Just got this in direct from China along with a number of beautiful, porcelian presentation vessels. I have yet to do a proper cupping on this, but I couldn’t resist making my first attempt with this tea as a cold steeped iced tea (considering the muggy weather here in OH) and so set up a Bodum Biasca Iced Tea Brewer (without using an infuser and leaving the leaves free to float and sink), using .5 oz of tea for the 51oz of freshly drawn cold water, and placing it in the fridge for 6 hrs.
The resulting brew had a clear, deep yellow ochre liqour, was fragrant, and most surprising, the leaves had gone from a dark, highly oxidized nearly black hue to a exotic combination of vibrant brick red, dark umber, and spruce green migled forest of leaves. Many of the leaves, even after 6+ hours of steeping had yet to fully unfurl or sink, and much like partially steeped white needle teas, hung in suspension. This surprised me as it seemed to indicate it had yet more to steep – and indeed it did!
I poured off about 17oz of the tea into a glass travel mug and captured around 1 tbsp of leaves and headed to work.
My first taste was interesting, with a flavor not unlike Wu Yi Rock Oolongs, immediatly complex flavors of wood, spice, and fruit…an intense apriocot/peach flesh finish wept up and dominated the flavors, finishing cleanly with a full mouth feel, full body, and sweet fruity aftertaste. I infused the leaves in the travel mug 3 more times with cold water and even when the tea was pale in the liqour, the flavors were full and lush.
I plan to properly steep this tomorrow and cup with a traditional cupping set, slurp, and record my insights. So far, an amazing tea and my first chance to sample a traditional Dan Cong Oolong. Lovely.
