Shui Xian (Verdant)

Today's Shui Xian comes from Verdant Tea. Unfortunately, this tea is no longer listed on their website, with the void apparently being filled by a new and comparably-priced Wu Yi Shui Jin Gui.  The Shui Xian was advertised as an autumn 2011 high-elevation, old-tree tea and sold for $16.75 for 2 oz. Anyway, here's what I think of it.

The dry leaf is a mix of compact near black and dark brown leaf.  The wet leaf is fairly small for Shui Xian, with much of it heavily bruised and processed, but also with some mid-process leaf, and a bit of the light-roasted green stuff.  It looks like a blend of several batches. 

The tea liquors up a dark amber and has an enticing, multidimensional aroma.  It's not a terribly strong aroma, but it's rather deep, dark, and sweet, with toasty notes, vanilla, coffee, honeysuckle, and some earthiness.

The tea is smooth and soft on entry, and fairly full on the palate for a Shui Xian.  It's quite flavorful, with some roast artifacts, some deep stone fruit, some honey, some wood, and some Da-Hong-Pao-like floral notes.  It grips on the swallow and coats the tongue and back of the throat nicely.

The aftertaste is long and tasty, with some chalkiness, a caramel-like sweetness, and a hint of coffee with cream.

The dry cup aroma is nice and sweet with the scent of toasted coconut.  

This tea can be brewed many times.  Later infusions have an impressive amount of color and a creamy fullness.  

I'm impressed that the producer was able to achieve this range and intensity of flavor from an autumn tea.  It makes you wonder what they do with their spring stuff.  In summary, this is a fine example of  a carefully produced, batch-blended genuine rock tea, marred only slightly by a bit of the autumn reticence. 

Shui Xian Premium AA Spring 2012 (Yunnan Sourcing)

This is Yunnan Sourcing's most expensive Shui Xian.  I had a very favorable experience with their significantly less expensive Guo Xiang Shui Xian.  Could this tea be worth nearly twice the price?  Let's see.

The tightly and uniformly twisted, medium length dry leaf looks typical of high-quality, modern-process Shui Xian.  Once wet, the leaf color and unfurling rate suggest that this tea has undergone a medium-to-medium-light oxidation and roasting.

The tea soup brews up a nice medium amber, and gives off a sweet aroma with components typical of modern-style Shui Xian (fruit, honey, floral).  It's not quite as aromatic as the cheaper Guo Xiang, but the aroma is tighter, classier, and more nuanced, and remains stronger through more infusions.

The tea is balanced in the mouth, fairly smooth on entry, with a nice medium body and grip at mid palate.  It's clean and has some dimension and complexity. There's a punctuating floral Shui Xian flavor at the swallow, followed by some of the chalky coating that is characteristic of rock tea.

The aftertaste is quite persistent, and fairly flavorful.  It's more elegant than overpowering, with a just a hint of chocolate, and an otherwise strongly floral nature.

The dry cup aroma is floral and quite strong.

This tea has a fairly strong constitution and produces several relatively pure tasting infusions.

This is clearly what it's advertised to be: a high quality Shui Xian that displays most of the best characteristics of a modern-style rock tea.  Some of its competitors have a bit more of the honey character, and others a bit more of the complexities associated with roasting, but overall this one is an excellent example of the breed.  It's cheaper ($9.00 for 50 grams) than just about all of the other similarly graded Shui Xian I've seen on the market, so it's a good deal.  However, it's not that much different or that much higher in quality than Yunnan Sourcing's Guo Xiang version, which at nearly half the price, is the product to beat.

Wuyi Shui Xian Top (Ebay-Goshopstreet)

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.

Guo Xiang Shui Xian, Spring 2012 (Yunnan Sourcing)

This year, Yunnan Sourcing added two Shui Xian to their Wu Yi tea selection, this one and a more expensive AA grade.  At $9.50 for 100 grams, the Guo Xiang seemed like a good bet for a quality "everyday" Shui Xian.  Let's see if it makes the grade.

The dry leaf has a very promising smell, with a nice toasty accent and the aroma of a high-quality, modern-process leaf.  The well-twisted leaf is clean, with very few stems, and of mostly moderate length.  The wet leaf appears carefully processed, with nice green centers, and rust edges and splotches.    It is advertised as spring leaf, and looks like it.  

The tea brews up a medium amber/orange and possesses an aroma rather typical of a modern, light-roast-style oolong.  It's clean and quite aromatic for Shui Xian, with clearly varietal character, and a nice balance of fruit, floral, and toasty components.  It may not be quite as complex or honeyed as the best of the breed, but this tea is not far behind.

The quality shows clearly in the flavor as well, with typical Shui Xian flavor and a nice balance of fruit, floral, and roast.  It's fairly gentle and smooth on entry, with a nice grip before the swallow, a spike in Shui Xian flavors at the swallow, and a mild astringency at the back of the throat that anchors the persistent aftertaste.  However, unlike a typical old bush Shui Xian, this tea can be a bit aggressive and show astringency if you steep it too long or at too high of a temperature.  It seems to perform best with water off the boil. 

The aftertaste is pretty darned good, sticking around quite a while.  The roast and smoke notes are more prominent here than in the aroma and initial flavor.  

The dry cup aroma is surprisingly good.

You can brew this tea several times.  

Well, it should be quite clear that I'm impressed with this tea.   In short, this is a very good, relatively inexpensive example of a modern-style Shui Xian.  Sure there are Shui Xian that are a bit smoother, a bit more honeyed, a bit more complex, and that can be brewed a few more times, but overall this one could compete favorably with most anything labelled as a premium ban yan Shui Xian.  Great selection Scott.