Friday, January 16, 2009  1997 Shui Xian Brick from The Tea
Gallery  Class: Oolong Origin: Wuyi Mountains, Fujian Province,
China Year: 1997 Vendor: The Tea Gallery (Product page) Price:
$52.00 (100g cake)  Gimme a break...  I couldn't resist trying
this KitKat-esque tea. It's an aged Shui Xian, so it already had
two things going for it, and on top of that, it's a Kit-Kat-
shaped brick of oolong! How cool!  Brick chunk ~1/2 of a Kit-Kat
is a good amount for brewing in a 100mL vessel.  This is not an
easy tea to brew (maybe a bit easier if you are more accustomed
to brewing iron cakes or tuo cha), but it is quite good when you
get it right. Some parts of this brick are heavily compressed,
and it takes quite a while to come undone even in boiling water.
I suggest picking this apart with a puerh pick or something;
otherwise the outside leaves will be spent by the time the
interior ones get a chance to infuse.  Early infusion It takes
quite a while for a solid chunk to open up; this is probably the
second or third