.

Thank you to curlygc for the sample.