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Organic Shui Xian Oolong Tea from Arbor Teas

Steepster Score 6 Ratings Rate This Tea

82/100

Organic Shui Xian Oolong Tea

Oolong Tea by Arbor Teas

Our organic Shui Xian Oolong hails from the Wuyi mountains in China’s Fujian province. This exquisite oolong is produced using the top three to four leaves on the branch. After wilting and bruising the leaves, they are hand-rolled into their final shape. When brewed, these dark green-brown leaves create an amber infusion with an exquisite floral fragrance that complements the tea’s sweetness (in fact, Shui Xian translates directly into “narcissus”). The taste is smooth and lightly sweet, with a subtle dryness reminding of pear skin, followed by a lightly baked aftertaste. As with most oolongs of this type it is moderately oxidized, ranging from 40% to 60%. Like other fine oolong teas, our Shui Xian Oolong may be infused a number of times, with each infusion revealing a new nuance of this tea’s complex flavor.

Sustainability is a cornerstone of Arbor Teas’ business philosophy. In addition to offering an exclusively organic selection of teas, they recently became the first tea company to offer their whole catalog in 100% backyard compostable packaging. They’ve also carbon-offset the entire supply chain of their products, from origin to the customer, making Arbor Teas the greenest option for Earth-conscious tea drinkers, and one of few tea companies recognized by Green America.

9 Tasting Notes

Azzrian
84

Enjoying a nice cup of this tea right now – plum and woodsy notes are primary.
Very juicy – I almost choked on my first sip due to the bursting effect it has.
Very delightful and not too drying.
Roasty and calming on a cool evening.

LiberTEAS
85

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a bit of this Oolong. It’s really nice.

Yesterday’s Oolong was also a Shui Xian and that was purely by coincidence. I did not even realize that this was a Shui Xian until I started to put it in my gaiwan. Sure, the label said Shui Xian but what I was really focusing on was the “Oolong” part.

And as I’m tasting this, I do note similarities between this and the tea that I had last evening. They possess similar honey-esque tones and fruit notes, as well as roasty, charcoal-ish, nutty flavors. I notice a little less creaminess with this cup than I remember from last night, but that would be the only real notable difference. Then again, I’m not drinking them side-by-side so I can’t do a very accurate comparison … this is all based on my memory of the tea that I had last night (although I will say that it WAS a memorable tea) versus what I’m sipping right now.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed both teas.

Arbor Tea is one of my favorite companies if for no other reason than the fact that they are very dedicated to preserving the environment and that is important to me. But on top of that, they also provide excellent quality, fair-trade, organic teas.

TeaEqualsBliss
82

Smells like your good ole standby roasty/toasty oolong!

It infuses to a medium brown/grey color.

It’s a rich woodsy-sweet type taste with a nice roasted-goodness to it. The aftertaste is satisfying as well :)

Amy oh
90
Amy oh 4 tasting notes

A nice little oolong from Arbor teas – my favorite compostable packaging company.

This one is very good if you like the darker style of oolongs. Naturally sweet, grilled charcoal peach/plum aroma. Great aftertaste and a very nice mouthfeel. Would definitely consider getting this one again. Brewed this one up in the xi ying for about 2 minutes. It goes on my shopping list. The man friend likes it too.

Organic a plus…

It seems like I go through lots of phases in my tea drinking journey. For whatever reason I have not been drinking too many oolongs lately but I’m having this one this morning.

It definitely seems typical of a wuyi type of tea, nice mineral quality with sweet roasted plum type of aftertaste. I really do like this a lot and wonder how it would be as a cold brewed tea. The wet leaves smell of burnt toast and jam.

see my previous notes for more info…

It’s been a hectic day so I decided to sit down and finish the rest of this sample I got from Arbor teas. This is a lovely oolong that reminds me of roasted plums with a sweet finish. Quite mineral-y too. I’m a happy camper with my wuyi oolongs, this cuppa is dreamy and I’ve gotten at least 3 good steeps out of this tea even when steeping it Western style. See previous notes for more info.

Backlogging – I enjoyed two steeps of this after lunch today and it was wonderful. See previous notes for more info. Also I noticed my notices are fixed now – thanks Steepster!

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Lori
88

This is lovely, light and slightly toasted. Smooth.

This tea is almost comparable to the Wuyi oolong from JK Tea Shop. I say almost as this one seems to have fewer infusions…BUT, the advantage is this one is organic.

Annie
88

Difficult taste to describe – it’s like tea with honey already added. Slight dryness, it tastes like what I always wished coffee would taste like… Some sort of dark, licorice smooth flavor. Sweet. Good to drink at night.