This tea was pretty decent – I have already tried a couple of Hello Teatime’s greener Shui Xian pillows. I’m normally partial to roasted teas, so I was pretty excited to give this one a go. The dry leaf had a bit of a chocolatey aroma. After the pillow met with water, it smelled a little bit roasty with a nice floral sweetness.
The flavor was a little bit delicate, unless I oversteeped it by accident, which is a bit surprising considering I put the whole ~8g pillow in my 100mL gaiwan. It started out with a bit of roasty, burnt sugar notes, followed by a lingering sweet floral aftertaste. As the session progressed, the sweetness got a little bit more earthy and thick, while still retaining its floral character. It even moved a little bit into the resinous category for a couple steeps. The texture is decently thick, but I wasn’t wowed by it. If pushed, this tea can develop a bit of a sour note, as many roasted oolongs can in my experience.
I think I might have one more of these to try, and I will need to try it before I can pass judgement on this one. I enjoyed it, but it left me wanting more.
Flavors: Earth, Floral, Resin, Roasted, Sweet
