Fujian Narcissus 'Shui Xian' Wuyi Rock Oolong Tea

Sipdown. Finished this off westren. Slight roast, floral. Like it, but not a must replace. I’ve become more sensitive to roasted teas. Medium roast is somewhat hit or miss. This one is still on the hit side. Probably better gong fu than Westren.

Well, 90 is starting to look my norm. Anyway. What-Cha had almost every variety of tea that I’ve been hunting for, and all at pretty good prices. I’ve also had the tendency to pick vendor favorites. This is not one of them, but don’t worry. I’ll be writing about them in the all too near future.

I like yancha’s and I wanted to compare this rendition to the stuff I got from Berylleb. Every tea is different, and every Shui Xian I’ve had has definitely been different. Actually, kinda similar to a Dark Roast Tie Guan Yin and a Big Red Robe. This one is incredibly smokey, and very sweet. The caramel note here is thicker, almost like a cooked or a burnt caramel. Maybe brown sugar. There’s also a little bit of tobacco and coffee in the notes. Plus something kinda boozey. Whisky or rum. So many re-steeps…

Bottom line: a good, complex Shui Xian. If your looking to try one, or a fairly smokey tea that has some nice sweetness, you want to start with this one. More for experienced drinkers or the mildly adventurous, but newbies might like the subtleties and odd sweetness.

Oh what a gloriously lazy day it is today, very cool and rainy, perfect for lounging in comfy clothes and reading. Or playing Minecraft. Or painting…one of these things I plan on doing this evening, possibly all three. So far my day has been filled with sleeping in (because with a day like this it is practically mandatory) and a combination of baking and cleaning the kitchen, hooray for productivity.

Today is the last of the What-Cha teas from my butterfly notebook, from here on out it is the Japanese block print notebook and the silver snake notebook…and whatever others I fill up in the future. Specifically the tea is Fujian Narcissus ‘Shui Xian’ Wuyi Rock Oolong Tea, one of my favorite of the Yancha or Rock Teas from Wuyi, the first one I ever tried is not surprisingly the one with the biggest place in my heart. The aroma of the curly leaves is a gentle char, with an accompaniment of richness! Strong notes of chocolate, cooked plums and cherries, cooked cream (not quite as sweet as creme brulee, but in that same vein) and a finish of loam. Over all of these notes is the char notes, it hangs over it like a foggy morning after a bonfire in autumn. Very comfy and nostalgic smelling.

Into the Yancha pot the tea goes for its awaited steeping, and well, it is almost too good for words! Sometimes Yancha just blows my mind and instead of perceiving aroma notes I just get explosions of color in my mind and melt into a state of bliss in my chair. I will try my best to give a description and not just a pile of maniacal giggles though! Notes of char, raw honey, cocoa, autumn leaves, and wet slate waft up out of my teapot, it is like a fuzzy warm robe for my nose (and this is not even a Da Hong Pao…that pun was painful, I am sorry y’all.) The liquid is creamy rich sweetness, raw honey and plums with chocolate and bonfire. Think both charcoal and burning leaf pile, it is lovely!

First steeping! Does this tea hold up to its powerful happy smell? You betcha! The mouthfeel is smooth and thick, bordering on soupy, the taste starts off with char and grilled plums and peaches, this moves on to a burst of dark chocolate and loam, the finish is wet slate and a touch of distant floral that lingers in the aftertaste.

Second steeping. Oh, I got lost in this tea, my notes are all sideways and there is no third steeping note, just the word yum. Real helpful me! The aroma is so rich and sweet, plums and chocolate, loam and fire, with a finish of honey and distant flowers. The mouthfeel is a little sharper with this steep, and the taste is delicious! Grilled plums and char, a touch of peaches and dried cherries as well, then moving to dark chocolate and pecans, with a finish of loam and slate. This tea had a lot of stuff going on, unlike most Shui Xian I have had, this one is lighter on the char and with more fruity and cocoa notes, I feel like I could taste the tea over the char! It is one of the best examples of Shui Xian I have had.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-cha-fujian-narcissus-shui-xian.html