The only time I managed to get to a tea house in Hong Kong last month was when I went to Fukien Tea House. Sadly, we spent more times on the mountains and avoiding the protests and didn’t really have the time to explore the city.
But, I heard good things about the Shui Xian from Fukien Tea House and decided to try my best to make it there and try it out. It’s a pretty small shop, located near Sheung Wan.
The owner was super friendly! I can’t speak any Cantonese but since he’s Hokkien too, we managed to converse in Hokkien mixed with Mandarin (basically how I talk to my grandparents at home). Funnily enough, I thought that the Hokkien (Fukien) in the store name was from a long time ago and didn’t expect to hear any Hokkien at all.
There was a really cute cat too.
I was asking what type of oolong this was, but apparently it’s puer! He was reusing the box – apparently they’re pretty rare.
Regretfully, I didn’t have much time to spend there as my sisters wanted to grab dinner ASAP. I just went in, spoked to the owner for a bit and asked for the tea (interestingly, shui xian and rou gui are treated as the same tea in Hong Kong) and grabbed it. But if you’re in the area, it’s worth dropping by to check out their selection of teas!
眞欉水仙 (真丛水仙)/Zhen Cong Shui Xian Tasting Notes
Fun fact: I can’t read traditional Chinese because I was taught simplified Chinese so I had the hardest time finding the words 眞欉. In the end, I had to use a Japanese handwriting app to find the kanji!
This tea was recommended to me by a friend whom I trust so I bought it for myself. The dry leaves have a surprisingly smoky smell and thick, large leaves.
I was surprised by how fast and strong this tea brewed. Even when I was just rinsing the leaves, the water that I threw away was really dark. The tea liquor is dark brown with a strong smoky yet floral scent. It’s very smooth and tastes pretty much like how it smells, with a nice lingering aftertaste.
The tea holds up to multiple brews very well too. I had to give up around the fourth or fifth brew but the tea was still going strong – it was a bit more mellow than the first brew but most of the original notes were still there. The dancongs I have can take about six brews but I suspect this can go up to eight or more.
As per my usual habits, I gave some of the tea to my family who, surprisingly, liked it. They all noted the smoky note, but it was such a natural part of the tea that they didn’t complain about it.
The spent leaves were rough to touch and as you can see, still not fully unfurled.
Out of curiousity, I tried cold brewing this as well. I drank a Shui Xian at my Hong Kong grandparent’s place which was basically just placed in room temperature water and left to steep and it was delicious. So I cold-brewed this for about 11 to 12 hours, pretty much the same way I brewed the dancongs.
Even after half a day, the tea wasn’t as strong as when it was brewed hot. Lighting conditions aren’t totally the same because of the time of day, but the cold-brewed tea was slightly lighter in colour and taste. Even after letting it warm up to slightly below room temperature, the tea still tasted weaker compared to when it was brewed hot. If I were to cold brew this again (which is not very likely), I’ll probably leave it to steep a lot longer – perhaps the whole day, like what my HK grandparents did.
Overall, I’m really pleased with this tea. It cost me about HKD$100 (about SGD$18) for 100g of tea, which I think is really worth it for the price. If I have the chance, I’d like to come back and explore more of their teas.
Fukien Tea House (福建茶行)
Address: 6 Mercer St, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong (Google Maps Link)