Taste Test: Wuyi Shui Xian Heavy Roast Grade I from Life in Teacup

Ahhh, Wuyi oolong. Heavy roasted Wuyi oolong, in fact. This tea was the first wuyi I ever had, and once you've had one...well, you can't go back. Those darn Wuyi mountains just have something about them that makes their tea totally unique and memorable. It also makes their tea pretty expensive, though this is a pretty affordable example of the genre (especially as compared to Da Hong Pao, taste test coming soon!). Being affordable doesn't mean it's terrible, though, as we'll see below.

The dry leaves smell as roasted as they look, with a hint of raisins or other dried fruit mixed in with tobacco and chocolate. They're lovely big leaves, too. One gets the sense that this tea was picked and processed with care.

The wet leaves are basically a more intense version of the dry, very punchy and complex. The tobacco is a little more pronounced, while the chocolate is less so, but overall the aromas are the same.

Finally, the brew, and hoo boy were there a lot of them. I managed to get eight really good infusions and about three more after that were alright. I imagine that if I adjusted brewing parameters I'd get significantly more, but still, this is a robust tea.

Most of the flavours remained consistent over all the brews, with some popping in and out. Raisins, chocolate, a bit of sourness...the gangs all here. The mouthfeel remained smooth until the end, and perhaps slightly oily.

To be perfectly honest, my palate is not developed enough to really tell you everything that's going on here. I taste certain things that I know I've tasted before but I can't place...it's frustrating, because this is a very good tea and I wish I could express the whole thing to you.

But...at the same time, maybe it's just more impetus to buy it and try some out for yourself.


Overall: Buy this tea, it's really great for the price.

I'm a Bad Blogger

So I've got this job. It's an alright job, but it entails waking up at 5:30 in the morning to catch the bus, working out in the sun all day, then walking back from the bus stop.

Thus, I have had no time in the mornings for tea, nor do I have the energy or time at night to do any useful writing about the teas that I drank before I started this job.

I really do apologize. Hopefully this weekend I'll muster up the strength to type up at least one review.