I received a package from Wombatgirl yesterday and I’m just giving the first one a try today. I was going through the selection and this one struck me as the one that best fit my mood. I was actually wondering about a black, but I thought this was close enough.
I didn’t look it up on Steepster before I tried it, so I’m really very pleased with myself for correctly identifying it as a Fujian tea.
The dry leaves had a very cocoa milk-y aroma. A really heavy one. It’s not sweet as such, but it’s very rich. If I breathed on the leaves a little bit before sniffing, it really came out. Liquid dark chocolate.
After steeping the aroma, is it tends to do with Fujian, I’ve noticed, turns a lot more spicy. It’s still very cocoa-y but on top of that is spice and spice and spice. It’s not identifiable as anything more specific than ‘spice’ but the aroma as a whole reminds me a lot of chili chocolate.
The flavour was what really screamed Fujian to me. It’s very similar to the Dan Cong I had, this one. ETA: Da Hong Pao, I mean. Sorry. Edit ends. It has an orange-y earth-y touch as well as the deep cocoa notes. I used to say that Tie Guan Yin was my favourite oolong, and maybe it’s still my favourite green oolong, but this, THIS is what I want from a dark oolong, and THIS is better than any green oolong. Any day.
Being a Fujian tea, it’s very difficult for me to avoid a direct comparison with the deeply beloved Tan Yang, even though this is an oolong and that is a black, but yes, I can see the similarities. It’s the heavy cocoa that does it, and the tiny hints of orange. I’ll have to remember to pay attention to any orange-y notes the next time I have the Tan Yang.
Fujian STRIKES AGAIN!
