Another recent Dancong sipdown, I finished a sample pouch of this tea several days ago. This was yet another new kind of Dancong for me-I had never tried a Cao Lan prior to trying this one. I found it to be an excellent tea with pronounced floral and fruity notes.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 7 seconds. This infusion was followed by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.
Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of orchid, cream, and vanilla with hints of something like jasmine in the background. After the rinse, I found emerging aromas of violet and orange blossom. The first proper infusion then brought out a slight nutty quality on the nose. In the mouth, I found notes of orchid, orange blossom, violet, and cream backed by hints of pear, nuts, and herbs. Subsequent infusions introduced notes of vanilla, malt, green apple, minerals, lychee, honey, and peach. Clear notes of almond and peanut appeared and the jasmine began to subtly manifest itself in the mouth. Hints of toasted marshmallow, anise, and caraway swirled in the background. The later infusions offered notes of minerals, cream, malt, nuts, and toasted marshmallow backed by hints of honey and fruit sweetness.
Another interesting and complex Dancong oolong from Yunnan Sourcing, this was a very likable, satisfying tea overall. The leaf quality also appeared to be more or less excellent as I noted more intact leaves than I did in either of the last two Yunnan Sourcing Dancongs I tried. For Dancong fans, this would be a tea worth trying.
Flavors: Almond, Anise, Cream, Green Apple, Herbs, Honey, Jasmine, Lychee, Malt, Marshmallow, Mineral, Orange Blossom, Orchid, Peach, Peanut, Pear, Vanilla, Violet
