Shan Shui Teas

http://www.shanshuiteas.com

This is a vendor I found looking for some new baozhongs one day, and was especially impressed with their inventory. They had a number of things that I had not heard of before, nevertheless seen anything like. They specialize in wulongs from Taiwan, and have some particularly interesting stuff. They have two basic grades: superior and premium. Superior grade means that the tea is made year-round. It's a good quality, but not particular to any single season. It's pretty consistent, year round. Premium, on the other hand, means that particular one is seasonal, so each batch may be quite different, and is of exceptional quality. Obviously the Premium teas cost more, but after getting used to the prices for top grade teas overall, they're actually pretty reasonable.

Rather than write about each tea individually, I thought it would be worthwhile to provide notes on everything that I got from this store, giving a "review" of both the vendor and the teas.

The first thing to note was that when I ordered the teas, I ordered most of them in tins. Within a few hours, I got an email letting me know that everything was ready, but they didn't have the big tins and wanted to know if it was okay to send without and reimburse me for the price difference of the tins. I asked if he had smaller ones, and he threw in enough to store all of them without charging me anymore. Everything was then shipped promptly and received quickly. We also had a brief exchange, in which he was very friendly and open. Having worked in customer service positions for longer than I care to admit, I was quite impressed! So, now on to the teas...

Premium Winter 2006 Yinya

This is my favorite, so it's the one I will describe in greatest detail. The Yinya is basically a bao zhong, but they include silver tips. The wet leaves are nice and thick, which would be due to the winter environment. In some ways it's kind of an ambivalent bao zhong, being both deeper, smoother, and sweeter, but also with some greener characteristics in the taste. This is one of the best Formosa (Taiwan, for the novice that may not know) wulongs I've ever had. It's very floral, sweet, smooth, and well defined. The aroma is very floral (albeit light, as with most Formosa wulongs), and has the characteristics of the high grade high-mountain wulongs and bao zhongs. It is distinctive from most that come from Taiwan, mostly as it has a slightly different orchid aroma than most. The aftertaste is quick to bloom into a floral sweetness, with a very mild drying effect that makes your mouth water more - a rare quality usually found in only the highest grade teas. It's also relatively forgiving, although over-steeping may eliminate the nuances and aftertaste.

It's definitely a treat, and a must-try for bao zhong lovers. Absolutely divine. Half of me wants to drink this every day, the other wants to savor it.

Premium Winter 2005 Lanyun
This is simply a very fine and light bao zhong. Shan Shui explains that the name is used to distinguish bao zhongs that exhibit a particular orchid aroma, and it shows. It is lighter than most, with a very pale liquor. I usually like my wulongs a bit thicker and more flavorful, but this one has an outstanding balance that I've not found elsewhere. This is one that I save for quiet moments, as I only got a small amount.

Superior Cuiyu (Spring 2006)
This is a more typical rolled Formosa wulong, but it definitely has it's own unique character. It comes in rolled pellets that are a bit smaller than most from the region. As Hobbes notes in the comments, it's actually grown at a lower elevation, which actually explains a lot. In some ways it's like a Huang Jin Gui (which is actually from Anxi, China), but with Formosa dimensions. Shan Shui describes it as having more of a green tea flavor profile, and I can nod along to that. It doesn't have the sharpness of a green, but it does have that light flavor that is well defined. While this one does have an orchid aroma, it's a different kind of orchid that I've not found before. It's an orchid with very well defined character with very different dimensions. While others are very much just "round", giving you the impression of the top of a circle, this one gives you more the impression of a vase with a bulb at the bottom. It has a sweet, floral, medium thick, and round body with thin high-notes that have a lot to do with the aroma. The high notes are not bitterness in anyway (as it would be with a green tea), but do give a fresh green taste. It does have a very very slight and nuanced toasty/grainy/nutty flavor, that is more like that of a green tea such as yun wu -- I think that is what gives it the similarity to a green tea. This one is also an excellent value for the money. Highly recommended for everyday drinking for Formosa wulong lovers, or green tea lovers that want a good introduction to Formosa wulongs.

Superior & Premium Summer 2007 Baihao
I didn't realize what baihao ("white filament" or "white tip") was until I got it (also known as "Oriental Beauty" or "Eastern Beauty", also written in Chinese as "Dongfang meiren", per Brian from Shan Shui, and sometimes called "Champagne Oolong"). It's a Formosa wulong that is large pieces of mostly flat leaves with some rolled about half way to what you see with a bao zhong. It is quite a bit more oxidized, but has some less oxidized leaves as well, and the ones from Shan Shui include a fair amount of white tips.

To give some background, I had been drinking the one from SpecialTeas (which was simply called "Formosa Fancy Oolong"), and considered that a "staple" tea to drink in the morning, before I was awake enough to really appreciate the taste of finer teas. It's grainy, fruity, and slightly floral, all in an understated way. Kind of like a fine black tea, in some ways, but lighter and much smoother, and without the bitterness or acidity. The higher-grade baihao from SpecialTeas was much the same, but each of the flavors would bloom and jump out at you individually, but in rapid succession. Quite nice. The lesser quality has the same qualities, but are much more muted and blended into a more even flavor with less complexity.

These ones, from Shan Shui, were distinctive in that they contain a fair amount of white tips and much more carefully processed leaves. The flavor is somewhere in between the two from SpecialTeas, but with their own distinctive sharpness. The Premium is definitely nicer, with greater complexity, but I do miss the blooming sweet flavors that I had before. The Premium is definitely a higher quality, but otherwise relatively similar to the superior.

Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot to say about this one, as it's not one of my favorites. I probably won't get it again, but that is purely my own individual tastes. I can very definitely see why some people like the baihao, but I simply like the wulongs with lighter oxidation, thicker mouth-feel, and more fragrant floral aroma and taste. The way I've come to see it is that if you approach it with the same expectations as a relatively plain black tea, then you will quite likely enjoy it. If you like baihao, then you would very likely appreciate this one. Unfortunately my lack of appreciation holds me back from really appreciating the nuances and complexities of it, and giving a description that is up to my own standards. It's palatable, even pleasant, I just can't get into it. Maybe someday.


Conclusion

With my experiences so far, I am highly impressed with this vendor and their teas. I am very happy to have what I got in my collection, and look very forward to trying some of the other things they have. Shan Shui teas may not have the biggest selection, but what they do have appears to have been carefully chosen to include some of the best, and distinguish the vendor from others in what they carry. I do highly recommend this vendor, and I definitely plan to return!

Jun Shan Yin Zhen

I told someone that I would post this a while ago, but then it got to be 90-100 degrees out and I didn't feel much like reviewing teas. I've got my air-conditioners going now, however, and I'm back up and running again.

Jun Shan Yin Zhen is one of the 10 most famous teas in China. It's a yellow tea, and a very very interesting one. It is also one that gets faked a LOT. The Mt. Jun (Jun Shan) tea company apparently just bought every farm on the mountain, but there are many variants that get sold as Jun Shan Yin Zhen when they are not. The most common is Jun Shan Qing Zhen, which means Mt. Jun Green Needle (whereas Yin Zhen means Silver Needle). This is a green tea, which is easier to produce and may produce better looking leaves. There are others as well, and here is the explanation I received from TeaSpring when I contacted them:

"The most common tea that vendors try to sell off as Jun Shan Yin Zhen is Fu Jian Yin Zhen. They look almost similar except that Jun Shan's fur is shorter and yellowish in color. Jun Shan Tea Co. Ltd. recently bought all the tea leaves grown and picked in Jun Shan Island so only Jun Shan Yin Zhen from this company is authentic. But not all teas produced by them are Jun Shan Yin Zhen. Lower grade tea leaves are used to make Jun Shan Mao Jian (with leaves). Only high grade single buds are used to make Jun Shan Yin Zhen. And others are like Cui Ya and Qing Zhen teas.

Jun Shan Qing Zhen is a new type of tea. Some vendors try to sell this off as the more expensive Jun Shan Yin Zhen also but not as common as Fu Jian. Jun Shan Qing Zhen has a very obvious smoky taste so if you are interested in teas with smoky but clean taste, you might want to give this a try."

I first bought a small amount from TeaSpring, which came in this very attractive tin with anti-fake label from the farm.

Click for hi-res

I was interested in getting more, but wanted to see if I could find some a bit cheaper. I found some from TeaCuppa, but this turned out to be something different. Here you can see a side-by-side comparison between the two:

Click for hi-res
TeaSpring's on the left, TeaCuppa's on the right.

So what's the difference? Well I just got my professional tea tasting set from Hou De and am now well acquainted with my new Zojirushi hot water dispenser, so this seems like a perfect opportunity to try it out! You can see the tasting set HERE. Functionally it's quite similar to a gaiwan, but a little easier to use and comes with a nice cup and a spoon for taking in the aroma. This tea doesn't have a lot of aroma, so I'll not be using the spoon for this session.


Teaspring's -

This is a very shy tea with a complex personality. It's a light yellow tea, but it's unlike anything I've had before.

Starting on the tip of your tongue, you think it will be a simple yellow tea, but that only lasts for a split second. You're greeted with a warm, smooth, and almost thick sweetness, but it quickly proceeds to stimulate all of the different kinds of taste buds; flirting with the salty buds without giving more than a peck on the cheek it races past sour, to a smoky and spicy bitterness on the back of your tongue that quickly morphs and evaporates, and passes through umami like a ghost leaving a wisp of smoky body. Sweet wakes up somewhere along the way, but unlike it's siblings it was much slower to wake. While the others are discussing the experience, sweet is looking around wondering what happened, milling about with blurry eyes. The smoky character evaporates very quickly, and manifests mostly in the back of the throat, and leaves a sensation that reminds me of black pepper (perhaps with a bit of another spice), but only momentarily. At the same time a nice and smooth "green" quality sinks into the tongue, passing through it and leaving a clean astringency. Some time later, sweet has made it to the breakfast table. The others have left the table, but can be heard in the next room.

Fleeting away as quickly as it came this tea taunts you, not letting you get to know it, and teasing you to into a game of hide and seek. When it's finished it cleans your palate more than any tea I've had before, and invites you to try again. This is the first astringency that I've had that really left my mouth feeling this clean, and unlike some it is not unpleasant at all.

The after taste transcends the palate, evaporating and rising above the palate to just underneath and behind your nostrils, while the body seems to sink down through your tongue.

This is a very ephemeral and curious tea. It's very complex, and hard to pin down or tease apart. I was lucky today, you can't always get these complexities to come out; sometimes it tastes like little more than a plain yellow tea like huang ya. When it does come out to play, however, there are three main things that identify this tea: smoky/spicy, smooth, and clean -- very clean. In fact, I would say this has a "cleaner" character than any other tea I've had to date. I would say, however, that the smoky/spicy character is unlike the kind of smoky flavor that some people object to. If that is a turn-off to you, I wouldn't let it turn you off from this tea. It really is unlike anything else that I know of, and the smoky aspect is very clean and fleeting; it's gone before you could object.


TeaCuppa's -

This one is very much different. It's much lighter, and much more like the traditional silver needle white tea that it's appearance suggests. It's not a particularly complex tea. It has the nice, light, and clean "green" taste that is common to white teas. What separates it from other white teas is primarily it's crystal clarity. The smoky complexity is there if you pay close attention. It starts with a clean and pure vegetal grassiness, and fades into a very light smokiness that is much more subtle, faint, even ephemeral, and fleeting. The complexity is ephemeral enough that if you didn't know what to look for, you might not even notice it. It's in the aroma as well, but just as elusive as in the taste. These can be brought out a little with a little extra steeping or leaf, but you do have to watch to not over-steep it and bring out too much astringency.

I feel that I should note here that this isn't like the elusive, subtle, and fleeting nature of the first; with that one it is very much noticeable, striking, and unmistakable, it's simply very transient and hard to pin down. The aroma and aftertaste are also quite light, and not strong enough to really define the tea, although you do get some back retro-nasally from the back of the throat. Overall it is definitely a pleasant white tea, and great for quiet and pensive evenings. In fact a person with sophisticated tastes and an affinity for white teas would find this a great tea, but unfortunately it's not the same.

Notes and Conclusion -

I should also note here that I wrote this over the span of two nights, one for each tasting. I have noticed that there are times that the smoky/spicy character of the one from TeaSpring is not always easy to achieve, sometimes it does taste a bit more like the one from TeaCuppa.

I asked TeaSpring about how I could bring the spicy/smoky character out, and here was their reply:

"The answer to your first question is a bit tricky. The same tea can have different taste and experience depending on many factors such as what you just ate or drank previously. Even mood and weather are known to cause a different experience as well. Unlike other smoky teas, Jun shan Yin Zhen smokiness is very subtle and is a fleeting taste before changing into a sweet aftertaste. It's easier to catch the smoky character in your breath after a sip. Perhaps using more leaves to brew a heavier tea will enable you to catch it."

So it is entirely possible that I am simply not getting everything out of the brew that I could. However in all the times I have tried both, it has been pretty much the same, perhaps with different levels of the same. They are quite distinct from each other, and I feel that these notes reflect my overall experience with this tea. I did take care to brew them as much the same as possible, and also draw on past experience. I feel that any difference from outside factors is minimal here.

To conclude, I can really only say that I really like this tea a whole lot. It is one of the most interesting teas I have had, and is especially great when I have some time to sit down and just drink tea. I do very highly recommend this tea, but watch out for the fakes!

Two Rooster Roundup (Bai Ji Guan, Wuyi Wulong/Oolong)

Wuyi style wulongs are becoming one of my favorites. Since Bai Ji Guan is considered one of the best, I figured it would be a good place to start.

Bai Ji Guan means "White Cock Comb" or "White Rooster's Crest". Aside from the legends, it gets it's name from the buds used to make it. They are picked quite early, while still very pale in appearance. See Hou De's product page for this tea to see pictures of the buds just before they are picked (by hand) to make Bai Ji Guan.

Here is the legend, according to TeaSpring:

...the name of this marvellous tea was given by a monk in memorial of a courageous rooster that sacrificed his life while protecting his baby from an eagle. Touched by the display of courage and love, the monk buried the rooster and from that spot, the Bai Ji Guan tea bush grew.

TeaSpring's Bai Ji Guan (Spring 2007)
Product page

These look more yellow/orange/brown in person.
Click for hi-res

What strikes me the most about this tea is the leaves. This tea is a much lighter tea than any wuyi I have ever seen before. The dry leaves also have a wonderful sweet aroma of honeysuckle and... orchid?.. on a warm afternoon in late spring. (Unfortunately I don't know my flowers well.)

This one has a cleaner and sweeter taste than the other, with less emphasis on the roasted wuyi character that defines this type of wulong. The flavors all blend together into a round body with elusive spicy notes that are quite subdued. It definitely has a woody foundation, but it would be a lighter wood than most wuyi's. The taste is sweet, soft, like flower petals and lightly toasted honey. Unfortunately the floral characteristics are not very present in the aroma of the tea as it is in the dry leaves. The aroma does hint at it, but smells more like sugar and spring water. The aftertaste has a quick sweet bloom that fades quickly and leaves a slight astringency and a lasting sweetness. The complexity of this one is present but fleeting, and can be hard to miss at times. It re-emerges in the aftertaste in the very back of my tongue, but is even more elusive than before. It is a quite interesting tea, although the complexity is rather hard to pin down long enough to define. Despite how it may sound, this is not a tea that strikes you as complex, although it does become more noticeable the more you drink it. This is a good one to sit down with on a quiet evening with some calm music.

Hou De's Bai Ji Guan (Spring 2005)
Product page

Click for hi-res

Tastes much more like a wuyi. Nice, medium heavy roasted taste with undercurrent of fruit and honey and a mild fleeting bitter-sweetness that dissipates quickly but returns for just a moment as the aftertaste starts to emerge. Aroma is toasty and mildly floral, with the floral notes primarily detectable with the tip of the tongue. Bigger sips reveal different flavors and textures. Finish is bitter sweet that quickly settles as a floral sweetness, particularly at the front of the tongue. A toasted honey character with a touch of fruit defines this one from aroma to finish. Like many good wuyi's, this one gives a nice texture of woodgrain on the tongue from a slight acidity, but this one seems to be a bit more ethereal, round, sitting more above the tongue, and gives a nice fuzzy feeling that does a little dancing before settling if you pay close attention. There is slight astringency that is much more subdued than many wuyi's. As I swish the tea around, it almost seems to leave traces as it melts into your tongue very quickly. The aftertaste is lasting, and settles mostly on the rear-most edges of my tongue, radiating a soft sweetness, defying my 2nd grade teacher's insistence that I was not, in fact, tasting sweetness anywhere but the tip of my tongue. Although, to her credit, there is a certain bitter quality brought about by the roasted undercurrent, which is quite pleasant.

The sensation of this tea, especially in the aftertaste, is almost that of muscatel, but with slightly different dimensions. This comes out more as the tea cools, leaving behind some of the typical wuyi characteristics and giving way to a more smooth sweetness. Nevertheless, a lover of both wulongs and Darjeelings would probably like this tea. I was surprised, however, to find that this one is not quite as smooth as the newer one from TeaSpring.

Overall this is a very good tea. It's a very good representation of a wuyi wulong, with a soft sweetness that should accommodate most palates. It reminds me of a moderate rain on a warm sunny day, with large drops leaving thick trails that quickly consolidate to chase the drop before evaporating.

Overall this is a great tea, regardless of which you pick. The first is a little sweeter, and has more interesting characteristics, but the second will better suit the wuyi lover expecting that characteristic roasted flavor. I would be hard pressed to declare one as clearly superior, as they each have unique characteristics that make each special. The complexities are more apparent in Hou De's, but the first almost has more interesting and elusive complexities. They also each have things in common that make them obviously of the same type. Hou De's is a bit aged, and I expect both to become even better with further aging, which should bring the flavors together and mellow them down.

As nice as this tea is, however, there is something lacking that keeps it just slightly back from being satisfying to me. Many of the wuyi teas are satisfying, despite my eclectic tastes, but there is something about this that just isn't quite there. Perhaps it's just me, or perhaps it will come with aging.