DETAILED TASTING NOTES

Warm Leaf Smell: sweet flowers, caramelised black currant pie crust, fireplace
Wet Leaf Smell: soldering wood, roasting almonds
Texture Feel: thick, mineral-chalky
Taste: roasted almonds, choco beans, cherry jam, bania, clay
Finish Feel: addictive mineral quench, long huigan (returned sweetness), active transformation
Empty Cup Smell: caramel stroopwafel
Aftertaste: roasted almonds and banana peel
Body Feel: clear, calm, energetic

Category: Cliff Oolong Tea
Native Name: 老枞水仙
Harvest: 2025 April
Origin: Xingcun, Wuyi mountains, Nanping municipality, Fujian, China
Cultivar: Shuixian (Narcissus)
Altitude: 400m

Not much of a coffee drinker myself, but I feel like coffee lovers out there may particularly enjoy Old Narcissist's roasty, woody character. The sweetness also stays in the mouth remarkably long after drinking.
 
If you are ever in China, I highly recommend visiting the Wuyi Scenic Area, where this tea is from. One of the most beautiful tea production regions I have had the chance to visit.

Gongfu brewing:
100°C
7g /100ml
1st infusion: 15sec, next: +5sec/infusion
8 infusions

Our Old Narcissist comes from Fujian's Wuyi mountains, where the soil is volcanic rock and red clay: mineral-rich, well-drained, naturally shaded by the cliffs. This is what gives quality cliff oolongs their thickness, mineral mouthfeel, and that prolonged finish known as yanyun (rock rhyme). The bushes are around 60 years old, considered quite aged by local standards, and this is what gives this tea its particularly addictive mineral character and long huigan (returning sweetness).
 
The tea is grown and fully processed by a family that has been working tea in Wuyi for generations, with a production lead who has 30 years of experience in red teas and cliff oolongs. We found them by happy accident: one of the family members reached out to develop their tea network, not knowing we were building ours. We tasted their teas, liked them, and the rest followed naturally.

Medium-fire roasting: 4 passes at 120-130°C, 10-16 hours per pass.