Lao Cong Shui Xian ’23

Name: Lao Cong Shui Xian 老丛水仙
Harvest: 2023, spring
Cultivar: Shui Xian
Roasting: Medium-light
Tea garden: Zhengyan, Long Jing Keng (龙井坑)
Country of origin: China, Fujian, Wuyi shan
Weight: loose

Drinking this tea is like eating a cake. In the cake there is special flavour almost like lemon zest. The cake is medium baked. The leaves are big and nicely aromatic. Ohh it is not the leaves it is the cake in the baking tray. I will start this series of Wuyi Yancha descriptions like a story. This is the part [1]. There are six tea so that we have six parts.

Just learnt now if you leave the cake too long in the tray (in gaiwan) you got too much baking notes in the cake. This means we have to start all over. It is not easy to write a story and pay attention to brewing tea.

Anyway this second overbrewed steep got one good point it gave me tremendous Qi. Shivering my arms, getting goose bumps and… let’s get to the main point of this introductory part. I got six sample of this Wuyi Yanchas in the begining of this summer. I got them on Sunday and started to test them on Monday. One tea, one day, no puerh tea. This is a big hail mark in my ‘tea career’, you heard it, no puerh on that day. NO PUERH tea for 5 days! Wait, replay, you are pu-erh.sk guy why do you drink Wuyi Yancha?

Back to our tea, a second try in progress. Ohh the cake is different now so we baked another batch. OK enough of fun. Aromas of the first brew in Matteo’s cup are just overhelming. Again this is not tea this is a cake. So now what is better the taste or the sniffing out aromas out of the pitcher? They say floral but this tea is a cake, and a cake is usually fruity and toasted notes. Another Qi wave takes over my body. Woody notes of mossy forest emerge, there are some flowers in the cup indeed, deep and scented well my dear cake, an autumn walk with pleasant breeze in the air.

Last note on this tea, be careful and do not overbrew as this tea comes from more than 60 years old bushes that strive for life up on those Wuyi moutains. Care about the leaves and you reach the heights of tea heaven.

If you finished your reading here, congratulations you may proceed to the next part or stop here and drink some tea.

in order to fully understand or start to comprehend  Yancha Oolong teas, try to brew it with 3 grams only in your tinies teapot you have and using just a bit water, covering the tea leaves, first brews can be only flash brews then prolonging them for even minutes, the true essence of these  teas can be ‘dismantle’ first with these ‘rather not that rich’ tasting profile, distinguishing the details better, I personaly find ‘hardcore’ way using 8 or so grams for one-two person brewing

all these yancha oolong offered are pure and clean, in terms of taste and scents at the same time, the roasting is done finely and complemets each tea at a just right level, they all come from a respected generations long tea making trustworthy family