This is January 2019 club box from the Eco-Cha tea of the month subscription. I have reviewed their main line of teas years back. If you are in looking for the gems, that is in their exclusive and limited quantity club teas.
Unboxing the Eco-Cha Club, you get 75 grams of tea, and a special surprise (in our case, some sort of teapot scooper). Members are also provided with a PDF info sheet and video tea tasting by the Eco-Cha owner.
If you prepay 6 months you get a clay teapot, at 12 months you get a teapot and bamboo tea tray.
Leaf and Steeping Method
The 2019 January Eco-Cha Club tea is the Long Feng Xia High Mountain Oolong from the 2018 Winter harvest. If you are familiar with Shan Lin Xi High Mountain Oolong, Long Feng Xia is on the south side of the mountain.
These balls of oolong are massive. These three lumps in particular weight almost 2 grams!
The hot leaf smells buttery, fruity, and sweet. I went with 1 gram of leaf per 15ml of vessel size, gongfu style steeped with boiling water.
Tasting of 2018 Winter Long Feng Xia High Mountain Oolong from Eco-Cha Club
First Infusion: Long Feng Xia High Mountain Oolong sips in sweet and buttery. It has a clean taste of fresh vegetables, parsley herbs, and more butter. The aftertaste is crisp and refreshing. The texture is slick on the oily side.
Second, Third, and Fourth Infusion: Yeah, it is the same photo again, but wow look at those leaves get huge.
This steep got more buttery and refined tasting. Long Feng Xia High Mountain Oolong tastes like buttered white bread with a zip of refreshing pesto (minus the garlic and salt) as an aftertaste. Some sips remind me of how tulip bulbs smell like. The aftertaste is long and fresh, like a chewed on herbs without the mint, but still adding a cooling feel. The third and fourth steeping is a bit astringent and a touch more piercing in vegetable freshness notes.
Fifth and Sixth Infusion: The final infusions of Long Feng Xia High Mountain Oolong are my favourite. The oolong sips in mineral buttered rocks, with a tulip and juicy stem. Some sips taste perfectly like popcorn, the kind that’s near the bottom of the bowl of half-popped of husk, butter, and toasty tasting. There is a moderate astringency and some bitterness, but it gives a long fresh lingering flavour. The energy has a bit of a chest pump too.
The last infusion finally tastes stewed and bitter, but still pumping fresh mentos blast of herbs, though the bitter covered all the butter.
The leaves are MONSTERS and many in perfect condition.
Comments
Wow, Long Feng Xia is an impressive High Mountain oolong. The quality of the oolong was extraordinary, you can just tell by the leaves. The flavour is also remarkable with the buttery baked goods and freshness. I will treasure the rest of the bag.
This glimpse into the Eco-Cha Club was a good experience. The freebie item was a fun touch.
Eco-Cha is raising their membership price in February, so if you are interested I would jump on it soon.
(tea provided for review | affiliate links)
