* 水仙 Peaches, osmanthus. Traditionally in Wuyi region; but popular it's grown in all of Fujian and Taiwan. From what I gather, because it is such a popular cultivar in Wuyi, it is often made into a Dan Cong. Teas from there get labels describing the taste, such as Mi Lan Xiang (米蘭香), honey orchid fragrance. * A lot of the teas I've tried combine fruitiness with a dry, woody finish. ====Fenghuang Dancong Yashixiang (鴨屎香) Shui Xian==== * Nachgeröstet von Menglin * yinhua früher (Severino) (銀花香) * Farmer nennen den Tee so, um ihn für sich behalten zu können. * **Western** (18 IX 19): quite thin, usual aromas of tinned peaches, good minerality. * **Blind Western** (1 II 20): Super much unbaked cookie dough! Almond meal, or marzipan. Very sweet, gourmand. Cup has the same cookie dough quality and sweetness, almost dusty in the finish. Dough-ness diminishes, becomes a bit plain. Thought it would've been Song's because it becomes so plain as it chills; but Song's style is in the impressive openings actually. * **Blind Western** (2 II 20): full, pissy cookies and dark forest. White chocolate. Soup rock like, almost like a white tea. Some sourness, white balsa vinegar. Thought it would be Tanbei Jubiläum, but the cookie nose with the structure should've pointed me to Fenghuang. * **Western** (2 II 20): A bit of an animalic, bodily nose. Also sweet, I can in fact, imagine sweet duck shit to smell like this. Or some light chocolate ganache. Taste is slightly fruity, but has a certain woody structure that prevents it from being too round. * **Blind Western** (3 II 20): fruity, meaty; Simly? Baked apricot tart, old beach house wood; bit of beeswax. Cup full and fruity, tarte tatin, freshly fired clay. Thought it would be King of Thieves for it's lack of chocolate smoothness. The meaty-fruity combination would've been the hint. * **Western** (3 II 20): full, white chocolate; white meat. Cup similar, medium dry. Good structure, light chocolate covered clay. ====Zhang Ping Shui Xian==== * This is a traditional style from Fujian, Zhang Ping (漳平), which is fermented at low temperatures, lightly roasted only and [[https://youtu.be/_LboVGtjSCw|pressed]]. This is not one for aging, hence the vacuum packaging. * **Blind Western** (23 I 19): extremely sweet, cookie dough, baked cookies; almost obnoxiously sweet. Same in mouth, very big cookie dough, a little bit of metallic tinge. In subsequent GFC, there's a very distinct spice note in second brew; quite dense, pelty; later might even reveal some of Shuixian's peachy-ness; in further GFC, plain thick sweet peachy. * **Blind Western** (27 I 19): jammy fruit. **Creme de Ananas**. Cup a little bit tight, a little bit bitter. A heavy, dried fruit fruitiness. Metallic tinge. Very **syrupy**, thick tea. * **Blind Western** (6 II 19): similar to Sijichun, but a bit less round, lacking a certain elegance and complexity. a bit watery, and a bit bitter and bubblegum-y. I'm quite sure this is Zhangping Shuixian. If it is, it didn't come across as that syrupy this time. * **Blind Western** (1 II 20): sticky sweet nose, pineapple syrup; with some astringency though. But predominantly sticky. Cup so full, very pleasant stickyness, and some green astringency in the mouth in the back. Undoubtedly ZP SX. ==== Fenghuang Dancong Shui Xian, Milan Xiang ~2015?==== * **Western** (2 I 19, against Muzha and Mingjian): Mingjian stronges peach smell in leaves, Guangdong something inbetween, some flowers, orchids or chrysanthemums? A lot woodier than Mingjian, woodsy peaches, slight tingling in the finish. I think akin to all is the dry finish. I think Mingjian is the most approachable, clear, bright one. Guangdong a bit woodier, more of a evening-style Shuixian. * Menglin sais it's the mix of minerality and fruitiness that makes it great. * **Blind Western (14 I 19)**: very fruity, intense, pleasant nose. Peaches, but dark; very ripe, maybe even cooked peaches. I find it almost a bit blunt. Quite linear development from the nose, peachy, but a bit woody, too. It's the mix of fruitiness and elegant dry finish! * **Western (10 III 19)**: deep pleasant nose, some minerality, too. Quite dry, fimo? in the cup. Actually a lot of wood in the cup, not so much fruit. * **Blind Western (16 IV 19)**: dark, stone fruit, plums?, but also leather and old wood. Cup quite similar, indeed, plums. * **Blind Western (18 VI 19)**: Tasty nose, and familiar. quite thin in body, little fruit; a little wood. I don't think this is a great tea. Spring 2017: * **Western** (1 II 20): nose is supple, but has some fresh cut vegetables thrown in. Complex and balanced. Cup very tasty, charred honey cakes, some charred notes indeep, but well-integrated in the overall sweet impression. Good minerality on the tongue. Substantiated, a moderate amount of juicy freshness thrown in, too. * **Blind Western** (2 II 20): beautifully fruity nose, more candied fruits, but very precise and expressive. As it chills, odd indiscutable rubber. Cup dense, very woody; rubber note carries through, Slimy! Got it right, the intensity, and woodiness gave it away. ====Mystery Phoenix (in the brown paper with the plastic see through)==== * **Blind Western** (1 II 20): very üppig, big Gemüsebrühe, meaty, sehr speckig, a bit smoky, too. Acid reflux. Smoked celery. Cup peculiar, again, very meaty, smoked vegetables; lamb? I haven't tasted anything like this before, so I bet on the mystery phoenix, and I got it right. Intense fucker. ====Milan Maocha Brick 2018 from white2tea==== * We commissioned this production to be left with stems and large leaves for this pressing, (this is what they mean by maocha). * **Western** (4 I 2019 against Carbolic Soap and Mingjiang Shuixian): Maocha's wet leaves smell a bit of Fleischkäse, Mingjian senbe rice crackers and nori? Nose and taste of Mingjiang like studentenfutter with dried apricots. Maocha quite bitter, very little taste (or it's too late for me to taste anything), comes across as a bit muddy; soapy finish. CS is already soapy in the taste, thick, but unelegant. Maybe both of these are teas that need to be rinsed first. So far, not impressed. * **Western** (5 I 2019, morning, rinsed all of them briefly): Mingjiang has very nice, plump leaves. Smells slightly maritime, as usual. From maocha's leaves I get now banana bread, but also already some peaches, canned maybe; from CS vinyl in the back, something sharp. Mingjiang clarity and freshness, but also some restraint in the finish. Maocha indeed has a pronounced bitterness in the finish, and very limited taste. CS is really devoid of flavour, roasted and nothing more. * **Blind Western** (8 I 19): I found it very elegant: Nose malty, peachy. Very elegant and present. Lots of peaches indeed, some woody undertones, too. Quite drying in the mouth, woody, dried fruits. Very nice tea, dark & dry. * **Western** (6 II 19): Intense fruitiness; almost lipton. Continues in mouth, quite pleasant, a bit woody dryness. * **Blind Western** (1 IV 19): slightly fruity, slightly floral note. peach blossoms? it has more of a whisky-like quality, yeah, more woody. cup very similar, but bolder. * **Blind Western** (15 IV 19): lots of fresh peaches, quite light eucalypthus forest woodiness, tiger cage animalic. In the cup so much peaches, but dry, woody. Elegant, forceful & restrained. Enduring peach wood finish. Lipton in good. ==2018 Carbolic Soap from white2tea== * Website only says it's a Milan Dancong pressed that they wanted to age themselves * **Subsequent GFC** (5 I 19): after the 4th or 5th long steep, finally some baked aromas come forth, juicy, clear; but tremendously flavourless. Terribly unexciting; but not actively bad. * **Blind Western** (6 II 19): very nice, dense, again, peach kernels, rich! yes, this is really rich. and tasty! a small hint of bitterness / stone, quite lean for the big fruity nose; dry finish but not woody, rather rocky, **mineralic**. Very much enjoy this tea. As it cools, it becomes stonier still; and the nose also. Could easily be a Shuixian, * **Western** (6 II 19): Much less discernable; rich and deep, yes, but no distinct note. Pleasant to drink tea, but a bit of a nothing taste tea. * Still, somehow I suspect it has a great chaqi...? (Or maybe I'm just impressed by the price...) * **Blind Western** (2 IV 19): deep and savoury, some fresh garden earth. A little bit leather, wet clay and animal. Cup earthy, a bit chloride, quite dry. As it chills, woodsy lipton. **Lack of discernable flavour**, **slight astringency**. ==Shuixian Baiye (水仙 白葉), Mingjian, 2016== * Baiye seems to be a sub-cultivar of Shuixian * **Western** (2 I 19, against Zhangping and Wuyi reference): leaves all smell very differently. This one very lipton-y, fresh and juicy and vibrant, peach-y AF; Zhangping lots of vanilla; Wuyi more leathery, roasted. Tasty motherfucker, very lightfooted taste, not light per se, lots of peaches in nose. **Early summer feeling**. Zhangping has some of that too, but also some vanilla, which distracts. Compared to this, Wuyi also has some peaches, but tamer, more restrained, darker, more leather. The freshness of the peaches and clarity is quite exceptional. It becomes pleasantly dry in the finish. * **Blind Western** (15 I 19): deep, lipton-y, hot peaches. **Peachy and woody**. Becomes quite dry as it cools. * **Western** (6 II 19): A bit of an odd nose. Peaches, yes, but with a green rotten note. A bit greenish, but also full. ==Milan Dancong from white2tea== * From Guangdong, smaller leaves. * **Western** (5 V 19): Beautiful soup. Roasted, slightly fruity, very pleasant nose. Orange fruits, light woods, even some white meat. Cup surprisingly slender, mineralic; a bit chalk-like. ==SX MLX Song== * **Blind Western** (1 II 20): very supple nose, baked apples and pears. Some lavender is in there, too. Wood glue, sweetened apple cider vinegar. Wood cellar. Stellar nose, really! This is a good tea! Good acidity in the cup, and transportation of the apple orchard flavours. The complete orchard. Almost bitter as it cools. Didn't guess right that it was Song's, thought it would've been MLs. But the bitterness could've given it away. ==Shuixian Mo Lan Xian (Jasmine) by Song== * **Western** (1 II 20): Beautiful orange soup. Nose is fascinating! Very full, candied oranges and indeed, jasmine, almost breathtaking, cloying. As it chills, slightly more green-floral. Cup in the same vein, perfumed, green; structured. As it chills, it becomes too cloying, almost soapy. Yes, cool it tastes like jasmine, alot. Interesting, but too perfumed. * **Blind Western** (2 II 20): Eucalyptus, warmed on orange tart. Some candied sawdust? Skin-like quality, also; big time! Cup excellent, face cream. ==Shuixian Muzha== * **Western** (2 I 19): Distinct Marakesh carpet store smell in the wet leaves. Some slight raisin note in the nose, but taste is very sweet, concentrated orange blossom honey. Crazy, not sure if it is a storage error or just awesomeness. Dried peaches and studentenfutter, pistachios; almost thick. * **Blind Western** (14 I 19): Nose very intense, very fermented? Not fruity, really more oriental fermented flavours. A bit leathery. Taste-wise, it's the most satisfying of the bunch (Fenghuang Dancong Shuixian and Yingzhi Hongxin). What gave it away was the very intense **fermented nose**. * **Western** (6 II 19): deep nose, clay, stonefruit kernels, roasted, leather (light). oh yes, this is shuixian, woody, bolt, fruity. this particular one quite woody, indeed; almost incensed. I find it almost a bit too much! Balsamic vinegar in the back. * ** Blind Western** (7 II 19): deep, yummy, malty, fruity. Actually, not that fruity, mostly malty. A bit of ferment fruit, and demure actually. leather, dry AF, no fruit at all, dryness, presence. * **Blind Western** (11 III 19): deep, tasty; warm peach tart; very full bodied, maple syrup sweetness. A little bit of rock dust, which becomes more as it chills. * **Blind Western** (11 IV 19): deep & dark, horse shit, warmed peaches; old wood. Something slightly sharp, and leather. Darker in the cup, but not terribly sweet. Coating, a bit of leather. Tobacco dryness almost.