188 Tasting Notes

96

Exemplary, requisite caramel, malt and throw in some dried blueberry and clove. A real gentle sweetness that last throughout the gong fu session and absolutely no bitterness or astringency. Leaf quality A+, long thick firm strands steeping out to 10-12 times and a cha qi that sneaks up and places you on a cloud. Again exemplary.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 110 ML

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84

Why take a good Dan Cong and make it into a black tea? Because you can and someone will drink it I guess are the main reasons. I personally have no bias as long as the price is not too steep. Brewed this western and gongfu, short steeps, long steeps , over steeped to get an idea on the depth. The longer processing of this into a black tea adds the requisite maltiness we all love but dampens and mutes the floral notes. The underlying sweetness is still present early but dissipates quickly. It has very good structure in dry form and on the tongue, all in all I would drink this as an every day tea.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 110 ML

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96

Oh dear!! Did not expect this at all. Shhhhhhhhh be very very quiet, I’m drinking WuYi nectar of the immortals. This is my first time with this varietal, been scoping it out for at least 5 years but hey there is soooo much tea out there to drink and I like my favorite WuYis in my cupboard. I decided to try it because of its source WuYi Origin. All of the teas from this company have been super tasty and reasonably affordable. The first thing when opening the bag is you get a big whiff of cocoa and turbino. The leaves are deep black, plump, thick, long, velvety. The name of the tea is suggestive that this will taste like BaiYe, BaiJi & RuiGui and it does and doesn’t. First off there is the sweet floral nature of the Bai then the backbone stonefruit of the Rui, but then it morphs into a DaHongPoa but without the over smokey roastiness with creamy peach honey flavors. Super smooth and supple on the tongue with a chew. After a few steeps the rock comes in along the sides of the tongue as a slight mineral astringency but still smooth. Later the sweetness gives way to the gentle roast and some orange rind. Used gaiwan GongFu brewed out to 10 steeps. 5/10/15/20/30/45/60/90/150/300. The longer steeps at the end did not offer up any bitterness at all. West and wewaxation at wast!

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 110 ML
Rasseru

damn. I just made an order with them, this sounds nice.. Oh well – got some fenghuang to try as well as some rou gui fruity

Terri HarpLady

I guess I’ll have to add them to my list… for future reference!

tanluwils

This sounds superb. There were so many choices that this one slipped my mind…dang nabbit!!! Have you tried their 2017 Ming Qian Advanced Bai Mu Dan?

BigDaddy

No. Gives me reason to go back

tanluwils

I don’t remember whether you were into white tea or not, but this one is the level of what I had at Shunan’s.

Rasseru

I forgot to buy some of the white from my first order. damnit I will have to make another

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90

There is no truer tea tasting note for this tea than the one #tanluwils posted, and it was on his recommendation that I purchased this. Iron Arhat is another of the WuYi 4 that’s hard to find in a good representative state, it’s either too smokey, not roasted enough, a blend of other material, so on. This tea has such clarity and as my friend states in his notes, “I recommend taking breaks in between steeps to extract the most flavor.” I brewed gongfu with a small gaiwan and yes I drank the rinse, I know eeew but I can’t help myself sometimes. The tea holds tight the first 3 then relaxes and at 6 really needs to be told what to do. Flash, 10sec, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, 150, using 7g in 110ml over 4 different sessions. I did go further in 2 of those sessions and added minutes to the steeps and a bit of demerara, chilled, for ice tea tasting but was not enough tea to make a splash. Overall goodness, enjoyed immensely.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 110 ML
tanluwils

With these teas, tossing the rise feels wasteful! I wish I had the budget and room for more of this stuff. It screams Zhengyan and was roasted to perfection. After steep 6, this can’t be overbrewed. I accidentally steeped for 10 mins and ended up with a very tasty cup.

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90

I had stopped trying Xing Reng because I could never “get” the almond fragrance the tea is named after. Time after time it was probably a blended inferior Bai Ye varietal and it would invariably have too much floral perfume. Well I’m glad to say this is a true representative of this fine Dan Cong. For the first pour it is imperative that you place your schnozzola just above the vessel, be gentle, as the hot water hits the thin threads of tea, bingo, almond fragrance. The soup has a lovely flavor, with almond, butter, floral tones, sweet, orange slight sourness in later steepings, just an all around enjoyable brew. I am really impressed by the offerings from this company and will continue my forays into their terroir.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 30 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
Rasseru

my next shop to try out! any personal favourites?

BigDaddy

Gotta say so far all are great but the old bush Shui xian is super yummy. This is the only purveyor that really speaks the oolong language other than Tea Drunk and at a fraction of the price. Enjoy

Rasseru

yeah tea drunk is way out of my price range, I would rather go direct to china. $40 for 7g ba xian is a bit much, unless it enables dimensional travel or something equally fun

BigDaddy

Looks nice, would use it for shou for sure.

tanluwils

i just completed an order with them. I’m really impressed by their Xing Ren Xiang. It has good depth and reminds me of the real old school Cantonese almond cookies made from pure almond!

Rasseru

schnozzola is a great word

BigDaddy

#tanluwils stop making me hungry the tea lust is bad enough!!

BigDaddy

I was going to use proboscis but Jimmy Durante snuck up on me.

tanluwils

Why resist?

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80

Had a belly ache this morning, not pushing it, look there in the back, past all the oolong and pu erh, silver needles, alllll right. Used quite a bit of leaf at 180° for a minute +, with a decent brew of slightly peppery, marigoldish yumminess. It pays to have a stash.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 30 sec 8 g 6 OZ / 180 ML

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88

Another fine Yancha from WuYi Origin. This is their premiere RouGui from the flight of three (Cinnamon, Flowery, Fruit) as it has the highest price tag. I echo tanluwils with the comments on its fine structure and flavors. One thing I can add is the first pour released the quintessential cinnamon aromas I really love in a good RouGui. I can’t wait to try the next two RouGuis they have to offer.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 8 g 5 OZ / 160 ML

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88

Ah, Da Hong Pao, the big daddy of all cliff tea. This being a blend will certainly not taste like anything I’ve had before, and the mystery continues. Deep, sultry, but not overly forceful as some I’ve tried. A faint sweetness in the back of the throat and some red stone fruit flavors too. Baked 4 times which for me is on the lower side, but they must’ve been watching this like hawks because the amount of roast in the mouth feels like 6-8. Leaf structure held up nicely after 10 steeps, the minerality hits just perfectly at steep 4 along the lateral tongue. A blend for all seasons, cause I love me some DHP.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 5 OZ / 160 ML
Zennenn

Just read this after I also posted a review! It’s interesting that you and I both noticed less punch, but I wouldn’t say this is weak in flavor or complexity, and it seems you found the same. I thought it was an unusual tea.

BigDaddy

I do agree, lighter. Yet that seems to be the trend these days for the Western market at least. I’m not sure that is the case here or just the way they make this blend. #tanluwils a fellow Steepster has been in correspondence with the company maybe he can shed some light on the matter.

Zennenn

I’ll have to reach out, thanks!

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88

Bai Ye is just one of those teas that if you buy it from 7 vendors you’ll get 7 different teas. This is fairly representative with a good amount of florals and sweetness and a hint of cashew. Brewed for extra length which is always a plus, but it was not the best I’ve had, still I will drink the rest of my stash with reverence.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 15 sec 8 g 5 OZ / 160 ML
tanluwils

How would you compare this one to Yunnan Sourcing’s Bai Ye?

BigDaddy

YS BY was a little inferior. Strangely Shunan had a perfectly structured BY that you could tell was a good tea but had a fraction of the aromas and flavors, and one she called a lady of the night, full of the sweet and over top floral but it was not structured and pooped out in the gaiwan after 3-4 steeps.

tanluwils

I think i remember her talking about it. I was thinking of getting Cindy’s Baiye, but went all in and got me some yashixiang. The price is lower than YS version, so I’m wondering how good it will be. So far all of the dancong from Wuyiorigin have been superb. I highly recommend Xingrenxiang.

BigDaddy

Thanks for the rec’. Any reason to order more Fujian tea is a good idea.

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88

Smoooooth! Highly enjoyable, sweet with a hint of nut and oat/wheatberry. Has all the structure of a fine Yancha with the rock appearing in the mid-late steeps, a slight increase in salivation throughout. Glad I bought scads of it.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 8 g 160 OZ / 4731 ML
tanluwils

Good move. I also made a recent order. This is a very real tea. Distinctive structure and texture, unique flavor profile, and quite stable over many infusions.

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Food and Drink fanatic. Expanding my horizons with new teas. Accomplished cook with a love of wines, liquors, cocktails, coffees and teas.
Semi-retired Interventional Cardiology Registered Nurse

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