Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Tea Description:
This tea was grown high in the famed Ali Shan mountain range of Taiwan. Teas from high elevations grow slower, concentrating the flavor into the leaves and making for a rich, sophisticated brew: some of the finest Oolong available.
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Taster’s Review:
There are very few teas that I regard higher than an Ali Shan Oolong. The only tea that immediately comes to mind is a yellow tea, and really, I think that my adoration for Ali Shan is right up there with a yellow tea.
As I was brewing this High Mountain Ali Shan Oolong from Tearroir, the thought that popped into my head is this: What’s better than an Ali Shan Oolong? A freshly harvested Ali Shan Oolong! And that’s exactly what I have before me! A first flush Ali Shan Oolong from 2014!
Yay!
I steeped this – not surprisingly! – in my gaiwan and then I filled my Yixing mug with the first five infusions. The fragrance of the brewed liquid reminds me of springtime at my gramma’s house when I was young. One of the rear corners of the house was covered with a vine of honeysuckle, and when the windows were open near this vine, the breezes would pick up the scent and whisk it into the house and the house would smell faintly of honeysuckle. To this day, it is still one of my favorite aromas ever.
The flavor is sweet and buttery/creamy. It’s not a full-on butter flavor, nor is it entirely a milky/creamy flavor, but somewhere in between. The texture is lighter than a “creamy” or “milky” Oolong, it’s more like a soft, velvety texture without the heavy thickness. It doesn’t coat the palate heavily the way some Oolong teas can.
There are notes of flower and a very faint vegetal note that falls somewhere between the freshest, earliest buds of new spring grass and lightly steamed, mild veggies. It’s a very mellow vegetative tone.
Although the aroma suggests a honeysuckle note might be experienced in the sip, I am not picking up on that in the flavor. There is a floral tone, but it isn’t honeysuckle-esque. It’s such a faint floral note that it’s difficult to discern the flavor. On Steepster, it’s suggested that it’s a gardenia, but I don’t know that is quite it either.
I have to admit that I am really liking the faintness of the floral tone here. Ordinarily, a green Oolong like this one has a very heavy floral essence to it and that’s not a bad thing, I find those floral notes enchanting! But, it is nice to taste something a little different now and then, and I like the surprises that this Ali Shan is delivering.
This is a really special Ali Shan, and I’m so happy that I got to experience it! Steepster Select does it again!
Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Concubine Oolong Tea from Eco Cha
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Eco-Cha
Tea Description:
These leaves were cultivated by the same artisan who produced our previous batch of Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Concubine Oolong. It’s a relatively small farm, managed by a husband and wife team who transformed their plot of virgin high mountain bamboo forest into a tea garden just ten years ago.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Having previously enjoyed and reviewed the Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong from Eco Cha, I was of course curious how the Concubine would make this tea different. The dry leaf immediately greets me with a different aroma than I experienced with the aforementioned tea. This smells very vegetative, reminiscent of a homemade vegetable broth. The brewed tea has a softer fragrance but still smells of cooked veggies.
My first cup of this tea is the combination of my first two infusions in my gaiwan (following a 15 second rinse) and the flavor here is rather delicate. It is sweet and tastes less vegetal than the aroma suggests. There is still a light vegetative note, but I taste more of a sweet vanilla and orchid note here than I do vegetable.
I taste notes of resinous pine and nutty notes. This first cup also has a very “airy” quality to it, like the crisp air in the mountains. Unlike the “non-Concubine” variety of this tea, I am experiencing less astringency with this tea, at least in these early infusions.
My second cup (infusions 3 and 4) was slightly more astringent than the first. The flavors are more pronounced with this cup, and it is still a sweet and very smooth tasting tea. The floral notes are coming forward, and the pine notes are more apparent as well. The vegetal notes are still rather delicate, and I’m not noticing the vanilla tones that I could taste in the first cup.
With the third cup (infusions 5 and 6) I could notice the flavors begin to wane, but this is still a flavorful cup. Of the three cups that I enjoyed today, I found this one to be the most astringent, but, this is not what I’d call an overly astringent tea. The flowery notes are more pronounced and I can taste notes of osmanthus with the orchid. The resin notes are softer now, and I don’t really notice much of the vegetal notes at all now. Of the three cups, this is the most floral tasting.
A beautiful Oolong. This is a company that I highly recommend! They offer great customer service (so friendly!) and I LOVE their packaging – it’s so classy. And oh … of course, the most important thing: the teas are amazing!
Shan First Flush Green Tea from Shan Valley
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Shan Valley
Tea Description:
This tea is considered to be the freshest and most sought after tea. Shan First Flush Reserve tea is the first harvest in the year and only occurs once a year, usually in early April. Shan First Flush is subtle yet has a rich and distinct taste. Because it comes in limited quantities, it is considered a reserve tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from this Shan First Flush Green Tea from Shan Valley. This is a new-to-me company, and the teas are grown in Myanmar, and to my knowledge, I haven’t yet tried teas from this particular area. So, I kept my fingers crossed!
The dry tea is a bit darker in color than I expected from a green tea. It almost looks like a black tea, or at the very least, a darker Oolong. But it brews up a pale, transparent green color, so even if the tea leaves don’t look green, the color of the liquid definitely tells me that this is a green tea.
My first couple of sips – taken while the tea was still quite hot – were rather delicate in taste. After I allowed the tea to cool for a moment or two (OK so it was closer to 2 minutes), I found that the flavors began to develop. This is light and vibrant, with a vegetative note and a lovely hint of citrus-y flavor that is especially noticed toward the finish and in the aftertaste.
Many vegetative green teas have a “buttery” taste to them, but I don’t really notice a strong buttery note here. Instead, it’s as if the “veggies” were accented with a squeeze of lemon rather than a drizzle of melted butter. My palate feels very refreshed after each sip.
While this may be the first tea that I’ve tried from Shan Valley, it certainly won’t be the last, and I’m excited to learn what the other teas from this company have in store for me!
Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong Tea from Eco Cha
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Eco-Cha
Tea Description:
This tea garden was planted just 8 years ago, which is younger than most in the Shan Lin Xi area. This skilled farmer’s tea is in high demand and quickly sells out on a seasonal basis. This winter’s yield was record-low. This day’s harvest produced a mere 175 pounds of tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of this Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong Tea from Eco Cha is interesting – I can’t recall smelling another tea quite like it. Oh, it has some similarities to some other green Oolong teas, but, there is a delicate hint of pine resin to the scent that I don’t think I’ve found in other Oolong teas. The overall fragrance is soft, with fresh notes of grass and flower and whispers of fruit, and then there is that subtle note of pine. Interesting!
The brewed tea is much more vegetative to me than the dry leaf was, it is the scent of mild steamed veggies with a nutty tone.
I brewed this the way I would typically prepare an Oolong … in my gaiwan! My first cup (infusions 1 and 2 following a quick rinse) is a sweet and savory tasting tea, with floral tones and a slight woodsy taste. The floral tones are very soft and pleasantly sweet here. The texture is light and refreshing, it doesn’t have that buttery or creamy texture that so many other green Oolong teas tend to have. This is much lighter and cleaner. There is a mild astringency at the finish.
The second cup had a stronger flavor than the first (as is often the case with Oolong tea). This cup is slightly more astringent than the first cup and the flavor is more floral than the first. I notice a slight resinous flavor here which makes it seem like a perfect Oolong for this time of year! The texture remains light despite the stronger flavors.
I think with this Oolong, my third cup is my favorite. Here is where I notice more of the fruity notes coming forward. I taste a crisp, green apple sort of flavor, and I notice more sweetness as well. The floral notes have tapered, and there is still some astringency here, but, it is subdued compared to the second cup.
Overall, a lovely Oolong. It’s a bit different than some of the green, high mountain type Oolong teas that I’ve tasted before, and I like it when I find something different like this. It still surprises me that with as many teas that I’ve tasted over the years … I can still find teas like this one that challenge what I’ve come to know about teas.
Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Black Tea from Eco-Cha
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Eco-Cha
Tea Description:
This farm is owned and operated by a prominent tea artisan with several decades of experience in tea cultivation. He has been awarded champion of the most prestigious Oolong Tea competition in the world which is held at the Lu Gu Farmers’ Association. Nevertheless, his humble character allows us to sit and chat with him in his modest first generation tea factory on a regular basis. The tea garden is cultivated without any chemical weed killers or fertilizers, and only minimal use of water soluble pesticides early in the growing season.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf of this Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Black Tea from Eco-Cha looks a lot like an Oolong. The name even sounds like an Oolong … that is until you get to the “black tea” part.
The brewed tea is lighter in color than the average black tea. But nothing about this tea screams average to me – and that’s definitely a good thing! The liquid is golden and has a slightly earthy and woodsy aroma. I also smell notes of fruit and flower.
The flavor is incredible! It is so deliciously sweet. I am quick to identify vanilla notes – sweet and creamy. As the tea cools slightly, I am able to notice a minty tone to the tea. This minty flavor is especially noticeable when I slurp the tea, aerating it. I even notice the cooling effect of the mint-like flavor too, it kind of took me by surprise because there is no mint in this tea … only tea leaves!
The woodsy notes that are present in the fragrance start to present themselves in the flavor as well, but they are a bit more distant in the flavor than they are in the scent.
There are hints of flower in the distance, and these emerge more as the tea continues to cool. There is a warmth to this tea as well, like a warm spice note. The tasting notes on the Eco-Cha website suggest cinnamon, and I’m not sure that I’m actually tasting a distinct cinnamon note, but, there is definitely a warm spice note.
In one sip, I taste a slightly earthy note, the cool, crisp tones of mint, a sweet, creamy note that is very vanilla-esque, the warmth of spice and hints of flower and fruit and wood. I find that it is best served hot, but do yourself a favor and let it cool for just a few moments after you’ve poured it from your teapot. The cooling time gives the flavors time to set up, and it’s worth the wait! This is good chilled too, but, I think that some of the complexity is lost as the tea gets cold, and the complexity here is so amazing that you really want to experience it!
Take this one for a second infusion too … it’s still really flavorful! The flavors are not quite as focused as they were in the first infusion, but I still tasted all the flavors I did with the first pot of tea. Amazing!
It’s a beautiful tea, and definitely one worth exploring!