Tong Tian Xiang

2021 sipdown no. 65

This started out okay. I mean, it wasn’t my favourite. There was the mineral taste with not much that I could specifically pinpoint in the background. But as the tea cooled it got more and more bitter. I was watching an interview and was quite engrossed and still the bitterness cut through.

I’d assumed that this was a wuyi before reading Leafhoppers note, but the sharpness and minerality was Dancong. I was also a dummy with this one.

The dryleaf was very fruity, and reminded me of kiwi and salted grapefruit. I dumped the entire sample in my Gongfu2go tumbler, was going to flash steep it-until-I ignored it while cooking. 35 seconds, and it’s sharp, tart, mineraled, sweet, and bitter. Kiwi, grapefruit, minerals, honeysuckle, and a sour finish. A bit too strong, but something I could enjoy and work with.

I did too more flash steeps; one last night, and one this morning. The second steep was stronger with grapefruit for me, and again, a little bit too bitter and sour. The third steep needed a transfer of vessels, so I put it in one of my French Presses-NOT PUSHING DOWN THE PRESS OF COURSE (barbarians) for more room. Kiwi and more sour fruits. The tartness is a lot more balanced this time, with some mineral.

Now, another steep, 25 ish seconds, and more florals than fruits alone. Still sharp, but lilies, jasmine(or osmanthus?), again, honeysuckle, salt, char, fruit, and acidity. I can partially see peach, but it would be a younger peach. It’s still more kiwi to me with its tartness.

I could probably push this one, but it’s a bit tart for my preferences. I ignored wisdom in using more leaves than I should have, thus I get the session I have. Dancongs being tart or bitter is nothing new for me and why I either love them or dislike them. This one is in the middle. I personally liked the roast, and did not find it to be too prominent. I was more distracted by the acidity. I’m glad I tried it and it ranks as a tea in the variety I like, but it’s just okay overall since it was personally too sharp.

I was pleased to see this unusual type of Dan Cong in Camellia Sinensis’ catalogue. This is the April 2020 harvest. I initially steeped it as I normally would a Dan Cong (6 g, 120 ml, 195F, 7/10/12/15, etc.), but it tasted like roast, apple, and fake movie popcorn butter. I’m hoping the parameters given by the Camellia Sinensis team in the 2020 summer sessions will produce better results. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 203F for 25, 10, 25, 40, 55, 70, 85, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of roast, chocolate, honeydew melon, flowers, and caramel. Roast is the dominant note in the first steep, along with caramel, toast, butter, wood, honeydew melon, kiwi, and faint florals. The next steep resolves the florals into lilies, orchids, and other flowers, though the tea is a bit sharp. The third steep has notes of honey, malt, and faint apple, with the roast still being the most noticeable quality. By steep five, there’s a funky rye bread sort of note, combined with strong roast, charcoal, honey, caramel, toast, and faint flowers. This steep has a nice floral aftertaste. The final steeps have flavours of strong roast, charcoal, tannins, honey, and nuts.

Using the steeping instructions from Camellia Sinensis produced a much nicer session, though the prominent roast detracted somewhat from my enjoyment of this tea. I like its thick body and interesting florals, but wish they’d stand up to that roast a little more. I need to find some more lightly roasted Dan Congs, or even some unroasted ones if that’s a thing.