This was another of my early 2020 sipdowns. It was actually the tea I finished immediately after the Bihar Doke Silver Needle I just reviewed. I received a sample of it in a 2019 order from Teavivre, but I can’t confidently say whether or not it was a free sample or one I purchased as part of that particular order. I can say that I had never tried a Tan Yang Gong Fu prior to trying this one. I found this tea to be very enjoyable, so hopefully I will enjoy other teas of this type when I eventually get around to trying some more.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse (about 5 seconds), I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 fluid ounces of 185 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for each of these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 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, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.
Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of malt, cedar, cocoa, smoke, straw, sweet potato, and molasses. After the rinse, I detected fresh aromas of butter, roasted almond, and roasted peanut. The first infusion introduced a baked bread aroma and fainter, less clearly defined scents of honey and sugarcane. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, straw, smoke, molasses, sweet potato, honey, cedar, roasted almond, and roasted peanut that were balanced by subtler impressions of coffee, sugarcane, roasted hazelnut, baked bread, butter, and caramel. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of cream, marshmallow, vanilla, pine, orange zest, roasted hazelnut, and caramel. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of roasted hazelnut, butter, and caramel emerged in the mouth along with notes of cream, earth, minerals, pine, vanilla, orange zest, and marshmallow. Hints of tobacco, oats, raisin, and cocoa were also present. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, cream, malt, marshmallow, orange zest, cedar, pine, roasted hazelnut, and sweet potato that were chased by hints of roasted almond, butter, straw, cocoa, earth, sugarcane, honey, caramel, molasses, and roasted peanut.
This was an earthy yet surprisingly balanced and refined black tea with a very appealing sweetness. It reminded me a bit of Wuyi Jin Jun Mei in some respects, but this seemed to be a more reserved and more carefully layered sort of tea. I enjoyed it tremendously. I could see people who are into subtle, sophisticated black teas being impressed by this tea.
Flavors: Almond, Bread, Butter, Caramel, Cedar, Cocoa, Coffee, Cream, Earth, Hazelnut, Honey, Malt, Marshmallow, Mineral, Molasses, Oats, Orange Zest, Peanut, Pine, Raisins, Smoke, Straw, Sugarcane, Sweet Potatoes, Tobacco, Vanilla
