I was looking for a greener tasting oolong and I think I have found just that in this Jade Oolong from Little Red Cup Tea Co.
Not only does this Jade Oolong from Little Red Cup Tea Co. taste like a greener oolong it also has beautiful floral flavors on the end sip and a very pretty aroma from start to finish. It has a glowing gold color of tea liquor that sloshes in the cup. This was delightful sipping hot, cool, or cold! The cooler or colder it gets the more I can taste the floral notes.
If you haven’t had a good, solid Jade Oolong in a while try Jade Oolong from Little Red Cup Tea Co. and even if you have it’s a great time to compare it with others because I find this one to be exceptional!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Little Red Cup Tea Co.
Description:
Jade Oolong (Wu Long, 乌龙) is a marvelous mountain-grown tea from western Hunan Province. It has an appealing aroma, a beautiful green color and a forceful presence. It has a taste profile characteristic of greener oolongs, complex and just a little woody.
Our Jade Oolong is pure whole leaf organic Chinese tea, Fair Trade certified, and utterly delicious. This is a tea to be enjoyed on a regular basis, but also a tea to bring out for special occasions. It is at once familiar and yet a cut above ordinary oolongs, a tea we are certain you will love.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Red Jade Black Tea from Oollo Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Oollo Tea
Tea Description:
A perfect marriage between Burma Ashamu and Taiwanese wild tea. The long twisted whole leaves give distinct smooth raisin, date and cinnamon infusions with traces of peppermint.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Red Jade Black Tea from Oollo Tea is one of those teas that after taking my first sip, the sound that I uttered was “Mmm.” Not a lot of teas elicit that response from me. This one did.
The dry leaves are dark, chocolaty brown. They’ve been rolled lengthwise, producing a very long and wiry shape. Because of the long, curly composure of these leaves, it’s difficult to actually measure a bamboo scoop of the leaves into the basket of my Kati tumbler. So instead, I eyeballed it. Then I added 12 ounces of boiling water and let the tea steep for 3 minutes.
Now I have a cup of perfection!
I enjoy most tea types: Green, White, Black and if I’m going to be totally honest, I even enjoy most of the Pu-erh that I’ve encountered. I’ve enjoyed some of the variations and even the new varietal Purple teas. Oolong teas and Yellow teas are my favorites. But the tea type that I drink the most is Black tea. So, I guess I could amend my previous statement to say that black teas are my favorite, followed closely by Yellows and Oolongs.
And this tea from Oollo is a perfect example of why I love black tea so much. It has a rich, invigorating flavor but it doesn’t get all aggressive on me. Instead, it’s smooth and sweet. The description above is spot on with its comparison to raisin and date. That sugary sweetness that I’d taste if I were to bite into a raisin or a date, that’s the kind of sweetness I taste when I sip this tea. 
There are notes of gently warm spice and hints of rich malt. There is a slight intonation of cacao and a whisper of caramel. And the aftertaste delivers just a hint of minty taste, especially if I draw a breath of air over my palate just after I’ve finished a sip.
The tea is so wonderfully sweet but not so sweet that it becomes all about the sweet. There is a nice complexity to this. Lots of depth to the flavor. Those sugary sweet notes from the dried fruit are top notes, with a mid-note of warm spice. Undertones of caramel that mingle with notes of cacao. Every once in a while, I pick up on a hint of leather. A subtle note of plum comes in here and there. And every once in a while, I even pick up on a floral tone. It’s a wonderful cup with lots of layers of flavor to explore!
This tea is an absolute DELIGHT to sip. If you haven’t had the opportunity to try anything from Oollo Tea yet, I urge you to get to their website immediately and try some of their fantastic teas. And be sure to put this tea in your cart while you’re shopping. You’ll thank me later!
Tsui Yu Jade Oolong Tea from Eco Cha
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Eco-Cha
Tea Description:
This artisan consistently achieves high ratings in virtually every oolong tea competition in Taiwan, including the largest oolong tea competition in the world. His co-op of farmers use no weed killers, and chemical analyses for fertilizers and pesticides show their samples to be a small fraction of the accepted amounts set by international standards. A prime example of sustainable methods combined with expertise.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow … nice! I don’t know that I’ve ever experienced a Tsui Yu Jade Oolong before. I’ve tried many different Oolong teas. But there are so many Oolong teas out there and … some of the more popular ones such as Ti Kuan Yin and Oriental Beauty and even my beloved AliShan have cast their rather large shadows over the lesser known varieties like this Tsui Yu Jade. So, I’m feeling very privileged that Eco Cha has given me this unique opportunity to try this tea.
And this is LOVELY!
I brewed this – of course! – in my gaiwan. The first cup (infusions 1 and 2 following a 15 second rinse) is light and refreshing to the palate. It tastes sweet, but only lightly so. It’s not an inundating sweetness. The flavor, overall, is very gentle. Subtly sweet, gently floral, with hints of fruit and vegetation in the distance. The texture is soft and “fluffy.” That seems like an odd word to use with a tea, but, that’s the word that first comes to mind as I sip this tea. It sort of floats over the palate like a soft, fluffy cloud. It’s like a subtle creaminess, but it is just barely there. I really like the delicate softness of this cup.
My second cup (infusions 3 and 4) is where I notice a creaminess develop. Hints of this creamy note were present in the first cup but they were so delicate and almost hiding behind the sweetness. Here the creaminess has emerged, as have some of the aforementioned fruit notes, reminding me of something between a crisp, sweet apple and a juicy honeydew melon. I think I like this cup even more than the first, and I loved that first cup! Still so sweet, but with this beautiful creamy taste and texture that reminds me of sweet cream.
The third cup (infuisons 5 and 6) offered a more subdued creamy note, but it was still there. Just less apparent. The flavors is still sweet! The fruit notes have also subdued, and I’m noticing more of the floral notes and the vegetal notes this time. Still a very delicious cuppa!
A remarkable Oolong … and definitely worth exploring. When I checked out the Eco Cha website for information about this tea, I noticed that this one is now sold out, so I recommend keeping your eye on their website and after the November harvest this year, you should order some of this tea for yourself! It’s one that I’d recommend to all tea enthusiasts!
Red Jade Tea from Eco Cha
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Eco-Cha
Tea Description:
The maker of this tea is employed by the Yu Chi Township Tea Research Extension Station and his factory produced the winner of the 2011 Black Tea Competition in this area. He is a leading figure in his field and his knowledge and expertise of black tea cultivation in Taiwan is virtually unsurpassed.
Learn more about this tea here.
Subscribe to Steepster Select here.
Taster’s Review:
I was really excited when I found teas from Eco Cha in January’s Steepster Select Box. Eco Cha is one of my favorite “new” companies. I’ve tried a few teas from them, and I’ve enjoyed each one, and I’m loving this Red Jade Tea too!
The aroma of the tea has a warm spiced scent to it – not really spicy, but more like a touch of spice. The flavor is full and there is a fair amount of astringency to this. I taste the notes of cinnamon and clove that are mentioned in the description of this tea, but I didn’t start noticing the mint until I got to mid-cup. Then I noticed the “tingly” sensation of mint, and I could feel the cooling sensation of the mint when I would inhale air over my palate in the aftertaste. It doesn’t taste distinctly of mint … but it has mint-like qualities.
I also taste a sort of “grain” like flavor: like malt. Not like the malty note you might taste from an Assam tea, but, more like the flavor of a hot cereal. That kind of malt. It’s a comforting kind of flavor, just like a steaming hot bowl of hot cereal would be. There is also a wine-like quality that I taste – reminiscent of black currant. Sweet and slightly fruity.
I recommend steeping this for just 2 1/2 minutes in boiling water, because a longer steep time could result in a slightly bitter tasting cup. I brewed mine at 3 minutes, and I started to notice just a hint of bitterness, nothing I found off-putting, but it made me wish I had infused the leaves for 2 1/2 minutes rather than three.
Another enjoyable tea from Eco Cha, and yet another tea that makes me glad that I subscribe to Steepster Select!
Vietnamese Oolong Tea from Spire Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Tea Description:
This pure, unique Vietnamese oolong produces a jade-green liquor with a freshly sweet floral aroma.
This tea was previously known as Jade Dragon.
Learn more about Spire Tea on their website.
Taster’s Review:
From the name of this tea (Jade Dragon) and the above description, I had expected a green liquor but what I brewed from this tea was more of an amber colored liquid.
Well, the color might not be “right” … but the flavor is superb! I brewed this the same way I’d go about brewing most Oolong teas – in my gaiwan. I started out with a quick rinse to reawaken the leaves (15 seconds in hot water, and then I strained off the liquid and discarded it). Then I brewed the first infusion for 45 seconds, and added 15 seconds to each subsequent infusion. I combine the results of two infusions to make each cup, so my first cup was infusions 1 and 2, my second cup was infusions 3 and 4 … and so on! Unfortunately, there was a mishap with my second cup – and it ended up all over the kitchen counter. I chose not to slurp it off of the counter, although I have to admit that I was tempted.
My first cup was amazing. It was buttery and sweet, with a lovely texture that was creamy and soft. The flavor was delicately floral, and I picked up subtle honey notes and hints of a fruit-like flavor.
As I said, the second cup was not consumed, but my kitchen counter seemed to enjoy it, or perhaps what it enjoyed was the sponge bath that followed. It’s not talking, so I don’t know. But the third cup was slightly more focused a flavor than the first cup. I found the first cup to be a softer sort of flavor, while the third cup had more of a distinguished flavor, especially the floral notes. There is not so much of that creamy, buttery flavor in this cup though. Still delightfully honeyed, with fruit notes in the distance.
My fourth and final cup (with a third cup so flavorful, I decided these leaves had more to offer!) was similar to the third cup, although I found that the flavors were softening at this point. There was less astringency with this cup, and the floral notes seemed to meld with the honey notes to offer a sharp yet sweet taste.
Of the three cups that I enjoyed, I think my favorite was the first. I really loved the buttery taste and texture of that cup, although I really enjoyed the flavor of the cups that followed. It’s definitely worthwhile to take the time to resteep this one.
A really lovely Oolong!