China Water Sprite -"Shui Hsien"

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Floral, Sweet, Vegetal
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Eric Scott
Average preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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3 Tasting Notes View all

  • “The last few visits to my tea shop I had been told about Water Sprite Tea but for some reason, had gone on to a green tea and an India Oolong. Today, I remembered. Granddaughter Schey drove me to...” Read full tasting note
    93
  • “Bonnie sent this tea to me a while back, but I absolutely refused to make it until I could make an event of it. Tonight I asked hubby if he would join me for tea. That always means the two of us,...” Read full tasting note
  • “Bonnie sent me a sample of this tea some time back and I have only now found myself in the right mental place to taste it. So, I threw the pillow into a gaiwan today after work and set to. I’m glad...” Read full tasting note

From Happy Lucky's Tea House

Also called “Zhang Ping Shui Xian” A fairly uncommon oolong from Fujian province, China. The leaves are compressed into a small square and wrapped in paper.
Fragrant and floral, slightly vegetal with cooling
mouthfeel. 5-7 steepings. 190F 1-3 min.

About Happy Lucky's Tea House View company

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3 Tasting Notes

93
676 tasting notes

The last few visits to my tea shop I had been told about Water Sprite Tea but for some reason, had gone on to a green tea and an India Oolong.

Today, I remembered.

Granddaughter Schey drove me to Church (I sold my car) and Sunday afternoon is the best time for tea in town.

When we walked in the door of Happy Lucky’s, there were three servers (PRO’S) in their bright red and maroon Cambodian silk shirts grinning widely in a friendly “Hello” as though we were family. (Schey loves tea there as much as I do!)

“I’m ready for the pillow tea today”, I said. "Ah, the Water Sprite. You won’t be disappointed, " said Eric and all agreed.

Sundays are quieter in the shop usually. We sit at the tall bar to chat and watch tea being created for ourselves and others, sharing tips and information about tea. I’m a talker!

In no time a nice big clay pot of Water Sprite Tea was ready.
But first, what was done to prepare the tea?
A tea wrapped pillow is about 1.5 inches by 3 inches (some are a bit smaller) in a square or rectangle shape and wrapped in white paper like a present. One package is unwrapped for tea, placed in a clay pot and steeped in 190F water for 1-3 minutes then the tea is poured into another clay pot for serving (the pillow doesn’t fit into baskets or filters…too big!). (You could brew using 2 mugs at home)

The tea was sweet and floral with a lovely cooling in the mouth which I’ve tasted in Taiwanese Oolong’s but never in Chinese Oolong’s.

This Chinese Oolong was very light with no astringency or dryness at all even when the tea cooled.
Layered under the delicately sweet floral flavor was a hint of vegital green bean that you would normally associate with a green tea.
The flavors were interesting and made me want more and more cups of tea.

I was told that 7 steepings or more were to be expected. We had 4 pots full and there was little fading of flavor.

I purchased some of these dreamy little pillows for sharing with Schey and my other grandchildren.

Indigobloom

freedom from driving, yay! lol
this sounds oh so yummy

TheTeaFairy

So cute that they call it a tea pillow..

Bonnie

I called it a pillow because it’s wrapped in white and about the size of a small hotel bar of soap and puffy. Won’t fit in a basket so plop…into a gaiwan or pot.

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3226 tasting notes

Bonnie sent this tea to me a while back, but I absolutely refused to make it until I could make an event of it. Tonight I asked hubby if he would join me for tea. That always means the two of us, at the tea table, and no laptops, no electronics, just us and tea. He said yes, so here we go!

I made a plate of some new cheese I bought to try – Drunken Goat, a 6 year aged cheddar, and an 8 year aged cheddar. These were served with Club crackers, the whole grain version.

I unwrapped the lovely wrapped pillow. I love the texture and weight of the paper so I saved for an “as yet unknown” project! The pillow of tea held together but was loosely packed, which was a surprise. I have only seen the tightly compressed puerhs so that is what I expected, but this pillow was so large it would never do to put that much tightly compressed leaf in a small pot. I love how unique this is!

We steeped five times, beginning with 90 seconds and increasing to 3 minutes by the last. Each steep was flavorful. My husband is not the biggest fan of green and oolong teas but he has a few he really likes. He enjoyed this one!

The liquor is somewhat pale, and I would call this a medium bodied tea. This is very smooth and has no drying effect at all. The flavor is vegetal with a floral note overlaying it.

So I got my wish! I got to try this tea, and it really was an event – a nice, mid-week date for hubby and me! Thank you, Bonnie!

MegWesley

That is so cute. I should talk to my fiancee about doing something like that when we eventually start living together. The tea sounds yummy too.

Bonnie

Kudo’s for time without electronics! A note that this tea is often too big for a basket so you have to have a gaiwan or two pots to pour the water on and then off the tea pillow for steeping(some pillows are 2×2 inches square and some 1×3 inch rectangles…they are handmade and the size varies.).

ashmanra

I read your tasting note first, so that is what I did! I out the pillow in my little glass pot and then poured the tea into my fair cup. We stopped at five steeps. I may go a couple more tomorrow! I am pretty sure it still have some good flavor to give!

Bonnie

Good thing I remembered to write it down. I couldn’t remember if I did. I like having unique shapes for my grandchildren when they come over. It’s interesting. I thought this tea was easy to drink and delicate. Maybe nice with a lighter cake and whipped cream. Don’t know. Bosc Pears?

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290 tasting notes

Bonnie sent me a sample of this tea some time back and I have only now found myself in the right mental place to taste it. So, I threw the pillow into a gaiwan today after work and set to. I’m glad I did. It’s light, floral and sweet with a vegetal base note. It reminds me of why I really should drink more oolong. I should probably write more about it, but the other two tasting notes tell you as much as I would. Read them for more on the tea, because I am going to focus on drinking it instead of writing about it! Thank you, Bonnie.

Flavors: Floral, Sweet, Vegetal

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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