I haven’t been drinking much Dan Cong recently, but with the arrival of spring (finally!) I am more tempted to return to this category. This particular one is a very fragrance and texture focused tea. It doesn’t shine in taste or cha qi.
Especially the aromas are incredibly complex and varying. The dry leaf smell is sweet and floral (a little bit like sheng) with notes of wood, cinnamon, orchid, beeswax, green apple and sunflower seeds. Once hit with water, it gets more fruity, thick and spicy. There are hints of cranberry, campfire, tulips and green grass at an outside pool.
The taste starts quite floral and metallic. There is generally not much bitterness, which is why I tend to brew it aggressively. I get flavours of stonefruits, nuts, peach pit, wet hay and roasted pear. It’s not a bad taste profile and I think the taste is quite well defined and memorable, but it’s not exactly my favourite. The aftertaste is not super strong, but it lasts for a very long time and it retains a lot of the tart and fruity notes.
The mouthfeel is very interesting and one the highlights for sure. It is very heavy, buttery, somewhat brassy and a little effervescent. After swallowing, the tea leaves a slick, cooling and drying feeling in the mouth.
This is clearly a high quality tea, but since the fruity taste profile is not quite my cup of tea, I rate it lower.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Cranberry, Drying, Floral, Flowers, Fruity, Grass, Green Apple, Hay, Heavy, Honey, Metallic, Nutty, Orchid, Peach, Pear, Stonefruit, Sweet, Tart, Wood
