Taiwan #18 'Red Jade' GABA Oolong Tea

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Oolong Tea Leaves
Flavors
Blood Orange, Bread, Brown Sugar, Chocolate, Cream, Earth, Geranium, Grapes, Grass, Herbaceous, Honey, Leather, Malt, Mineral, Molasses, Pear, Plum, Red Apple, Spinach, Straw, Sweet Potatoes, Tobacco, Wood
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by eastkyteaguy
Average preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 6 g 11 oz / 315 ml

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3 Tasting Notes View all

  • “This was one of my sipdowns from around the end of March and the start of the current month. It was also a tea I kind of rushed into blindly in the sense that I did not research it much. I tend to...” Read full tasting note
    76
  • “I wasn’t going to rate this one again, either, but brewed grandpa in a thermos it’s a bit better. It can be funky and tart in the first few sips before the flavors meld, but otherwise it’s got a...” Read full tasting note
    71

From What-Cha

A most unusual tea with a thick smooth texture combined with sweet potato and tangy fruit notes.

Tasting Notes:
- Smooth texture
- Sweet potato and tangy fruit taste
- Slight mint finish

Harvest: Spring, April 2017

Organic: Non-certified organic farming

Origin: Ming Jian, Nantou County, Taiwan
Altitude: 350m
Farmer: Mr. Yu
Sourced: Specialist tea ‘finisher’ who buys and processes the tea leaves of local farmers

Cultivar: TTES.18 Hong Yu (Red Jade)
Picking: Hand
Oxidisation: 70-80%
Roast: 0%

Brewing Advice:
- Heat water to roughly 90°C/194°F
- Use 1 teaspoon per cup/small teapot
- Brew for 3-4 minutes

Packaging: Non-resealable vacuum-sealed bag packaged in Taiwan

About What-Cha View company

Company description not available.

3 Tasting Notes

76
1048 tasting notes

This was one of my sipdowns from around the end of March and the start of the current month. It was also a tea I kind of rushed into blindly in the sense that I did not research it much. I tend to be a really huge fan of Red Jade black teas, so I was eager to see what a Red Jade GABA oolong would be like. Ultimately, I found this tea to be a unique and rather enjoyable expression of the Red Jade cultivar, though I also felt that it would probably not be for everyone.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 8 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of baked bread, sweet potato, brown sugar, chocolate, and molasses. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of spinach, wintergreen, and red grape. The first infusion then introduced aromas of plum and malt. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of baked bread, malt, sweet potato, molasses, red grape, plum, and wintergreen that were backed by hints of chocolate and spinach. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of geranium, grass, earth, pear, horehound, wood, blood orange, red apple, and straw. Notes of cream, minerals, geranium, pear, grass, red apple, wood, straw, horehound, earth, honey, and blood orange appeared in the mouth alongside belatedly emerging brown sugar notes and hints of leather and tobacco. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, sweet potato, plum, malt, cream, earth, red apple, pear, straw, and grass that were balanced by hints of geranium, spinach, brown sugar, horehound, molasses, and wintergreen.

Overall, this was an odd, interesting, and rather enjoyable GABA oolong, but it was also very challenging and prickly. Personally, this was a tea for which I would have to be in the mood. I could not ever imagine it being a regular basis tea, let alone an everyday tea. Still, it had a lot to offer, and I could see drinkers curious to see how the Red Jade cultivar handles being processed into anything other than a black tea or those who enjoy quirky and/or experimental teas getting a kick out of it.

Flavors: Blood Orange, Bread, Brown Sugar, Chocolate, Cream, Earth, Geranium, Grapes, Grass, Herbaceous, Honey, Leather, Malt, Mineral, Molasses, Pear, Plum, Red Apple, Spinach, Straw, Sweet Potatoes, Tobacco, Wood

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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71
1557 tasting notes

I wasn’t going to rate this one again, either, but brewed grandpa in a thermos it’s a bit better. It can be funky and tart in the first few sips before the flavors meld, but otherwise it’s got a mellow winter squash going on. The liquor smells like spiced winter squash with brown sugar. The faint mint taste I experienced brewed western has turned into a more noticeable menthol which combines with a new nutmeg? allspice? flavor, making the aftertaste reminiscent of camphor. It can get a little astringent at the bottom but it’s tolerable for me. This tea packs a serious punch of caffeine and is helping me power through the day after a sleepless night and a public medical emergency this morning. I’m still on the fence about it but I might try another season’s harvest if one is ever available again and make up my mind after that. I think it’s worth a try if you want something high in caffeine and different. Bumping from 64 to 71.

Preparation
1 tsp 20 OZ / 591 ML

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