As the hottest months of Summer burn on, the season for cooling drinks and light snacks has arrived. When you have tired of cold-brew green tea and silver needle, we invite you to join us in trying out 3 (or 4) pressed little pillows of our newest treat: Zhangping Shuixian.
This is a sweet little tea snack in liquid form, and most of them do indeed taste like you are brewing up a little osmanthus rice cake. It is a style of tea where freshness, sweetness, and aroma take the front seat in place of body. Hence, the brewing ratio of one ~8ish gram pillow to 120/ml is strongly encouraged. You can and should hit it hard for at least three infusions. Watch the video below for more information.
Once you have got the teas, click here and share your feedback about the numbered samples received. Come October, we will share the results and settle on a final tea to source based on your feedback.
The anonymized contenders include:
Fall 2024 Dangkeng Orthodox (x2)
This tea was made by a young producer within the core-production area's lesser known Danggkeng Village, and is intended to be a lighter, more sweet orchid product. For him, this is the ideal orthodox version of this tea for first time drinkers.
Spring 2025 Dangkeng Roasted (x2)
This tea was made by a young producer within the core-production area's lesser known Danggkeng Village. It is a custom-made product intended to suit the tastes of Northern Fujian tea drinkers who grew up on Yancha.
Spring 2024 Nanyang Orthodox (x2)
This tea is made by a veteran, award-winning producer of 40 years who lives in Nanyang Township proper. Although rougher in shape, it is a fuller osmanthus body and stronger aroma, ideal for an established local drinker.
(DLC - Limit 15 Orders) Fall 2024 Shuangyang Orthodox (x1)
An optional add-on, this is a Shuangyang sourced tea from a Zhangping city-based tea assessor. It is another smooth orthodox fall tea, but with slightly most robust aroma.
Delicious, fruity, fresh, energetic black tea. Love it. It’s smells fantastic as you pour water over it.
Deserves Giawan brewing over a time out tea session.
Let's start with the bad: I feel like the processing-quality on this one is not as high as with other teas from this site. I found quite a few non-tea-leaves in my cake and even a small rock. Also the pressing is very loose (cake nearly coming apart in my hands), making it less suited for further aging.
So why still 4 stars?
Because it's god damn delicious! The fragrance when you open the wrapper is already intoxicating, reminiscent of red fruit, jam and sugar. The taste is fruity, sweet, with some subtle spices and a mouthfeel and aftertaste to die for. It is really, really enjoyable! Just rinse well and you can enjoy a lovely tea :)
The tea has layers of textures and flavors to experience, and is unfussy in brewing. It has become one of my favorite to sit with for longer sessions. After drinking 50g I decided it was worth it to purchase the full brick.
This is a fantastic white tea, the condensed cherries is the prominent note for me. It has a long lasting sweetness and a tart fruitiness. I have been loving whites from Lincang, and this one is a unique special treat, a blend of older and ancient trees. I decided to grab a tong after flying through a cake, it will age beautifully I think.