Wild Tong Mu Guan Zhengshan Xiaozhong

A month ago, I finally decided to put in an order for three teas from The Tea. Given I ordered days just before conflict escalated in Poland’s neighbors, I am grateful I got some and pray for things to change, and hopefully, I can figure something out for my students to help support those in conflict.

Leafhopper highly recommended this one, and I got two oolongs in smaller samples with 50 grams of this bad boy. At first, it was very similar to What-Cha’s Wild Tongmu tea, but the third and fourth steep had a rounded and pronounced pineapple and lychee flavors that made me forget that I was drinking a black tea. For moment, I sipped it falsely thinking it was a Shanlinxi. It’s still maltier and sweeter than one textured by a longan, with a bit of a rise in astringency that hits my palette with some acidity. There were hardly any vegetal qualities except maybe wood. Like Togo said, it’s smooth with a cooling and warming effect at the same time. I did not realise that was already written when I posted the note! Either way, it’s an incredible Example of a Wuyi/Lapsang Black that tastes like cooked fresh pineapple, and I’m thrilled to write more about it.

My secong gong fu session after moving to Innsbruck is with this lovely black tea. It’s has a comforting, woody profile with underlying tartness. The aftertaste is long-lasting, cooling and expanding with a molasses sweetness and floral notes. The mouthfeel is soft, almost feathery, as well as active and somewhat thick.

In terms of aromas, there are notes of cookies, plum and apricot jams, and wood before the session and of flowers, moss, and cake throughout.

This company carries a version of this tea every year, and the one I’m drinking is from 2018. I love unsmoked Lapsang Souchongs and this tea came highly recommended. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot using boiling water for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma of these long, curly leaves is of lychee, pineapple, tart fruit, malt, and flowers. The first steep is extraordinarily fruity and smooth, with flavours of lychee, pineapple, raspberry, cranberry, flowers, malt, grass, and chocolate. Baked bread, orchids, and a stronger pineapple flavour emerge in steep two, and there’s a floral and lemon/pineapple aftertaste. The lemon becomes more pronounced in steeps three and four, joining the tropical fruit, tart, and malty profile of the tea. Orange and wood appear in the fifth steep. By steep seven, the malt starts getting stronger and some tannins appear, but the pineapple, lychee, and raspberry persist. The end of the session sees more tannins, malt, minerals, earth, and still, gloriously, those pineapple and lychee notes.

Aside from the 2019 Yuchi Assam from What-Cha, this is, hands down, the best black tea I’ve had this year. It’s fruity, complex, smooth, long lasting, approachable, and surprisingly affordable for its quality at around $13 for 30 grams. (I know this isn’t exactly cheap, but did I mention how awesome this tea is?) Drinking it has been a high point in a somewhat lousy month. I’m not sure why TheTea.pl hasn’t gotten more press, but I think many of their teas are amazing. Some of their oolongs are too roasted for my palate, but others, like this one, have the fruity, floral notes I love.