Five Star Shui Xian

[Herb_Master]

I like this tea, and today seemed a suitable time to brew some more.



To start with I am always pleased with the sight of the leaves, extra long, slightly twisted, and a nice dark colour, mottled enough to show it has not been over roasted.



Five Star do a thorough labelling so there can be no confusion as to the tea I am using.

The Foil Pack is resealable, and fits neatly without any trouble into these cheap Tea Canisters that I purchased in Kuala Lumpur last year.

Double Lid with both inner and outer lids fitting quite tightly, they were remarkably priced at 10 Ringits, or 8 Ringits if you buy 3 or more.



I sheepishly enquired if the price would come down further if I bought 5 or 10 or 25? No! Even if I bought 100 it was still 8 Ringits each
I settled for 3 brown, and 3 red in a very similar design.



I went for 5gm in one of my Zhuni Shui Pins, just over 100ml.

The leaves slid in very easily , a couple needed to be helped to fit in by teasing them under the rim. But even now that I am halfway down the pack there seem to be nothing but intact complete leaves.

[Herb_Master]

The Hong Kong Teashop 90s Teapot is excellent, but the one hole filter throws out tea fragments, making the Five Star Yan Chas perfectly suitable.



The Shui Pin was purchased 2 years ago and was still slightly shiny and new looking, despite having spent 10 years on a shelf in a Kuala Lumpur shop. Now after using it many times, the texture seems rougher to the touch, and the colour a little darker.



20 seconds each for the first 3 infusions (no rinse) - the first infusion slightly murkier than the clarity of the next 2 but no impairment to the taste.



Drinking it from one of BonJiri's double walled cups.

Outdoors in the shade of a Fuschia the dark interior of the cup made the flash go off.



But the tea was every bit as good as my previous outing with it.

[Herb_Master]

I gave up trying to get a shot using only natural light, I was enjoying the tea too much to move everything beyond the Fuschia, and clouds kept dimming the sun, so I examined the reflections on the surface.



The odd spot of rain was going to chase me indoors.
Then the sun came out.
I reached for my camera, and clouds scuttled across the sun once more.



Each of the infusions was steadfastly similar to each other, but although basically a warming, sweetish, refreshingly satisfying drink, there were plenty of nuances to be had from each sip.



I will order again from Five Star, along with Essence of Tea and a handful of Kuala Lumpur shops - I rate them as the highest.

I can highly recommend Bonjiris Double Walled cups, I keep looking to see if he does one with a pale interior.

The Tea Canisters are brilliant, I hope they are available at the same price next year when I visit Malaysia.



I would like to find some more interesting Cha He that are good for photographing the dry leaves.

[teaisme]

nice post, that Kubota-en Ureshino Kama Iri Yama Cha looks fantastic have you given it a go?

Thanks for the vendor, seem pretty fairly priced for what they offer
Any favourites from them?

[Herb_Master]

nice post, that Kubota-en Ureshino Kama Iri Yama Cha looks fantastic have you given it a go?

Thanks for the vendor, seem pretty fairly priced for what they offer
Any favourites from them?

I have just had 3 Yan Cha - all excellent - Others who have tried seem impressed, I have not heard anyone regretting a purchase.
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16043

[chado.my.teaway]

nice post, that Kubota-en Ureshino Kama Iri Yama Cha looks fantastic have you given it a go?

Thanks for the vendor, seem pretty fairly priced for what they offer
Any favourites from them?

Kamairicha its a good green tea from me but green teas are not my specialization.

What can I recommend? off course all Dong Ding Oolong - masterpiece. Herb gave you link. All Yan cha off course too.

And black teas(hong)(thats my specialization;p) Im waiting for my Keemun 2012 Nonpareil. All other hong cha are so...efficient.

For example Yunnan Golden Buds- Hong Cha - cheap tea. Gong fu style and I had 7 infusion.
2012 Superfine Keemun - 9 infusions.

Try;p

Herb. Can you compare this SX to EoT Handmade Shui Xian?

[Herb_Master]

I did not buy any Shui Xian from Nada, but I did love his Bai Ji Guan, I am greatly tempted to try 5 Star's Bai Ji Guan - If I do - I will post my reflections.

[andrzej bero]

I do not know is it ok to write here anything becuse I know them (fivestar) privately and we cooperate but ...
I never tried ShiuXian nicely described by HerbMaster but just yesterday tried sample of Dark Roasted Hu Ton Yan Shiu Xian Zhengyan Cha. For me great esspecialy since days bacome colder and colder.

[brandon]

I just drank this tea. I was skeptical, the Rou Gui did not meet expectations. But, this tea beat the market in terms of medium roast SX so far this year. (I'd be happy to taste others if mentioned.)

I was not able to get fruitiness I smelled in the dry leaves to present in the cup, nor a thick mouthfeel. Mineral finish was subtle but present. In a way, the tea had a volume limiter on it.



But to its credit, when I pushed harder for more, it remained fairly even, did not give off any harshness like an inferior tea would. I am going to give this one a 4/5 and revisit it later.


(Ratings compared to similarly priced teas in this category, not snorting-money-up-my-nose type stuff. Most teas sold from a vendor like this would not pass the 2nd brew w/o revealing fatal flaw.)