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Sirentian drank Wu Yi Shan "Qi Lan" Rock Oolong Tea by Yunnan Sourcing

261 tasting notes

I have the Spring 2015 harvest, and this is almost a sipdown already but I’ve been drinking and loving this tea so much especially in the past year now that the flavours have fully developed.

Dry leaf: Powdered cocoa, sweet passionfruit

Liquor: Smells divinely floral, like sweet creamy gardenia or orchid. The tea tastes sweet and tangy, tangy like coffee or fruity Madagascan dark chocolate, with the typical Yancha notes of chocolate but less pronounced ones of mineral and wet rocks. Amazing.

I remember when I visited Tea Drunk in NYC and the cheapest Wuyi oolong on the menu was this Qi Lan, so I thought of it as an “inferior” Wuyi. How wrong I was! While my favourite Wuyi oolong is probably still Da Hong Pao, Qi Lan is a gorgeous lighter, floral alternative on days when you don’t want something so heavy or roasty. I like the Qi Lan even more than the Shui Jin Gui and Rou Gui varietals I’ve bought from Yunnan Sourcing, but since it has been a while I should revisit those to see if they’ve aged as beautifully as the Qi Lan has.

Flavors: Chocolate, Coffee, Cream, Dark Chocolate, Floral, Passion Fruit, Stonefruit, Tangy

Preparation

195 °F / 90 °C

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BigDaddy
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Tea Drunk is the nirvana of tea tasting rooms.

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BigDaddy
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Tea Drunk is the nirvana of tea tasting rooms.

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Bio

Amateur tea enthusiast here. I told myself I would start with studying Chinese teas when I first encountered good tea at Song Tea in San Francisco in 2016, and it’s now 2023 and I feel like I’m still just beginning to scratch the surface of Chinese teas.

Maybe someday I will move on to Indian, Japanese, Korean, etc. teas…

For my day job I work in tech as well as write some fiction on the side.

The next step in my tea journey is to start training my nose with an aroma kit to get a more precise handle on floral notes.

My Tea Rating Scale: (adapted from @benmw)
100 : Unforgettable, life-changing tea experience.
95–99: Extraordinary – Beyond impressive.
90–94: Impressive – Deep complexity, extreme clarity, or unexpected discovery of wonderful flavor. Made me reconsider the category. Would always want to drink this if I had the chance.
80–89: Delicious – Nuanced, balanced, clear, and complex layering of flavors. Would probably buy this tea again.
70–79: Very Good – Nuanced flavors, perhaps not as balanced or complex as the next step up, but clear and very enjoyable. Would consider buying again if the price was right.
60–69: Good – Clear flavors, representative of the category, but doesn’t set a standard. Good as an everyday tea. Would not buy unless desperate (e.g. when travelling without access to better tea).
50–59: Average. Would not pay money for this, but would drink if it was provided FOC.
30–49: Below Average. Would not drink this again even if it were free.
0–29: Undrinkable. Could not even finish the cup.

Location

Singapore

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