How to buy good tea

Charcoal roasted oolong + green and red flags for tea sellers.

A charming charcoal roast

The tea: Charcoal Roasted High Mountain Oolong, sold by Eco-Cha. $27 for 75g.

Oolong teas grown above 1,000 meters in Taiwan receive the designation “high mountain.” At high elevations, cloudy skies and cool temperatures result in slow growing tea plants, which is frustrating for the plants but great for us drinkers, as these concentrated teas can yield richer, more flavorful brews than their faster growing, low elevation cousins. Good high mountain oolongs feel like drinking gelatin-rich broth; they make you want to lick your lips.

Most high mountain oolongs are sold “green,” which is to say they don’t receive additional roasts after they’re dried. This batch has been subjected to a charcoal roast by someone who specializes in such a practice. Traditional roasting is expensive, challenging, and risks burning the tea. But it’s like making stock with roasted bones and vegetables instead of raw: you get greater depth and a longer finish—a more “complete” taste than the buttery, floral oolong provides on its own. Expect squash and hickory flavors with a brassy twang. Compared to an unroasted oolong, the natural sweetness is less obvious in this tea, though more profound when it hits your tongue.

The source: If I’m talking to someone who wants to try Taiwanese oolongs, I love sending them to Eco-Cha. Founded by Andy Kincart and Nick Fothergill, two foreigners living in central Taiwan, it’s a wonderful source for the country’s classic oolong styles. Andy’s been in Taiwan for as long as I’ve been alive. His ties to the tea community run deep. I’ve enjoyed just about everything I’ve tried from him, and he has that understated, yet clearly thought-through dedication to organic farming that I like to see in a seller. I always feel I get good value for the price. Shipping from Taiwan is reliable and inexpensive.

To brew: Teas from Taiwan tend to be friendly and amenable to many kinds of brewing. For this one, I like a method called bowl brewing, which is exactly what it sounds like. Put some leaves in a bowl. How much?

About that much. Then cover with boiling water and wait until the leaves unfurl and settle on the bottom. Cradle the bowl in your hands, bask in the fragrant vapor, and take a sip. Refresh with hot water once you get halfway down, repeating as needed until the brew tastes like sweet water. A pretty matcha bowl helps, but any bowl (or mug) that you can comfortably hold will do the job. The extended brew draws out the tea’s heady roasted character, and you won’t get stewy, oversteeped flavors with this kind of tea. For this reason, this is the tea I bring with me when traveling. The tightly rolled leaves don’t get crushed in my luggage, and I can chuck some in a thermos to drink all day without worrying about fussing with my brew.

---

What to look for in a tea seller

For Western buyers, the global tea market is more open than ever. We can find just about any kind of tea we want online and get it delivered to our doors, probably with free shipping. Which leads us to one of the truths of tea buying: if you’re willing to buy it, the tea can be whatever you want it to be. Specialty tea is sold on stories, and it’s always been true that stories can be remixed to shape a customer’s demands. How old do you want those tea trees? Is organic good enough or do you need regeneratively grown?

We’ve never had more choice for where we get our tea, but if you want to find really good tea as opposed to good stories—it pays to know what to look for in a seller.