Hua Xiang Shui Xian (2016)

I have a spread of 4 Shui Xian rock oolong teas from Old Ways Tea that I’ve been working my way through since the past few mornings have left the town blanketed all day in a breezy and chilly coastal fog. The weather became more like winter and as said in my last review, an almost out of season rainstorm blew in last night.

Here we go. This yancha has an understated power. My body feels full after drinking it, like everything under my skin is pushing outward. Much more caffeine than the 2017 Shui Xian from OWT but not jittery in its effect.

The dry leaf was incredibly fragrant with marshmallow, vanilla, strawberry, citrus, dark chocolate and almond. It smelled like dessert! A strong, sweet and creamy cocoa with a high note white floral came out above a fruity strawberry base after warming the leaf. I drank the rinse of this one and I’m glad I did. It was already incredibly mineral with a thick body, like a cross between maple syrup and congee. The aroma and taste, underneath a tongue-electrifying minerality, was all sweet and floral cinnamon mixed with cloves in melted chocolate and of course some yancha woodiness. Very much like a floral-vanilla Mexican hot chocolate. I’d say the minerality was more pronounced than the flavors on the tongue, but the tea presented a long-lasting finish and lingering retronasal florals. A sourness like very dark chocolate hung around in the back of the mouth. Plenty of salivation to balance the light astringency. Warming and cooling at the same time, camphoresque in the throat and chest, leaving both with a full feeling.

Later the thick liquor moved from syrupy-porridge to glassy while almond, marshmallow, butter, orange blossom, fresh grass and coffee came forward in the mouth. The long finish showed no signs of giving up. Orange zest like feeling on the tongue. I lost track of steeps… great longevity.

A western preparation of 2g, 8oz, 212F yielded 2 infusions with a great balance between floral, nutty, woody, chocolate, mineral and vanilla marshmallow characteristics.

Super tea, masterfully roasted. I feel that, compared to eastkyteaguy’s review over 9 months ago, some more resting time has allowed this tea to shine. Too bad its gonegonegone.

[6g, 100mL clay gaiwan, 212F, rinse (drank) followed by 12+ infusions starting at 7s]

This is yet another tea from the backlog. I finished a sample pouch of this oolong back towards the end of May, logged review notes for it, and just never bothered to do anything with them until now. Looking back over my review notes for this tea reminded me that this tea was one of the lone bright spots in my recent run with Wuyi Shui Xian. Surprisingly, this was one of the cheapest of the lot I recently tried too.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 ounces of 203 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 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 produced aromas of cinnamon, char, dark chocolate, cannabis, and dark wood accompanied by some subtle orchid accents. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of smoke and roasted peanut underscored by some vague vegetal hints. The first infusion then introduced aromas of black cherry, tobacco, and pomegranate balanced by hints of lotus and hibiscus. In the mouth, the tea liquor initially offered pronounced hibiscus, orchid, and lotus notes before moving on to reveal heavier char, cinnamon, roasted peanut, smoke, and cannabis impressions, finally finishing with hints of cream, black cherry, and rock sugar. Subsequent infusions saw the aromas of fruit and flowers repeatedly assert themselves while new scents of cream, rock sugar, and minerals made themselves known. In the mouth, pomegranate, tobacco, and dark chocolate finally appeared alongside mineral, mandarin orange, grass, mushroom, caramel, and butter notes. The final infusions displayed a heavy lingering mineral presence and pleasant notes of roasted peanut, smoke, cream, and char balanced by fleeting touches of dark wood, dark chocolate, rock sugar, and black cherry.

Had this tea displayed just a slightly more pronounced fruitiness, it would have been a slam dunk for me. As is, however, this was still a very nice Wuyi Shui Xian with admirable strength, complexity, and longevity on the nose and in the mouth. I know I have said it before, but Old Ways Tea offers some impressive stuff at reasonable prices. This was yet another quality offering from them, one well worth checking out for fans of Wuyi Shui Xian.