Zhengyan Shuixian 2015

Drinking this tea follows directly behind drinking Cha Ceremony’s ShuiXian.
I hesitated posting this review because 1. I’m tea drunk and cant really get my mind to analyze flavors like I want it too, 2. a dog chewed through the paper bag this tea comes in thus compromising the tea.

And yet on my first steep this tea left me too much in thought not to at least start a review.

The first thing that hit me about this tea was the smell. Now usually Shuixian is a bold foward tea, in the world of Yan Chas a good Shuixian’s body can only be rivaled by Tie Luo Han. So when I smelled this tea and noticed its soft complexity I was driven by a wonderuous curisosity to brew it up.

The aroma is defiantly floral. Oolongs as a category are floral, but this floralness is bold yet subtle. Confident yet quiet. Like a beautiful woman on the street who only needs to give you a small smile to solicit your full undivided attention. While that struck me, the lack of roastiness also caught my attention. I assume Shuixians to be very roasty, yet this one the roast also seems softer.

The first steep left me in silent ponder of what I had just tasted. The roast was much lighter than Im use to for Shuixian. But it is very inbalance with the rest of the tea, so it is not a flaw. The floralness is exactly as I smelled, beautifully quiet: like a masterful painting on the wall of a museum. If I wasnt inravelled enough in this tea, the finish was more complex than I think I have ever seen in a yan cha.

The lid of the second steep showed signs of a developing roastiness and body. (Did I accidently drink the rinse?). The flavor had deffiently developed. Here was the Shuixian flavor I knew. Bolder, a sturdier roast, with a mettalic-floralness that comes toward the back. Notes of fine ecspresso also showed themselves, but not too strongly, just enough to be reconize and enjoyed.

The tea is roasting in the front, but leaves a clean finish in the back. It leaves your mouth very refreshed with a bit of a come back sweetness.

Through the many steeps this tea, kept its character. It lasted a long time and showed very small flaws. (A touch of sourness here or there). The texture was good and I didnt detect any bitter or stinky green.

I always can tell if I like a tea by how much I drink it. Some teas even though objectively I know they are good, after a few pours I get stop drinking. This tea I kept brewing and kept focusing on. I paid more attention to this tea than any tea in the last few months.

Objectively: I like it
Subjectively: I like it
Flaws: few
Positive points: Many