Da Yu Ling Black

This tea is from summer 2023. It’s the first hongcha I’ve seen from Da Yu Ling, so of course, I jumped at the chance to try it. I steeped 6 g of leaf in 120 ml of 195F water for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds, plus some long, uncounted steeps.

The dry aroma is of brown sugar, honey, smoke, plum, and spices. The first steep has notes of brown sugar, honey, grain, wood, and vague plumminess. It kind of reminds me of a Bai Hao without the muscatel. I get something like oakwood and smoke in steep two, along with the honey, grain, spice, and brown sugar. Steeps three and four are very sweet, with lots of honey and brown sugar with woody undertones. I still get some fruitiness, though it’s hard to identify specific fruits. The next few steeps are very similar, with honey, brown sugar, nectar, pine, malt, and wood. The final steeps fade elegantly into fainter brown sugar, honey, and wood, with none of the bitterness or tannins typical of the last few steeps of a black tea.

This tea is incredibly sweet and well balanced without having many identifiable flavours. The steeps didn’t change too much throughout the session, and it was a pleasure to drink for at least sixteen infusions. I tend to enjoy fruitier hongcha, but this is a personal preference and the tea is very nice. Is it as amazing as one would expect from Da Yu Ling? I found it very similar to the Lishan Black, so I would have to say no.