95
drank Old Tree Shui Xian by Verdant Tea
639 tasting notes

My Li Xiangxi Special Sample Pack finally arrived! I paid $35 and waited about 5 weeks, so this better be worth it! The dry leaf aroma is rocky and mineraly. The brewed tea aroma is similar but saltier and more developed.

The flavor is really special! It’s rocky and mineraly with notes of honey and butterscotch sweetness. It definitely has lots of spice notes. I love spicy notes in teas. They’re probably my favorite. I also feel like there’s a blood orange note in the aftertaste. Looking at Verdant’s description of this tea, I’m spot on! That’s exciting. :)

This is a truly lovely rock oolong. The flavor is crisp and clean. There’s no bitterness or astringency. I know I say that for a lot of Verdant teas and that’s true for them all. But this one has a cleanness to it that is unique. You definitely know you’re drinking the best of the best. The aftertaste lingers long after the sip, like several minutes later kind of long.

This is a tea that should be savored and appreciated early in the morning when all is quiet. I suggest enjoying it gongfu style because it benefits from lots of infusions. I found myself quickly making the steeps longer though. I pretty much doubled the infusions each time till I was up to a couple minutes. Honestly, this is the best rock oolong I’ve ever tasted. I highly recommend it.

Flavors: Blood Orange, Butterscotch, Honey, Mineral

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 5 OZ / 147 ML

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Entering the sweet blissful world of tea aromas!

Having discovered this website at the end of July 2011, I’m so excited to share my tea adventures with all of you! I grew up with my grandmother serving Twining’s English Breakfast with cream and sugar.

But on a trip to Seattle in 2010, I stumbled into a Chinese teashop and tried my first oolong tea. I was forever changed! I embarked on a startling new love for green and white teas.

With a world of teas to discover, I was inspired to keep a tea journal to record my thoughts and new favorites. Let’s get brewing!

My ratings are completely subjective and 100% my opinion. All ratings are given in relation to each other (ie. teas are rated in the order of my enjoyment of them). Therefore, my ratings will constantly change as I try more teas.

I love swapping!!! If you see something in my cupboard you’d like to try, just send me a message. If you’d like to trade, anything on my shopping list will do or feel free to send something else entirely. I’m willing to try almost anything (although I’m not really a fan of honeybush, red rooibos, pu’erh, Lapsang Souchong, & banana-flavored teas).

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Maryland, USA

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