Lao Cong Shui Xian

(2022 harvest) Soft and fruity, with a little toasted rice and a hint of mango and persimmon leaf on nose. Very smooth, subtle palate. Successive steeps, and it reveals notes of birthday cake, along with a pleasing earthy quality not unlike a puerh.

Okay so I really need to kick the habit of pouring entire oolong packs into a 90 mL gaiwan because it absolutely does not work for oolongs under a certain level of roast, or at least not with the local tap. While this one is not as green as the ones from the Steeping Room (which I suspect are dropshipping Wuyi Origin teas so I need to look at what ratios others are using for those teas), this was still at best a very subpar experience. The greenness and sharpness is overwhelming. From what I can tell though, the material does seem to be better than the SR ones and worth the slight premium.

The experience of drinking a tree, thriving as a part of its larger environment. From the clean air to crowns and fruits. From mosses and lichens and orchids to bark. From grasses and nuts strewn about to root crowns gathering nutrients for transport. It is not an isolated process. And neither are we. This tea grounds me to what supports my being. It is life’s teacher.

I had the 2019 harvest. Please read Jade’s note for this tea as well.

A very lazy morning always requires tea and I wanted to do a tasting session with a new-to-me tea. However, I think I made a mistake with this morning’s selection.

Lao Cong Shui Xian tea from Old Ways Tea is NOT a morning tea. My very first cup hit me full in the face…..

This tea is like an old growth forest where the trees are ancient and the moss & lichen growing on them are just “old”. This is a Tea you enjoy in the late afternoon when you sit down to reflect on life and write down your memoirs. It’s that single cask whiskey that’s aged in that one barrel, forgotten about, then found a dozen decades later.

This is what I’d imagine mahogany to taste like — complex flavors but with a mellowness that doesn’t bog down the taste and keeps you from sinking too far into the complexity.

This tea will GROUND YOU. This tea will tell you about it’s long life as a tea tree starting with the present day as an ancient tree, then with each subsequent steep goes into the past about its mid life then its beginnings as a sapling then take you back full circle. Wow.

The cha Qi is slow moving. At first, almost imperceptible, then filling your head like a water fountain while keeping your feet rooted to the ground.

The dry leaf of this tea smells like dry roasted peanuts and wood.
The wet leaf has high notes of stone fruit & sweet grass.
The liquid smells of fresh air and leaves.

The broth itself is the taste of old forest/mahogany. It is thick and viscous on first sip and coats the tongue before sliding effortlessly down your throat. There’s no earthy taste in this tea; it’s all about the tree, wood, and forest.

By the second steep, I felt a warmth building in my chest with a quiet sense of calmness.
By the third steep, the cha Qi hit my head like tree branch on the head.
Subsequent steeps just built on top of that.

Everything just feels calm and collected. Despite it being early morning, I’m ready to take a nap. This is not a tea you drink on a daily basis. (I mean, you can, but it’s about $0.85 / gram) This is a tea you drink when you want something special, when you have time to savor it, and or when you want to experience it with friends.
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STEEP INFO (Each pack is about 8 grams)

Tea: 5.06 grams of tea.
Water: 200F/150 ml.
Steep times (in seconds) :20,30,40,60,90,…

I cold brewed 2.85 grams in 350 ml of cold water. It’s just as good as the hot broth