Shan Lin Xi Light Baked Qing Xin Oolong

Description

Light Baked Shan Lin Xi Qing Xin Oolong (杉林溪青心烏龍) is a beautifully satisfying high mountain oolong from the famous Shan Lin Xi (Sun Link Sea) tea growing area located in Nantou County of Taiwan. This spectacular oolong is made from hand-picked leaves of Qing Xin ‘Green Heart’ (青心) cultivar plants that are grown at an altitude of 1,400-1,500 metres. This tea is grown by Mr Chen and was picked and carefully processed in April 2024. It was then slowly baked in May 2024 to produce a complex liquor that is buttery, sweet and floral. We source it from Mr Chen via our Tea Master in Taiwan.

Shan Lin Xi (杉林溪) is an exceptional terroir located high in the mountains of Nantou Province. Although Alishan as a terroir may be more famous, it is without doubt that Shan Lin Xi produces high mountain (Gao Shan) oolong teas that are also considered to amongst the best from Taiwan. Shan Lin Xi can be literally translated as Pine Forest Stream from Chinese. However it is also commonly known as Sun Link Sea, an English phonetic approximation of the Chinese Shan Lin Xi, a process referred to as phono-semantic matching in linguistics. So both Sun Link Sea Oolong and Shan Lin Xi Oolong refer to teas from the same terroir. The gardens of Sun Link Sea terroir range in altitude between approximately 1,000 and 2,000 metres. The picturesque mountainous landscape is also home to Shanlinxi Forest Recreation Area, a popular destination for nature hiking that is known for its giant forest trees and waterfalls.

The vast majority of oolong teas grown at high altitude in Taiwan are made from the Qing Xin ‘Green Heart’ (青心) cultivar plants. This is true of most Sun Link Sea oolong teas as well. This particular Shan Lin Xi Qing Xin Oolong is also made from hand-picked leaves of Green Heart cultivar plants. They are picked in mid-April, and come in classic tightly rolled leaf shape. The oxidation level is approximately 15-20% and unlike our standard version from Shan Lin Xi that is unbaked, this undergoes a careful, slow and light bake. The approximate scale is 2/10, resulting in a liquor that is a little more complex and definitely more comforting than the unbaked version of this tea. This kind of light baking is a popular way of making the flavours more concentrated and complex. It also has the added benefit of making the tea more stable, improving the shelf life and keeping it fresher for longer.

This Light Baked Shan Lin Xi Qing Xin Oolong comes in tightly rolled leaves, which are mostly large but also vary in size. The dark green leaves have a creamy floral aroma. When brewed they unfurl into large leaves consisting of a tip and the top 1-3 leaves with a slightly duller appearance due to light roasting. The produced liquor is clear and bright, with a pale golden colour and a floral and lightly baked aroma. It produces a comforting liquor with a bright, floral and sweet flavour. It delivers satisfying notes of baked pastries and alpine meadow flowers. There is a butteriness and sweetness throughout the taste. The aftertaste is lasting, delivering similar flavours, while becoming a little more herbal. This is an excellent example of a lightly baked high mountain oolong that really showcases how careful baking changes the flavours in tea.

We suggest brewing this tea at 90°C for 2-3 minutes according to your taste. It can be brewed 3+ times depending on your taste preferences. To get the most out this tea, consider using a gaiwan or a traditional clay pot to benefit from the complexity of flavours from repeated multiple infusions. For gong fu brewing we suggest using 6g per 100ml at 95c. Optional 2-3 second rinse, 1st infusion 25s, add 5s to each further infusion. Gong fu style brewing should get many, many infusions from this lovely tea!

This Light Baked Shan Lin Xi Qing Xin Oolong tea was first featured in our August 2024 Curious Tea Subscription Boxes.