Yunnan Sourcing’s Bang Long is a tea with a distinctive character. I’ve had it twice now and the second session was definitely more enjoyable. I think that having some exposure to it helps me appreciate it better. Also, the aromas are more pronounced now. However, the selling point of this particular tea is its unique and pungent taste, as well as the long-lasting aftertaste.
Let’s start with the aromas though. The dry leaf scent is sweet and reminds me of gummy candies. After the rinse, I can smell peat, wood, and candied orange zest, while the empty cup aroma is floral and orchid-like.
The liquor has a medium body and the texture is not particularly noteworthy. It tastes amazing though. It is bitter, sweet, and astringent with a sort of sour finish. There are many flavours, the main ones being malt, apple, and wheat. On top of those, notes of freshly cut grass, yeast, earth, nuts, and orange peel appear too. The aftertaste is strong and evolving with a crisp, cooling and metallic character to it. There are also some new flavours emerging, such as mint, vanilla, parsley, honey, cloves, and carrot cake.
The cha qi is not very aggressive, but definitely noticeable. Drinking the tea induces a warming sensation in the chest and helps clear my mind :)
Flavors: Apple, Astringent, Bitter, Butter, Cake, Candy, Carrot, Cloves, Earth, Floral, Freshly Cut Grass, Honey, Malt, Metallic, Mint, Nuts, Orange, Orange Zest, Orchid, Parsley, Peat, Sour, Sugar, Sweet, Vanilla, Wheat, Wood, Yeast