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Thin body and very mineral without the depth of flavor I want from dancong oolong. Three steeps in I did get a mild generic stonefruity aftertaste followed by a very nice cooling sweetness. Too drying for my likes. After 4 steeps, the leaf went into the fridge for cold brewing.

shrug

Leafhopper, I don’t know if this is an intentionally smoked tea. If it was roasted with a wood fire instead of in a machine, then maybe that accounts for the lingering campfire aroma and taste. It’s a moderate smoke for me.

The tea is somewhat weak. I don’t mean thin in flavor but there’s not quite enough volatility to the aromatic compounds. It’s rather earthy tasting with a muted earthy-smoky-buttery-citrusy aroma, a bit of bite in the throat and muddled aftertaste that most resembles buttery osmanthus. Overall, for some reason, reminds me of a Japanese black tea.

Decent tea, though not a standout lapsang souchong. I have been spoiled by Old Ways Tea’s Wuyi black teas :$

Unsealed the last 50g packet of this tea that I hoarded a few years ago. It’s a 2017 harvest and still tastes magnificent!

Not much attention paid like today’s white tea… There is some change with age, though very little. Honey with a hint of butter, cardamom, clean-sweet peppermint, dried cut grass, balsam wood, roasted walnut, black sesame seeds, background roastiness. And I think I get that grilled pineapple Daylon got as a fruity midtone. All the tastes translate into the aftertaste, where they also meet with a grassy peach skin. Eventually a very strong returning sweetness from the throat. I’m not usually a fan of Taiwanese roasted oolong but this one is something special.

Yesterday I put some dispenser hot water into my glass thermos and let it cool. Put the steeping basket in full of leaves for several minutes and drank 3/4 of the way down. What a light tea! Barely any taste, sweet water but pleasant. Went back to dispenser to refill. Realized I never put the leaf in the steeper basket to begin with.

uh-guh-guh-guh-guh

So a redo today! And I don’t think I let the water cool at all, so it was pretty hot maybe 195F? Not much attention paid but holy moly is there a difference! It’s perfectly silky and oily-spring water?, with a gentle taste that ashmanra described as sun-warmed hay in her later steeping. I’d also say flax seed, which is a note I picked up on in another Georgian white tea Martin gifted me. Honeyed undertone. This is really good and I will come back with a more detailed note before this leaf is gone.

Drank through a whole bag at work save for this last 3.5g had at home

Sharp, strong and sunny like the fiery yet discerning marigold-faced goddess of the golden mountains. Big pickled ginger heat-cool in chest.

Very, very good, though a touch too perfumey and ‘bitter greens’ for my taste. As with most green oolong, I’ve taken a liking to bowl brewing and prefer so over preparing in a little pot. Will come back with more later.

Argh, I didn’t take notes. Prepared the same and in same pot as Floating Leaves’ Ruby 18 Black. I recall this being more muddled in taste and a little more astringent and tannic especially later; darker forest floor vibe but not nearly as strong as in The Tea’s Yuchi Competition Grade Ruby 18 Black Tea. Plenty of tomato-malt and wintergreen for me though :)

Thanks again, Leafhopper!

This dancong oolong is truly like a pleasant introduction. A warm smile, some lighthearted conversation, nothing too deep, almost entirely inoffensive. Silky, lingers for a bit but without the magic that makes one remember every word exchanged and every sparkle in the eye. One River Tea calls this a humble tea; I agree. For a dancong, this has to be one of the gentlest I’ve tried.

Thank you, Leafhopper :)

Beautiful tea and energy. Feels like a silky sun-dappled forest with the scent of mushrooms pushing up from the ground. Is this what hawthorn fruits taste like? Each cup that comes to my lips mixes with the scent of patchouli on my wrist. It’s a grounding combination. Makes me feel very present.

Thank you Leafhopper <3

31 years old tea.

Woody-sweet aroma.

Dusty nuts taste and some molasses-honey-plum sweetness that lingers.

Definitely cool in mouth.

As far as old Chinese oolong go, I’d rather drink the funky stuff that tastes like soy sauce. This could be a Taiwanese tieguanyin, though.