Verdant Tea

2021 Old Tree Shui Xian

2021 Old Tree Shui Xian

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Wuyishan's Most Wild
Complex Oolong Tea
Tea unlike any other, picked from wild-arbor old growth Shui Xian trees covered in moss and hand-fired. This cooling, powerful tea is all about texture and tingly yun sensation. Notes of pine resin, orange blossom, and merengue.
Spring 2021 ♦ Wuyishan, Fujian
Wuyishan's Most Wild
Complex Oolong Tea
Tea unlike any other, picked from wild-arbor old growth Shui Xian trees covered in moss and hand-fired. This cooling, powerful tea is all about texture and tingly yun sensation. Notes of pine resin, orange blossom, and merengue.
Spring 2021 ♦ Wuyishan, Fujian
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Crafted by the Li Family

Hand-picked and traditionally hand-finished within the true Wuyishan Ecological Preserve on forested biodiverse, rocky, mountainous land for distinct Wuyi minerality.
 
The Li Family is an award-winning, highly respected force for sustainability, hand-firing craft, rare varietal preservation, and tea education in Wuyishan.
    • DATE OF PICKINGSpring 2021
    • Wuyishan Ecological PreserveWuyishan, Fujian
    • ELEVATION600 METERS
    • Shui XIanTea Varietal

    Mossy, foresty "rock juice" - the new 2021 harvest is here!

    The Li family’s position as community leaders and environmental stewards gives them the special privilege to pick from an old wild grove of Shui Xian trees, many over 100 years old that have been left untended for generations. This handful of special trees yield tea with a stunning complexity ad commending textural sensation. The deep roots pick up huge volcanic minerality, while the mossy wild environment encourages the tea to put out tons of polyphenols, meaning bigger complexity. Of course, for a tea this rare, Mr. Li personally hand-picks, oversees hand finishing in the yaoqing process and mandates at least five fifteen hour hand firing sessions over several months before allowing this tea to leave the workshop. This tea is a special opportunity to taste one of the most yun forward and complex Wuyi Oolongs out there, a work of passion for the Li siblings. Tasting notes don’t do justice as so much of this tea is in the texture and tingling almost numbing sensations that build up over multiple steepings.

  • true
    100
    pine resin, frankincense
    true
    90
    daffodil, orange blossom honey
    true
    70
    neroli, bergamot
    true
    70
    torched merengue
    false
    true
    powerful sparkling rock juice

    Tasting Profile

    • spice - pine resin, frankincense
    • floral - daffodil, orange blossom honey
    • fruit - neroli, bergamot
    • savory - torched merengue
    • texture - powerful sparkling rock juice

The Li Family also recommends:

  1. 2022 Rock Milk Wuyi Oolong
    2022 Rock Milk Wuyi Oolong

    Rock Milk or Shi Ru is an uncommon varietal that the Li Family cultivates on their mist-shaded, mountain spring-fed biodiverse plot within the Wuyi Ecological Preserve. The naturally rocky elements of this tea come through even stronger as they take in the deep minerality of the volcanic rocky soil. As a rare offering, Mr. Li takes the time to bring out the rich mouthwatering lingering yun sensation of this tea through the hand firing at low heat for hours needed to bring out the very best. This varietal is an excellent chance to taste the terroir of the region.

  2. Ten Yr. Aged Full Roast Shui Xian
    Ten Yr. Aged Full Roast Shui Xian
    Originally picked in 2007, this Shui Xian Wuyi Oolong has been carefully re-roasted and rested each year for a decade. The aging and careful roasting has brought out beautiful complexity in this tea, pairing Shui Xian's compelling texture with the mineral sweetness and mustiness of age. Sweet savory and salty elements keep the brew cozy and compelling, while sweet florals and intoxicating, evocative aroma make us nostalgic for the Li Family's biodiverse tea groves. This unique selection is not to be missed.
  3. 2022 Special Grade Shui Jin Gui
    2022 Special Grade Shui Jin Gui
    To produce a Special Grade offering requires perfect weather, perfectly situated old-growth tea stock, shaded by mist through the spring, expert hand-picking and critically, an exhaustive production process of small batch hand yaoqing and five to six rounds of hand-firing. The Li Family is only able to produce a few kilos of this special tea every year. Li Xiangxi sets aside a small allotment for us because she loves Shui Jin Gui varieties so much that she wants to share what she thinks is one of the truest expressions of Wuyishan with interested tea lovers outside of China. Tasting notes can’t capture the critical tingling cooling sparkling sensation that is yun and the way that it lingers in the back of the throat, building with each sip and letting each steeping build on the potency of the one before.
  • 'In his own words, Li Xiangxi’s brother walks you through the Li family‘s Old Tree Shui Xian groves and explains how allowing the tea trees grow naturally and encouraging biodiversity creates this tea’s special, characteristic flavor profile.'

  • 5
    6-8
    208
    15 seconds
    5
    7
    5
    208
    6 seconds
    2
    4
    12
    room temp
    8 hours

    Steeping Instructions

    Western

    5 g.6-8
    oz.
    use 208° watersteep 15 secondsresteep many times
    add 5 sec. each infusion

    Gongfu

    7 g.5 ozuse 208° watersteep 6 seconds
    add 2 sec. per steeping
    enjoy many steepings

    Iced/Cold

    4 g.12
    oz.
    use room temp. waterrefrigerate overnight
    8 hours
    add ice & enjoy

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