Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Life In Teacup
Tea Description:
Production Year: 2012
Production Season: Spring, Harvested on April 9th
Production Region: Anhui Province, Tongcheng. Single Estate. 800m (2400 ft.) above sea level.
Style: Hong Qing (roasted)
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is nice.
The description states that this tea has been roasted, but I don’t really smell a roasted/toasty kind of fragrance to the dry leaf. The brewed tea has a slight roasted aroma to it, but it melds with the lush green notes in a way that it comes across as a fresh, nutty scent rather than a distinct roasted smell.
And as I took the first couple of sips of the very pale, light green (almost clear!) tea, I didn’t really notice a strong roasted flavor to the cup. At first, all I noticed was a very light, crisp, refreshing taste that was definitely “green tea” tasting but without the strong grassy notes or even a definite vegetative note that lead my mind to think of “green tea.” Just a sort of insinuation of green tea.
With the next few sips, some of the roasty-toasty notes begin to emerge, tasting slightly nutty and sweet. With each subsequent sip, it seemed that the nutty tones seemed to grow stronger and stronger. By mid cup, there was a very distinguished roasted nut flavor to the cup. I like how this tea develops on the palate, starting very light and fresh, toward becoming a sweet, deliciously nutty taste.
The flavors here never really become very grassy or vegetal. There is a sort of whisper of greenery – like the taste of a morning dewdrop on brand new spring leaf. It’s more like a hint of green taste, rather than something that is more discernible, but there is a very refreshing quality to this first cup.
With my second infusion, the vegetative notes begin to emerge to become more of a “real” flavor rather than a hint or an insinuation of one. It still isn’t a strong, distinct vegetal taste but, definitely more of a vegetative note than with the first cup.
But how this second cup is really different from the first is the roasty-toasty notes – this is a very distinguished flavor now. I taste even a hint of smoke to this cup, almost like it’s been fire roasted over charcoal, I can taste all those notes here. The smoke, the charcoal and the warm roasted flavor.
As much as I loved the first cup in all it’s subtlety, I am loving this one even more for it’s more forward flavors. Both cups are very rewarding, and this is one of those teas that you absolutely MUST resteep!
As I write this review, I see that the Life in Teacup web store is temporarily closed, but it states that it will reopen in a couple of weeks – it didn’t give a specific date. Who knows, by the time this article publishes, the store may be up and running again. If it is, you should definitely check out this tea. It’s really quite lovely!
Tong Tian Xiang Phoenix Mountain Dancong from Verdant Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
This Dancong offers a full and engaging tasting experience. In early steepings, a crisp mineral or stone quality dominates the texture with a rosewood quality on the sides of the palate. Soon, a mouth-watering juicy note of apricot makes an entrance and continues to build up a thicker body for the tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have tried Dancong teas in the past, but I don’t think I’ve tasted one quite like this one.
The first two steepings produced a flavor that is very mineral-y, I can almost feel the minerals on my tongue! This experience was a little jarring – ok, quite jarring – because I found myself having very little to say about those early sips except for the taste and texture of mineral. As I continue to sip, I notice fruit tones – yes, apricot, just as the description suggests.
These first steepings are thinner than I expected from an Oolong, but that is not meant to sound like a bad thing, because I find the texture to be quite interesting, especially the almost grain-y kind of feel on the tongue. The flavor is light but it teases the palate with flavors to come: more sweet, juicy apricot, hints of wood, and a honey-esque sweetness that slowly develops in the background and then begins to wash over the palate with every sip.
With the third and fourth steepings, the mineral texture and taste remained, but it had softened somewhat, allowing for the apricot notes to shine through more distinctly. The sip starts off soft, almost silky, and soon develops a mouthfeel that reminds me a little bit of a Darjeeling tea with its light, crisp quality and dry, somewhat astringent finish. Even with the astringency, I find these steepings to be remarkably soothing, especially at the start with its silky soft (it’s almost fluffy!) presentation.
Later infusions become softer in texture. The mineral-y taste and texture is but a memory, and now I have a tea that is much more like an “Oolong.” That is, much more like what I might expect from an Oolong. The flavor is sweet and slightly creamy. I notice hints of spice and wood which meld together in a taste that I want to describe as “wilderness” – it is as if I can actually taste the “wild” in this wild-picked tea.
Quite remarkable, really, this tea. But really, as Verdant has proven itself to offer nothing but the best, I expected nothing less!