This is a tea I picked up in Beijing way back. I was told it’s an aged dancong, but having had it a few times, some with friends, we’ve decided that it’s probably an aged shuixian — but probably of the Phoenix Mountain (fenghuang shan) variety, rather than the Wuyi ones. The size of the leaves are big, as they generally are from that area, and there’s a bitterness to it that a Wuyi doesn’t usually have. Reminds me of that fairly fickle Fenghuang Shuixian I tasted a little while ago. Maybe if I leave that around for 10 or 15 years, it’ll be like this one.
Otherwise, there’s a plummy sweetness that I think is a classical “aged oolong” taste. There’s a bit of a spicy finish to this one, somehow. I don’t think it’s been stored too carefully, so it might have picked up some random notes. There’s also a little sour early on, but just a little and not enough to detract from the overall experience.
What does detract from the overall experience though, and what is so commonly going through my mind these days, is “why the hell did I not buy more of this when I had the chance?”. Oh well, I will just have to worry about that until next time I go to Taiwan or China.
3 responses so far ↓
wyardley // January 16, 2008 at 12:05 pm |
According to Imen, at least, Fenghuang Shuixian *is* the varietal of Fenghuang Dan Cong, and not the same thing as the Wuyi Shuixian, except possibly a distant relative. http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2008/01/is-dan-cong-related-to-wuyi.html
MarshalN // January 16, 2008 at 1:08 pm |
I seem to remember reading about how such teas were brought over from one area to the other (I forgot which direction — methinks Wuyi to Fenghuang). I will need to look it up to confirm though.
MANDARINstea // January 16, 2008 at 5:06 pm |
Wuyi Shuixian are rock grown mostly for the wild ancient one, and common FH SX is soil grown. Except for the high elevation ancient trees.
They are cousin for sure, but should not be that distance… only a 6hrs drive from one end to another. me think -Tok