Old Ways Tea

2020 harvest. Tian Geng Da Hong Pao on the packet. Can’t find the OWT listing anymore. 6/90. gaiwan lid floral starts out as a sort of deep floral and softens. I’m sure I say this far too often, but these gaiwan lid aromatics are something else — probably more enjoyable than most of my perfumes, and I really like my perfumes!! wet leaf here is mostly roasty notes. I never thought of it as metallic, but seeing that somewhere abt oolong roasts makes me associate it now. overall kind of soft, some salivating effect initially. some cocoa, not sure if it’s my imagination that my Brita filter needing to be swapped has muddled it somewhat. ended with a cold cup of the 2nd steep and it was pretty great. I’m generally surprised by how drastic the changes are coming back, as everything seems to be enhanced, even if the tea didn’t seem rich initially. Keeps me humble, even though realistically I’m not terribly good with evaluating oolongs. At .96/g when I got it, a good value.

3-ish remaining grams in a yeti. was creamy floral, with some of the celery/mineral notes apparent. Very nice.

I don’t think OWT sells this exact RG anymore, which is kind of a shame. I went back to my email and it was 15.80 for the pack, but the link is broken. the two up on the site are slightly cheaper, and different packaging.

6/90. slight floral, lingers slightly on tip of tongue. sweet and sugary throughout, some bread, honey, spiced, and woody metallic notes, with some slight bitterness. Didn’t catch the mineral/celery note until 4th steep. mugged after fifth. I had this in the morning and felt somewhat noticeably happier than usual. No one gets oolongs as a bang for the buck (hard to say whether I’d repurchase given budgeting; maybe antidepressants are cheaper?? /s), but I’ve been on an oolong kick and enjoyed this.

mugged remaining 2 ish grams in a Yeti rambler and it was decent. Still somewhat uplifting. Overall taste was muddled in the yeti, but I liked it

Zhengyan Old Tree Shui Xian. can’t find in on the OWT site anymore, but was the 2018 batch. Wish I’d bought more, but I don’t really drink yancha that often and so have been trying to be better abt my purchases. can only leave my impressions of this packet.

6g/90: fragrant, starting out medicinal, sweet and root beer like with good mouthfeel. Later was sharper and slightly metallic, with florals beneath the woodiness, and some greenness in aftertaste. overall seemed more like rou gui instead of shui xian, and the roast was really nice.

rest was aired out and forgotten by accident when i went home for break until now. 1.7g in a 200g ish mug yielded 2.5 solid refills with boiling water. Grandpa brewing is the great equalizer, as they say. fruity (in a borderline plummy way), woody, and sweet. Solid tea, and not cheap (slightly under $2/g when I purchased), but hardly expensive for yancha category.

Back writing reviews after a while as I was clearing up some old stock that I’ve already reviewed. I got this tea from my OWT order some time back, and it’s quite mid in my opinion. Great and beautiful whole leaves with a slightly weak but unique floral aroma and a decently vibrant liquor. The flavour was decent, definitely unlike most yanchas which was quite nice, but it felt one sided and didn’t have enough balance to the palate. Texture is smooth and juicy, with an interesting character due to it being so different from other yanchas. Finish & aftertaste is decent and the cha-qi is unnoticeable. Steep longevity is mediocre, topping out at steep 8-10.

2017 harvest

The aroma wafts from the gaiwan in a cloud of mellow fruit and spice. The overall taste is herbal, fruity, wet rock- and black tea-like. Notes of chamomile, plum, red apple, boiled mint, suede, and smooth baked cinnamon. Plenty of tongue tingle, some mintiness opens the chest and clears the sinuses. Sweet, aromatic aftertaste has notes of redfruity dark chocolate, sparkling honey and orchid. The way the tea drank stood out the most to me; it left my mouth quickly and left it feeling cleansed.

Uncustomarily, I used the entire packet for today’s session. Perhaps it’s a bit stronger than I prefer but it’s a pleasant tea. Not sure I would purchase again, but I do recommend it.

Decent yancha! I got this tea from my OWT order a while back, the last that I’ve yet to drink from that order I believe. Decent leaves but slightly broken, with a rich roasty dry and wet leaf aroma and a beautiful deep vibrant liquor with a golden sheen around it. Flavour wise it is decent, nice prototypical yancha taste with a bit of nuance to it. Texture is average to decent, smooth and slightly juicy. Character is average, with some steep variability. Finish & aftertaste is very decent, airy finish with a nice lingering minerality and citrusy note to it. Cha-qi is almost non-existent, and steep longevity is pretty decent, lasting potentially up to steep 12.

This was another of my sample sipdowns from early in the year. It is also a tea that I did not really know anything about prior to drinking it. I still don’t know anything about it other than it was the 2019 version of the traditional Shui Xian that Old Ways Tea seems to stock every year. In truth, I was not expecting much, but as it turned out, this was a great offering. It was not as durable as some of Old Ways Tea’s specialized or higher end Shui Xian, but it offered tremendously enjoyable aromas, flavors, and texture.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 fluid ounces of 203 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cinnamon, pine, charcoal, blackberry, and black cherry. After the rinse, I picked up new aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, smoke, baked bread, and rock sugar. The first infusion introduced a pomegranate aroma underscored by subtler grass and cannabis scents. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cinnamon, pine, smoke, charcoal, roasted almond, grass, blackberry, and black cherry that were chased by subtler flavors of tobacco, nutmeg, baked bread, roasted peanut, and pomegranate. The bulk of the subsequent infusions gradually added new aromas of dark chocolate, plum, tobacco, and red grape. Stronger and more immediately detectable impressions of tobacco, roasted peanut, and baked bread appeared in the mouth alongside fresh notes of minerals, red grape, orchid, caramel, rock sugar, plum, earth, black currant, orange zest, and violet. Hints of black raspberry, dark chocolate, peach, and cannabis could also be detected here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, baked bread, caramel, roasted almond, black cherry, grass, tobacco, pine, and red grape that were balanced by lingering hints of earth, roasted peanut, charcoal, blackberry, orange zest, black raspberry, black currant, and dark chocolate.

For a standard Shui Xian, this was very interesting. It was very heavy on dark fruit flavors, possessing a more pronounced sweetness than I would generally expect of a tea of this type. There were also one or two truly unique notes in this tea. In particular, that lovely violet flavor that was so noticeable in some of the middle infusions was really something special and unexpected. Despite its lack of durability and refinement compared to some of Old Ways Tea’s higher end Shui Xian offerings, this one was a winner. I now kind of wish I had bought more.

Well, I’m back after a long absence. My time has been eaten up by work and health problems for the last three months. A bout of COVID in late September left me unable to smell or taste much of anything for an extended period of time. It was so bizarre. I couldn’t smell or taste anything save for tea while I was sick, but then afterwards, tea was the only thing I could not smell or taste. I’ve noticed that I am still not quite as perceptive to certain aromas or flavors as I used to be, but for whatever reason, I am now much more sensitive to texture. I have no clue when or if I will be able to fully work my way back to where I was before I got sick, but for now, I’m easing my way back into things and starting off by posting one of my backlogged reviews from much earlier in the year. As Bai Ji Guan goes, this one was not bad, but it was far from the best I have ever had. I certainly did not think it measured up to Old Ways Tea’s 2018 offering.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 fluid ounces of 203 F water for 10 seconds, I kicked things off with a 5 second infusion. 18 additional infusions followed. Steep times for these infusions were 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of hay, straw, honey, apricot, earth, and golden raisin. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of roasted chestnut, roasted peanut, and grass that were underscored by a subtle smokiness. The first infusion added aromas of bread, dandelion, and dandelion greens. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate notes of hay, grass, straw, earth, dandelion, roasted carrot, roasted chestnut, and baked bread that were chased by hints of smoke, golden raisin, apricot, honey, pear, butter, apple, dandelion greens, and roasted peanut. The bulk of the subsequent infusions gradually introduced aromas of roasted carrot, minerals, butter, mushroom, roasted almond, and parsley. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of roasted carrot, butter, pear, apple, and roasted peanut appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals, cream, roasted almond, white grape, spinach, mushroom, parsley, and lettuce. I also picked up hints of watercress, orange zest, caramel, and sugarcane. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize lasting notes of minerals, grass, hay, butter, parsley, roasted almond, spinach, baked bread, and roasted chestnut that were underscored by rather fleeting hints of mushroom, lettuce, watercress, pear, honey, sugarcane, earth, roasted peanut, smoke, and golden raisin.

Compared to the 2018 production of this tea, this offering did not come off as being as deep or as complex, yet it was also oddly not as approachable. The aromas it offered seemed a bit flat and muted, while the mouthfeel of the tea liquor was not as sharp or as crisp as I was hoping it would be. Still, this was far from a bad tea. It did offer some truly nice aromas and flavors. It just could have been more elegant and better balanced.

A yancha that just barely falls short for me. I got the 2021 harvest of this tea from my OWT order, and it’s good but not good enough. Leaves that were beautiful but quite heavily dusty, rich aroma especially in the wet leaf and vibrant liquor. The flavour is decent, good roastiness paired with mineral and fruity notes. Texture is decently smooth as well, with a relatively average character, with average steep variability. Finish & aftertaste is average to decent, nice mineral lingering note. Cha-qi is non-existent, and steep longevity is poor to average, lasting up to steep 8-10.

both reviews for ~4 steeps before i mugged. yancha brewing never peaks past the first couple of steeps for me and I’m lazy and don’t care enough to do long drawn out sessions for a lot of teas anymore. since I don’t drink yancha often enough to seriously evaluate, this is a much better approach to get a handful of decent steepings, and then I’m happy enough usually with the grandpa results.

3.7g/90. have been doing lower ratios recently, but this was also bc I was wary from the last time I tried something from OWT that was much lower roast than I expected and was far too much with low ratio. I shouldn’t have worried. I couldn’t find the 2020 page anymore, but this is medium roast and the minimum level acceptable roast for my preferences. overall, not too sweet or too much aftertaste. some vegetal, floral, and light medicinal woody notes. not too standout at low ratio, but usually I’d use a higher ratio, so I’ll give it that. prelim. judgement is that for the .53c/g I purchased at last year, this is acceptable, and better than any of the similarly priced steeping room options.

4.6g/60. woody, slightly medicinal taste, with vegetal hint. sometimes crisp sugary, sometimes floral aftertaste. again, not terribly sweet or lasting, but I enjoyed the higher ratio more than yesterday’s.

Golden Key clearly hails from the same heavily roasted family as Red Robe but offers a more perfumed, playful edge than its austere older brother. Having never smelled an orchid I cannot verify its purported “orchid aroma,” except to say that Golden Key is ever-so-slightly “brighter” than the Robe; not in literal color, but in synesthesia. If Da Hong Pao is a cello, Jin Yaoshi is closer to violin, though it remains deep and masculine despite the flowery flourish. If David Bowie’s sex appeal was tea, it would be this one – a man with makeup, perhaps, but still a man.

There is some caramelized fruit interwoven with orchids – definitely stone fruit and not tropical. Do not be misled into thinking this tea is “woody” like a kukicha, although there might be some hints of hojicha from the roast. Most clearly, however, “woodiness” here expresses itself as a hard-to-pin-down character reminiscent of something aged in, perhaps, a bourbon barrel. Think darkened wood chips, heated almost to the point of burning but then cooled and tossed into a caramelized apple bochet. Red apple skins slightly toasted on dry cast iron, along with some ineffable accent like juniper berries.

Not too bad of a yancha. I got this tea from my OWT order, and it comes acrossme as a decent and normal rock oolong overall. Beautiful leaves albeit slightly broken, rich aroma in the wet leaf, beautiful liquor with a nice golden sheen, the flavour was decent but quite prototypical of a yancha. Texture was decent, character was average with a unidimensional session displayed throughout. Finish & aftertaste was decent, slightly juicy with a slight mineral aftertaste. Cha-qi was slightly noticeable, coming in with a bit of headiness, and finally steep longevity was average, topping out at steep 10.

Decent but not something to shell out the wallets for, objectively it passes, but you could save the money on more expensive yanchas.

Promising but short-lived hope with this tea. I got this tea from my OWT order, and it was yummy but fell short. Beautiful leaves with a rich and nuanced aroma, vibrant liquor, very rich taste that balances the floral and mineral of yancha, texture that is smooth yet juicy. Character fell short quite hard as the tea fell to mediocrity as steeps went on. Finish & aftertaste was decent with a prominent minty and airy aftertaste, cha-qi was almost non-existent, and steep longevity was poor, topping at around steep 8.

Decent yancha. I got this tea from my OWT order, and it’s nice but not extraordinary. Beautiful leaves albeit slightly broken, rich dry and wet leaf aroma, liquor is vibrant in colour, flavour is quite nice, rich in minerality and roast, texture is smooth yet slightly bitey, character is average, finish & aftertaste is also average, cha-qi almost non-existent, and the steep longevity is pretty good (steep 11+). Overall, decent but nothing wowing generally.

Nice yancha. I got this tea from my OWT order, and it really does remind me of a Bai Jiguan as what the description mentions. Beautiful albeit slightly broken leaves paired with a rich aroma in the dry and wet leaf, with a vibrant liquor to boot. The flavour was pretty nice, light and citrusy yet boasting a roasty body to it. Texture was smooth and juicy, and the character was decent. Finish & aftertaste was average, with cha-qi relatively unnoticeable and steep longevity mediocre, peaking around steep 9. Overall, a decent yancha but nothing too amazing to shout about.

Not a very good yancha. I got this tea from my recent OWT order, and it lacked quite a bit in my opinion. Beautiful leaves with a beautiful wet leaf aroma, with a semi-vibrant liquor, the flavour was okay and took me by surprise as it was less roasty and more green than I thought. Texture was smooth and semi-juicy, character was pretty one-dimensional, finish & aftertaste is mediocre to decent, the tea had a slight digestive cha-qi, and steep longevity was relatively poor.

A disappointing yancha. I got this tea from my OWT order, and it started off well but fell off a cliff very quickly. Beautiful leaves albeit a bit broken with a nice, rich aroma and a vibrant liquor that was slightly cloudy. The flavour was nuanced on the first steep with many different flavour parties coming to play from the prototypical mineral yancha to a more body-centric fragrant yancha, this tea also came with some yanyun. However, that flavour only really lasted for like 3-4 steeps before degenerating into the taste of a mediocre low quality oolong. Texture was alright, nothing special, character was impacted severely by the lack of prominence in the tea after steep 3-4, finish & aftertaste was nothing special either. There was a complete lack of cha-qi and the steep longevity wasn’t too great either. Overall, a tea that promised a lot (which I will give points for), but ultimately failed spectacularly.

A decent yancha. I got this tea from my recent OWT order, and it had some really good points and some not so good. Beautiful leaves with a rich aroma and a vibrant liquor that produced a wondrous golden sheen. The flavour was quite nice and nuanced with a brilliant juicy yet smooth texture. Decent aftertaste & finish paired with an okay-ish character are the remaining plaudits that this tea has. When it comes to cha-qi, there was literally none and this tea had relatively poor steep longevity, losing its rich flavour and texture past steep 5-6. All in all, a decent tea but just not good enough.

Quite a nice yancha! I got this tea from my recent OWT order, and I think this is the best tea from them I’ve had thus far. Beautiful big leaves with a very nice dry and wet leaf aroma that is rich yet nuanced, decent liquor with a decent flavour that encompasses warmth and richness, yet bringing about a nice nuance paired with delicate creaminess. Decently medium-thick texture with a nice permeating astringency, paired with an okay-ish to decent character. The aftertaste is quite nice and present, with a slight juicy finish. The tea also has relatively excellent steep longevity. The one main thing this tea lacks is cha-qi, having almost none of it at all. The flavour could’ve been more potent and complex, and the session in and of itself is quite simplistic and one-dimensional, lacking variability between steeps. Overall, a nice tea that I don’t mind drinking more of (I just saw it went out of stock :/), but it’d need to step up a notch to really get to the ‘high-end/top tier’ teas.

A tea that promised a lot but just fell short. I got this tea from my recent OWT order as part of a free sample. Leaves were beautiful but a bit broken, weak dry leaf aroma but nuanced enough for the wet leaf and empty cup aroma to redeem it, beautiful, vibrant but slightly cloudy liquor. The flavour was nice for the first few steeps but it felt like it was lacking something, a bit of nuance, body, potency, I’m not sure. It just felt like something was missing. Texture was smooth yet juicy, providing a good foundation for the finish and slight mineral aftertaste. Mediocre character in my opinion, and it didn’t really set itself apart from other Rouguis I had. Decent-ish warming cha-qi and a poor to average steep longevity rounds off an interesting yet slightly disappointing tea session.

A promising but ultimately mediocre yancha. I got the Spring 2020 harvest of this tea from my OWT order, and the first few steeps were going good, but it fell off a cliff quite quickly. Decent leaves albeit slightly broken, with a nice and rich aroma full of complexity, topped with a decent liquor that was relatively vibrant. The flavour was quite nice and packed a bit of complexity and richness to it, which was great. However, the flavour only lasted for the first 4 or 5 steeps, before it became blander and thinner, with the complexity dropping off one by one. This tea also has average steep longevity along with no noticeable cha-qi, a lack of character to it, and an average texture, finish & aftertaste. If this tea was able to hold up its flavour for longer, or even better have its flavour transform throughout the session, this tea would’ve gotten plaudits from me. However, this tea just couldn’t hold up for long enough and became a mediocre tea.

Unique in a good and bad way. I got the 2021 harvest of this tea from my OWT order, and this tea was in a way, somewhat disappointing. Wonderful, rich and potent wet leaf and empty cup aroma paired with a decent liquor and dry leaf, this tea had my hopes up at first. A better than average texture I feel, smooth but uninteresting, accompanied by a decent aftertaste and a nice, warming cha-qi. However, this tea had a flavour that while unique, lighter and more creamy & citrusy than most yanchas, it just lacked potency and nuance in a way that I expect a yancha to have. It also lacked much finish, character, and had a horrendous steep longevity, dying out at steep 7. Not a great first Shi Ru experience, to be honest.

A mediocre Yancha. I got the 2021 harvest of this tea from my recent OWT order, and it is just about mediocre, maybe on the better side of it. Potent wet leaf aroma and a decent steep longevity, with a nice liquor and decent texture. This tea was just about bang average in everything else, and it noticeably lacked any cha-qi, and potency and character in flavour. It also lacks a noticeable “yan yun” that I like in yanchas.

Okay, while I still have the energy, it’s time to post another previously unposted review from 2021. This one I think came from either late summer or early fall, but I have no way of being certain about that. The Old Tree Shui Xian that Old Ways Tea offers each year is usually great stuff, and this 2018 production was another winner.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 5 grams of the loose tea leaves in 3 fluid ounces of 203 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of cinnamon, earth, blackberry, black cherry, charcoal, bread, and smoke. After the rinse, aromas of tar, ash, mushroom, and roasted peanut emerged. The first infusion added roasted almond and black raspberry fragrances along with hints of rock sugar. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cinnamon, charcoal, black cherry, roasted peanut, smoke, ash, and tar that were balanced by hints of roasted almond, blackberry, mushroom, bread, and earth. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of pine, tobacco, minerals, orange zest, and roasted barley to the tea’s bouquet. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of roasted almond, mushroom, earth, bread, and blackberry emerged in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals, tobacco, pine, cream, butter, orange zest, rock sugar, black raspberry, plum, and roasted barley. Hints of red apple, blueberry, grass, fig, and toasted rice could also be detected. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, roasted almond, cream, butter, orange zest, and roasted barley that were chased by lingering hints of cinnamon, earth, toasted rice, grass, charcoal, pine, mushroom, roasted peanut, black cherry, and blackberry.

This tea was kind of a typical Old Tree Shui Xian in many ways. It produced a liquor that frequently emphasized sharp mineral texture over aroma or flavor and provided a warming, soothing, subtly invigorating energy. I was a little surprised that it gave out when it did and probably could and should have tried to push it a little harder, but I also kind of appreciated that it did not overstay its welcome. Compared to some of the previous versions offered by Old Ways Tea, this one was very rich and smooth with slightly more pronounced earthy, savory, nutty, vegetal, and roasted characteristics and less fruity and/or floral character. Actually, floral character seemed to be totally absent in this tea, allowing other characteristics to shine through and an even greater emphasis to be placed on the all-important texture of the tea liquor. Though it did not really surprise me in any way, this was a more or less great tea. I have had better Old Tree Shui Xian, but this was still a tremendously enjoyable offering overall.