Wuyi Mawuyan tea company

This tea was less wow than the shui xian from the same farm, but had a very similar taste profile. I gong fu brewed this four times and the flavor only went up or down in intensity, but did not change at all. It was pleasant, but not super remarkable in the face of the shui xian. A far bit better than a big red robe, though!

This is my first Shui Xian, and I was unsure of how to brew it. I split my sample in half so that I could western one half and gong fu the other. This is the western style review.
I picked this to drink by way of the random sample dive, and the second I opened this package, there was the most intriguing menthol/mineral scent, with the caramel sweet notes from a yunnan black. I couldn’t get my nose out of the package!
I brewed it for 2:30, but I snuck sips at 10 seconds, 1 minute, and 2 minutes. The shortest steep tasted like thinned out rock oolong; at 1 minute, it graduated to thinned out yunnan black tea; at two minutes sweetness and vanilla creme suddenly appeared, and that roasted flavor was beginning to show more strongly; I feared to over brew it and end up with a cup of roasty yuck, so I pulled the leaves at 2:30 which is just a little over-roasty, but also cooling, vanilla and smooothly flavored.
Frankly, it reminds me of everything people raved about with Big Red Robe from Verdant Tea, but that I couldn’t find in that tea. BRR was too harsh and smokey and so mineral it was almost salty to me. This is caramel instead of smoke, vanilla instead of salt, floral instead of mineral, and it has a cooling sensation as it washes over my mouth as well.
This does have the mineral and toasty flavors of BRR but is so much more refined, creamy, sweet, and complex to me. I honestly thought I didn’t care for rock oolongs, believing that anything heavily roasted would put me off, but this is quite fabulous!
Thanks to Liquid Proust for organizing this sample for me. It is just as tasty as everything else I have had from this tea farm!

There has been a lot said about “Golden Eyebrow” tea; it seems to have a reputation, and to be difficult to get outside of China. I have to say that my part-purchase of samples with Liquid Proust was worth it just so that I got to try this tea! I actually tried it as the third in the line up from his tea tasting event yesterday, and I’m very much looking forward to playing around with the steeping parameters of this loverly sample! In the cup I had, I noted a sugary sweetness, but with earthy, slightly minerally supporting notes, and a green-ness that lingers on the tongue. It reminded me of a less heavy-handed rock oolong, minus the amber part of the rock sugar taste, but with some of the purported sheng puerh notes thrown in. Complex and artful, and definitely worth a more thorough exploration!

Tea #4, 2015 Asian Tea tasting event hosted by me:
While these leaves have lots off potential to resteep many times… it doesn’t have a taste that was as good as the other two oolongs I have had from this plantation.

Tea #3, 2015 Asian Tea tasting event hosted by me:
While I could express how refreshing this was in comparison to today’s selection of tea, I will simply say one thing: I am repurchasing this tea.

This tea throws me back to highschool… the smell and taste trigger memories of mine which I have yet to have a tea do. Not entirely sure how to handle such an experience while sipping on a tea, while these are great memories it reminds me of the past which was a different me in a different place.
Anyways, this tea is darker than the Qilan which actually had dark olive leaves when I rebrewed it. This Queshe is a tea that I will thoroughly enjoy until it is gone. No texture left in the mouth after a drink and the warmth spews (sorry for that word) upwards through one’s mouth as the liquid goes down. The only negative part is the semi dryness that comes from drinking a lot of this… but maybe 8 ounces is more than I should sip on.
I still have more Wuyi Mountain teas to try before I determine which one I want to buy more of… but this might just already be one of them.

So I’ve brewed this for the last two days and it’s been quite a nice dark oolong, but today it’s fantastic. I finally figured out how to brew it and get all its strength out :)
The best way to brew this that I’ve found is at 188-190f in a french press. Brews very dark, smells very bold, and taste strong. Fantastic darker oolong, I look forward to more from Wuyi Mawuyan