Ducktale Spring 2016 Yashixiang Dancong Oolong

Gongfu!

I rarely use this rubber duck teapet because it’s so large, but it was too perfectly on theme to not pull out for this session!! Steeped up, I found this tea pretty dynamic and flavourful. The top notes were woody and mineral, like licking rocks or seashells, before exploding into a mix of juicy lychee, green grapes and tropical fruits with a very heady floral finish. Smooth, fresh feeling, and ultimately well balanced. I have to admit that I’d forgotten about this tea sample since I just don’t drink a ton of dancong, and I was worried it may have aged poorly, but it made for a surprisingly lovely session!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8pw2v9h-NR/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCDLQl4h-qA

Thank you Whiteantlers!

This is a backlog from yesterday. I’ve avoided opening this one because I put Bitterleaf Teas on a pedestal of pricy. But then I looked at the 2016 date, and the time was now.

This tea is interesting and doesn’t have the same astringency as most Dan Congs, or the Ripe Heady florals of most of the Yashi’s I’ve drank. Russ’s notes cherry were interesting because it does have a weird tang and fruitiness that resembles cherries, but lighter pink ones instead of the red ones that usually come to mind. The note itself had the soft tartness of some cascara, or coffee cherries, and that’s what I’m going to pick for my palette vocab today.

The tea’s overall character though is very milky, floral, and laced with minerals. The tea’s color itself is a very creamy yellow in shorter steeps and orange color in longer steeps, and the flavor with the mouthfeel create an almost dairy like sensation. The minerals that follow up are like mineral water, and while slightly sweet, they just add a lot of texture in every brew of the tea gong fu. Otherwise, the flavor is pretty light and I needed to add more leaves in the next session to get more flavor, and grant a medium for the bizarre cascara notes. Aroma packed a much more extreme profile that was almost like japanese milk candy. I’d almost use lychee to describe the smell, but I am so frickin’ tired of that note moniker, and the fruitiness is not tropical and not prominent.

I really liked this tea because it was easy to drink and combined my favorite elements unique to oologs. You don’t get heavy minerals combied with a creamier flavor often, Dancongs also usually go to astringent extremes between the floral, fruity, and toasty, but this one is very balanced. If I didn’t feel weird about the shipping, I’d probably would have gotten some this myself, but thankfully, Whiteantlers gave me the opportunity to drink this up.

I’d also add Hugo Tea’s Yashi Dancong they have is pretty similar to this one and a little bit heavier in its body, and has cheaper shipping costs in U.S. It does have a little bit more sourdough flavor to it, but it’s comparable. This one still highly appeals to me-I’m bumping up the rating to reflect that as I sip it down today.

This is the third time I have drunk this tea and I find myself particularly excited as I pour the leaves into the hot gaiwan.

The dry leaves in the hot gaiwan reveal two different sets of aroma on two separate sniffs. First dark berries, second (after a little shake) milky / cream.

The leaves are big, whole and very dry. I like to chew on leaves like this. The flavour is somewhere between red grape and cherry, with a background bitterness and the faintest hint of cream. In a blind test I’d think this was a high end gongfu red tea. The lingering taste in the mouth from chewing the leaves is pleasant. The moisture has been fully removed which suggests a longer, more careful withering and drying.

The aroma of the wet leaf after the wash brew reveals something more vegetal, almost earthy. Think I awakened something.

First steep the liquor is vibrant yellow, like a white wine. Viscous and oily. Fragrance reveals the creamy notes.

The mouthfeel is thick, the flavour milky / cream and the vegetal / berry notes are hard to find. Definitely transitioned into the creamy flavours while brewing.

It’s delicious actually – I really like it – the cream flavour is not overpowering – actually the liquor is very bright and clear, it looks like it should taste vegetal, which is confusing but interesting. There’s some floral there too. Quite dominant floral on the breath after drinking actually.

Fragrance in the cup holds on to the vegetal notes and cream equally.

Nice cool huigan on the sides of the mouth and back of the throat.

As the steeps progress we shift from the obvious, creamy notes fade into more mineral, watery, subtle flavours. There’s a herbal element that creeps in to the aroma on the lid of the gaiwan. Like rosemary. The flavour profile of this tea likes to bounce around and reveal all sorts of notes that you think wouldn’t work together, but they actually do.

I’m happy to see this one through for about 7-8 steeps.

There is an underlying ‘green’ bitterness to it, which I quite like. Overall the flavour profile holds together really well. No jagged edges, nothing that sits out of place. Balanced.

Definitely recommend this tea, would like to have some around permanently. This was a medium sized sample I got three sessions from.

Note to Bitterleaf: Thank you for coming up with a duck related name and not plastering profanity all over the packaging.