Shan Lin Xi Premium High Mountain oolong tea comes from Taiwan and it’s grown at the altitude of 1800 meters. Teas from Shan Lin Xi area are one of the well known gao shan teas, along with Li Shan and Ali Shan teas.
Name: Shan Lin Xi Premium High Mountain oolong tea
Tea vendor: Green Terrace Teas (Taiwan)
Type: Taiwanese oolong tea
Shan Lin Xi Premium High Mountain oolong tea – description
Shan Lin Xi Premium High Mountain oolong tea (Chinese: 杉林溪烏龍茶, pinyin: shan1lin2xi1 wu1long2 cha2) comes from Taiwanese Nantou. It is grown at the altitude of 1800 meters. This tea is one more in the sea of popular gao shan teas. The fact that this is a gao shan tea gives us a hint what to expect. Price is 15 USD for 50 grams which is not a high price for a gao shan. Green Terrace Teas is an online tea shop, which offers few really good Taiwanese teas, but it is not strictly specialized in gao shan teas. Therefore, the range of their gao shan tea offer is not that wide, only few specific common teas that represent the specific gao shan area with an affordable price and reasonable quality. This may be a good start in exploring gao shan teas.
Tea leaves are pale olive-green, almost uniformed in size, with visible branches. Only few leaves are detached from branches. Dry leaves do not offer much scent, but in a heated teapot then have a quite warn scent, mildly roasted and sweet, like a freshly baked warm bread.
Brewing
150ml gaiwan, water temperature of 90 degrees Celsius, 10 grams of leaves and 50,40,50,70,90 seconds steeping. After initial washing they do get more intense, flowery, creamy and full scent. Leaves are opening up almost uniformly, only few of detached ones were opened instantly. They retain the initial scent until the fifth steeping when they weaken really fast. Liquor color ranges from lemony yellow to sunny yellow, it gets more intensive with each subsequent steeping. The first steeping results in a tea much too weak, but the second one is quite enjoyable. It is full, rounded, but lack a bit of character. Flowery and mineral notes are noticeable, liquor is quite smooth and full, but misses that certain something, that wow moment while drinking a cup of new tea. I believe that this tea would do much better with one long steeping. Sweetness is mild and minor.
Used tea leaves are not visibly striking, they no longer look so uniformed, but most of them are on branches. Branches hold two-four leaves with very tiny bud. Some of them are yellowish-brown, but most of them are green.
Shan Lin Xi Premium High Mountain oolong tea is a good tea for the price it’s sold for. However, I was not that impressed. It’s an ordinary tea for tea drinkers that are looking for a reasonably priced oolong of a higher quality than those in a regular tea shops dealing with mostly flavored teas. It’s not overwhelming, it’s quite mild and fresh and has a full texture. It’s not a bad tea, however, it does misses that WOW moment so important for advanced tea drinkers familiar with lots of gao shan teas. A good choice for beginners.
