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Eco-Cha’s High Mountain Concubine Oolong Summer 2014
(Tea Provided For Review)
Today I decided to look at Eco-Cha’s
High Mountain Concubine Oolong.
Origin: Shan Lin Xi, Nantou
Harvest: Summer 2014
Elevation: 1500m
Dry
Leaves: There is quite a lot of variance in the dry leaves, as you can see
towards the left is a rather large strangely shaped ball and then there are
some fairly normal sized pellets. There is a strong vegetable aroma to the
leaves, quite interesting since many of the teas I tried so far from Eco-Cha
have been more savory/herbaceous than floral and there is a foresty smell as
well.
First Steeping
Temperature: Boiling
Brewing Time: One Minute
Aroma: Cooked Kale, Almonds and Vegetable
Broth
Flavor: Almonds, Pine, Vegetal and
Orchid
Tasting Notes: I was surprised by
the very light orchid taste this tea has, as I said before I like that Eco-Cha’s
oolongs aren’t predominantly floral; I don’t know if non-floral oolongs are
becoming rare or if I am just looking in the wrong places. Otherwise it is
quite nice, it has a thin mouthfeel for a high mountain oolong, but it is quite
pleasant nonetheless.
Second Steeping
Temperature: 190oF
Brewing Time: Two Minutes
Aroma: Pine
and Fir
Flavor: Almonds, Pine and Vegetal
Tasting Notes: The floral notes have
completely disappeared and the aroma has become both distinctly Pine and Fir. I
was quite surprised that it smells so similar to the two trees definitely
brought me back to walking through the woods on the way to class. The tea is a
little crisper then the previous steeping, I almost want to say sharp, but not
quite.
Third Steeping
Temperature: 195oF
Brewing Time: Three Minutes
Aroma: Pine and Redwood
Flavor: Almonds and Honey
Tasting Notes: It is much simpler by
now, the pine taste and vegetable tastes have disappeared as well as the fir
scent. This time there is a little bit of redwood in there and a honey taste as
well. This might have been my favorite steeping even though it is by far the simplest.
Unfortunately at the time of writing
this, this particularly tea is sold out, otherwise I would have bought a bit of
it. While I still have a couple samples left from Eco-Cha I immediately wanted
to buy this again. I suppose I’ll have to wait to the next harvest before
getting this again. Eco-Cha is really starting to grow on me, while I do love
Beautiful Taiwan Tea for their floral oolongs; I am rather fond of the herbaceous/savory
oolongs I’ve tried from Eco-cha. I am a
little curious if this tea will age well, I’ve been told in the past that
generally lower quality oolongs age better than the higher quality ones, but I
am considering buying some of the next harvest of High Mountain Concubine and
hiding it away for a while.
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