2010 Si Shui (Flowing Water)

It may sound cheap or cheesy to say so… but this tea gave me a feeling of falling in love! So far I’ve only tasted one sample of this tea and have one more for later. But with just one tasting session, I am totally mesmerized!

I’ve been tasting a few dozens of tea samples in the past two weeks, and at certain point I was worried that I was losing my sense and couldn’t recognize what I liked the most. But this tea stood out easily. It’s a very unique tea made from old tree tea leaves from various regions blended. Usually blended puerh is made from plantation tea leaves, and old tree tea leaves are used to make single-estate teas.

Made by a small manufacturer of rising fame, this tea is very elegant and clean (no crumbs left at the bottom of the cup). In my mind, I always saw puerh as a “rougher” tea compared with green tea or oolong. But this one is so carefully made. The elegant outlook, together with its bright, long lasting aromatic taste, makes me feel this tea, in some sense, somewhat feels like a dan cong. I still don’t know why I feel this way!

I think I am completely in love with this tea and hence with the manufacturer too. I have only one sample left, but I think I will get a lot of it soon and will keep watching on any new products from this manufacturer. If I have to give up all the other puerh in the world and only have this tea as my puerh, it would be fine and I wouldn’t feel sad. That’s how much I love this tea :D

Wow. Delicious, potent, yellow, rich with texture. This is good tea.

There are three elements to this tea that cause me to call it good. First, is the incredible rich honey aroma and flavor. Honestly, it’s hard to believe that this hasn’t been laced with honey. Wonderful. Second, a wonderful kuwei climbs up and settles pleasantly on the tongue, immediately after swallowing; a pleasing sensation. Finally, and I’ve experienced it at this level in a few teas before, many minutes after finishing the tea, the huigan brings a fresh, sweet, clean, and cooling mint flavor from the back of the throat.

Full blog post: http://tea.theskua.com/?p=527

The wet aroma is of very sweet/tart dried apricot and citric acid. A honeysuckle sweetness lays under the brighter aromas and the vapor carries an interesting camphor-like quality.

A palatable sharpness is evident in the bright flavor of the liquor making this puer seem very sprightly and alive. Light camphor and dandelion finalize the immediate taste and the hui gan is of beautiful apricot nectar which clings to the mouth for quite some time after the sip is down.

This one is atypically sweet for such a young specimen and does not carry an overwhelming bitterness or smoky character. Very easy to like.