Floating Leaves' Taiwan Shui Xian

My daughter and I went over to Floating Leaves last week to try some of Shiuwen's new spring oolongs. We were treated to an amazing Dong Ding oolong and Lishan high mountain oolong, while enjoying the cozy and serene atmosphere of the tea shop.

One of the teas I purchased was a new Spring '09 Shui Xian oolong. This tea uses the famous Shui Xian (水仙) varietal from China's Wuyi mountains, but the tea itself was grown in Pinglin, Taiwan, (坪林,台灣) a place that is famous for producing Wenshan Baozhong tea (文山包種茶).

This Shui Xian seems slightly greener than others I have had, but it is still a very smooth and balanced oolong. The lightly baked leaves yielded many delightful flavor notes such as raw honey and stone fruit. I was also pleased with this tea after it had cooled. At room temperature the broth was very silky in my mouth with a brisk apricot note.

The dry leaves

Pouring this Shui Xian (video)

Enjoying fine tea on a Sunday morning


The spent leaves

This tea was a great buy. I would recommend it to any other tea lovers who wish to explore the flavor profiles of distinctive tea plants and to experience how they change from place to place.