Today's review covers the top grade Shui Xian carried by the Ebay store Goshopstreet. I'm not sure what this vendor's rating actually means, but this tea is listed as AAAAA grade. Top grade Shui Xian for $16.98 for 150 grams seems like an unbelievable deal. Is it? Let's see.
The dry dark brown leaf is moderate in length and surprisingly fragrant. There is a deep sweetness, along with earthiness, the smell of aging, vanilla, and the resinous aroma of very traditional processing. The wet leaf shows an interesting mix of leaf, probably due to the blending of several batches. The majority of the leaf is compact (for Shui Xian) and shows heavy processing and roasting, but there is a smattering of mid-process leaf and a few greenish leaves too.
The tea liquors up a medium-deep amber and is quite aromatic, at least during the first steeping. The aroma has a distinctly resinous traditional character, with sweet caramel, some roast, some mustiness, and a tinge of herb.
The tea is very smooth on entry, with very little astringency. It's quite flavorful, but, at the same time, not particularly full bodied nor particularly deep. The flavor, like the aroma, has that distinctly traditional resinous character that reminds me vaguely of creosoted wood. Overall, the flavor is quite complex, and nicely balanced and will probably appeal to those who like a traditional aged rock tea. The tea leaves a noticeable dose of chalkiness and a nice tang in the throat.
The fairly rich aftertaste is quite persistent with above average strength and a nice sweetness and complexity.
The dry cup aroma smells of sweet, toasted coconut.
This tea can be brewed many times. Its intensity falls off fairly sharply after the first brewing, but it delivers quite a few pure-tasting cups after that and possesses the nice creaminess in the later brews that I've come to associate with good high-roast rock tea.
I struggle with this tea. It's a high-quality Shui Xian with many of the characteristics of a good genuine rock tea, but it's also a bit too resinous and traditional to be ideal for me. I'm not sure if I'll purchase it again, but for those who like a complex traditional Shui Xian at a good price, or for those who are drawn to the taste and smoothness of aging, this one should merit consideration. This is a long roasted tea, so the leaves unfurl fairly slowly and last through many infusions. As a result, it performs best with a high leaf-to-water ratio using multiple infusions.
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