My perfect Lao Cong Shui Xian with richness and subtlety that defies words. If you can't be bothered to read all of the text below, then let's just say that this is the Shui Xian that I have been searching decades for!
Shui Xian (Water Sprite or Water Narcissus) is one of the most commonly found cultivars in Fujian. It is used primarily to make Wuyi Rock Oolongs (including many blends sold as Da Hong Pao) but it is also used for other tea types.
So seeing Shui Xian on the shelves of a tea shop is pretty standard and usually does not command a high price tag.
There are plenty of other incredible cultivars used to make expensive Rock Oolongs like Qi Dan, Tie Luo Han, Shui Jin Gui and many more. But, if you ask an old school Wuyi Yancha aficionado or farmer what their favourite tea cultivar is, more often than not, they will say Shui Xian.
How so? How can such a common and relatively inexpensive cultivar be the pinnacle?
Well, what they really mean is that Shui Xian is one of the original, iconic cultivars and, crucially, it can produce remarkable tea when the bushes are older.
Shui Xian quality is highly dependent on the age of the bushes. Shui Xian can roughly be split into three categories:
1. Shui Xian - bushes under 30 years
2. Gao Cong Shui Xian - taller bushes between 30-60 years
3. Lao Cong Shui Xian - bushes over 60-70 years
The age of the bushes radically changes the taste of the tea for many reasons, including:
- plants which have decades of experience have built up a more complex set of defensive aromatics
- older plants have a more established root system to suck up more of the nutrients from the soil
- established plants grow more slowly to make richer tea
- young bushes are pruned regularly to increase yield, but the precious Gao Cong and Lao Cong plants are left relatively unpruned to maximise quality
- old bushes develop lichen and moss cover, which (remarkably) becomes a flavour note in the tea
So what the old-school teaheads are really saying is that old-bush Shui Xian is their favourite cultivar and there is a BIG difference between these teas and your standard Shui Xian.
I have been tasting Lao Cong Shui Xian for decades and have a few in my collection but I have never offered one to clients.
The reason is more about personal preference and the unique character of Shui Xian
To my taste, Lao Cong Shui Xian usually has a very gentle and comforting character - caramel and flowers, warm and rounded, comforting yet mineral. But I have always felt that the price tag demanded a little more angularity and spice.
Butterscotch Temple is my perfect Lao Cong Shui Xian.
Made from pickings of 60-year-old unpruned bushes (you can argue whether this classifies it as Gao Cong or Lao Cong) growing in one of the most loved enclaves for this tea type - Wusandi village.
This high mountain village is not part of the famed lower-altitude Zhengyan area of the Wuyi Mountains, which tends to produce Lao Cong Shui Xian tea that is a bit too floral for my taste.
Wusandi has an incredible quantity of old bush Shui Xian, and the taste of the tea from this village is very different from Zhengyan - it has more of a high-mountain taste with a lively airiness. It makes you feel that you are drinking pure stream water high in the clouds.
Butterscotch Temple has even more than I have ever tasted from a Wusandi Lao Cong Shui Xian
Yes, it has the caramel and butterscotch Shui Xian taste, which is rounded, warm, sweet and comforting.
Yes, it has that Lao Cong taste of moss and forests.
Yes it has that airy, high-mountain lightness of Wusandi village.
But then there is an elusive added magic to this tea that is hard to analyse, but more of a sense.
I feel like I have stumbled upon an old temple deep in a high mountain forest.
Heady incense is burning with sweet smoke rising into the antique wood rafters. There is resin and varnish and hints of animalic funk from the wilderness.
The temple is magical and messy with old paper scrolls, leather-bound books and baskets of forest fruits left for offerings.
The air is thick and honeyed, but turn your head and you get a blast of cool mountain air, bright and mineral.
As you drink this tea, you are filled with a deep, glowing warmth that feels protective and medicinal.
As you keep sipping, you surrender and allow that warmth to dissolve your mind into a near-narcotic, woozy sense of comfort and peace.
Butterscotch Temple is something special. I can't explain why analytically, but it captures a spirit in tea which I am always drawn to. It is strong yet subtle, bold yet elusive, rich yet simple. It is the definition of tea perfection in my eyes, and I never want it to leave my collection.
