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“SNIFFFFFFFF! Oh yes, the wood-y lovely autumn-y aroma. It reminds me of dried pine needles, actually. A little spicy and a touch of cocoa-y yumness. I remember that cocoa note being much stronger...” Read full tasting note
“Tea of the afternoon……. (SRP #16) Tasting note #700. Wow. I can’t believe it. Which leads me to how this tea came to reside in my cupboard. If you hang around Steepster long enough, you start...” Read full tasting note
“With my recent taking to Fujian black teas, I couldn’t wait to try this tea, and thankfully SimplyJenW fulfilled that desire by immediately sending me a sample of it! I’m brewing it western style...” Read full tasting note
“Today is a sad, sad day. I’ve had to decupboard this beauty of a tea. (Much thanks again to Angrboda for the share.) Is it an Assam? Or a Yunnan? Has cocoa been sprinkled on this? And where is...” Read full tasting note
Tan Yang black tea was first introduced in 1851 and it was mainly exported to European countries. This is one of Fu Jian province’s three famous Gongfu teas (the two others are Zheng He and Bai Lin). It was named after the place of its origin – Tan Yang Village, and has won several awards over the years such as:
Gold Medal in Panama Pacific International Exposition (Year 1915) Chinese Famous Black Tea Gold Medal Honor in the Third Chinese Culture Propaganda (Year 2008) Gold Medal Honor in the Fifth Fu Jian Tea Cup Competition (Year 2008)In addition, Tan Yang black tea was selected by Diao Yu Tai State Guesthouse as China’s Gift Tea for international VIPs in political and economic fields in October 2005, and again in 2008 by the Beijing Olympic Economic Research Association.
Tan Yang Te Ji is made using traditional Tan Yang Congou processing method. Te Ji means Special Grade and the strong taste and fragrance of this tea is certain to delight black teas enthusiasts.
Other names:
Panyang Special Grade Congou , Tan Yang Te Ji Gongfu
Taste:
Tan Yang Te Ji is strong and bold. The flavors range from light floral scents, to refreshingly sweet and sour notes (plum-like). It is a complex tea with a nice aftertaste. This tea also blends well with sweetened milk for added flavor and extra smoothness.
Appearance:
Loosely twisted golden black tea leaves and buds. Clean amber red color infusion.
Origin:
Fu An Shi, Fujian Province
Company description not available.
SNIFFFFFFFF!
Oh yes, the wood-y lovely autumn-y aroma. It reminds me of dried pine needles, actually. A little spicy and a touch of cocoa-y yumness. I remember that cocoa note being much stronger though. It’s coming through in the cup, but not really in the leaves.
In the cup, I found the funniest strong note, though. A bit like boiling broccoli or green beans. A sort of rough but green note. Weird thing is, I can only find it if I keep my nose at a certain distance from the cup. If it’s too close I just get sweet cocoa, if it’s too far away I get spicy slightly smoky woodness, but at that specific middle distance it’s rough green vegetables with a little butter.
This aroma? This aroma alone was so worth waiting for.
SLUUUUURRRRRRRP
Oh yes. I remember this. The initial very fruity flavour with strong notes of cocoa in it. There is a little smoke on the tail end too, but not too much. It will come. It usually showed up the strongest on the second steep for me.
I used plenty of leaf, water gone slightly off boil and a, for me, half-lenght steeping time. Good experiences were made with this method when I had this tea last. Bit expensive on the precious precious leaf, granted, but I dare anybody who’s tried it to tell me it’s not worth it. As a result I’ve got something that has a little astringency. Just a bit at the roof and back of the mouth, and other than that it’s so smooth and lovely. Such a long flavour.
The smoke comes through on the aftertaste here, building up gradually as I drink, and the same is happening for the cardboard-y Assam-y quality. Little by little it’s making its presence.
How I’ve missed this tea! I grieved and mourned when I used the last of it earlier and finally they have it again. A different year and a different harvest, of course, but this harvest totally measures up the other one. I’m turning it all the way up to a hundred points now. Like Auggy said, when I shared it with her, it just has everything as it is. Nothing about this tea can conceivably be improved. You can find stuff that is as good, but nothing that is better. I simply can’t see that happening.
It’s THAT good!
Now, if anybody needs me, I’ll be in the kitchen drawing little hearts on the label.
(I can’t figure out what people mean when they say a tea is ‘chewy’ because chewing a liquid? Really? That doesn’t sound like something I want to do, but I’ve gathered they mean it as a good thing, so maybe this has that too.)
Tea of the afternoon……. (SRP #16)
Tasting note #700. Wow. I can’t believe it. Which leads me to how this tea came to reside in my cupboard. If you hang around Steepster long enough, you start to get to know other members and their tea loves. I believe this is Angrboda’s all time favorite. It is a Fujian black, which are my favorite black teas. This tea has been on my list for ages, so I splurged on 50g. It arrived today in the mail, just in time for my 700th note. Perfect timing!
Oh. Yeah. (I keep hearing that song from ‘Ferris Beuller’s Day Off’ now…) This tea is fabulous. Notes of chocolate, not cocoa-chocolate!, a slightly heavier mouthfeel than others like it (my gong fu blacks), and really tea perfection. I think I want to keep this one around for a while. I stuck with the smaller amount for my first order with TeaSpring since I have a tea inventory problem at home. Once I get a handle on the inventory, I will order more.
Usual mug method. (Want more NOW!)
wow! 700 tasting notes.
I passed 700 recently too… I can’t believe it!
lol some day I’ll get there…
Wow, nice going!
Your review of this tea reminds me how I miss TeaSpring & must place an order SOON!
Wow congrats on 700! I guess I’m not too far away from that myself (I probably would have hit it if I hadn’t been traveling, I think). This is high on my list of teas to try. Sounds amazing!
700 hootie hoo! Congrats to yoouuu!
wowsa, 700!!! congrats! what a tea to mark the occasion :P
Dang that is commitment lol congrats!
Happy 700!!
Tan Yang! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Congrats on 700!!!! : )
With my recent taking to Fujian black teas, I couldn’t wait to try this tea, and thankfully SimplyJenW fulfilled that desire by immediately sending me a sample of it! I’m brewing it western style because that’s how I’ve done my other gong fu blacks so far, with parameters that approximate the parameters I’ve used previously, except this one I brewed a little hotter because that’s more like what TeaSpring calls for.
From the dry leaf I’m definitely getting molasses and grainy notes, that is, it smells pleasantly like horse grain. I’ve smelled that before from the base of the Tea Spot’s Organic Chocolate “O”, and though I know it doesn’t sound like a compliment, it totally is because I love that smell. I always wanted to eat the horse grain as a kid because it smelled tasty, but of course uncooked grains are not that palatable even when covered in molasses. Anyway, back to the tea. Steeped, I’m smelling more of those cocoa, malty, grainy notes in the cup.
Nice grainy, malty, slightly molasses-y, slightly cocoa-y notes in the flavor of this one. It’s also a little less sweet-seeming and a little bolder and a little less smooth than the other gong fu blacks I’ve tried. I’m glad Jen also sent a sample of Keemun Mao Feng, since a few people have mentioned that this tea reminds me of a Keemun without smokiness. I’ve never tried an unflavored Keemun so that will be good to compare. I think Jen nailed it when she said this one was less honeyed and caramelly than the Tan Yang I brought back from China (and I also think Teavivre’s Bailin Gong Fu), but those are some of my favorite parts of the cup. I do have plenty of leaf for this one to try many times and compare side-by-side to some of my other faves, not to mention the others that Jen put in my box (thank you!).
I am definitely enjoying this one very much, but it isn’t an easily-acquired replacement for my Tan Yang I brought back from China (of course I knew that going in from Jen’s reviews). I will have to try the higher-grade Tan Yang Jing Zhi from TeaSpring as well at some point.
I like oats better raw than cooked. Pour some oj into a bowl of them and I’m set.
I’ve tried the Jing Zhi, but I have to say I preferred the Te Ji. I found them very similar, but the Jing Zhi more… well behaved. I like the wildness that the Te Ji still has to it. I saw JacquelineM has tried the Jing Zhi recently and had a completely different experience of it than me, though. :)
Yeah I’m interested in trying the JZ because of all the myriad of experiences here!
Today is a sad, sad day. I’ve had to decupboard this beauty of a tea. (Much thanks again to Angrboda for the share.) Is it an Assam? Or a Yunnan? Has cocoa been sprinkled on this? And where is that hint of roasty coming from? And is there smoky, too? Surely there isn’t any Lapsang in this…
No, it’s just a delightful tea with MPD. But that’s why I love it. That and the fact that no matter which personality shows up in my sip, I know it will always be smooth and sweet and so tasty. It will be missed. So let’s all take a moment of silence to morn for my cupboard, which is now lacking this tea.
::cricket::
Thank you. Now, in other news, I just bought plane tickets to go to Hawaii so I suppose this day isn’t a total loss, yeah?
I’d LOVE to try this!!!!!! Woooooo!
It’s sooooo tasty! Last time I checked TeaSpring, though, they were out. Boo! …and it looks like they still are. Sigh. I’m sure my first TeaSpring order will happen right after this one comes back in stock.
Wooo, Hawaii!! Are you going to visit Eva while you’re there?
I wish! Sadly, we’ll be on a different island. I do have a secret hope of finding some Makai black at a local store drastically on sale though. :)
You know what this means? All of it, every single leaf is GONE! O.o
I think I’m gonna cry…
There is no sadly when it comes to Hawaiian islands! It’s been a long time since I was there but I’ve been to four islands and each one was awesome in its own way.
It’s sad…but I would happily decupboard any of my teas for a trip to Hawaii. :) Hope you have a blast!!!
Angrboda – That is just. Wrong. So wrong. There needs to be more of this tea!
Morgana – Too true – any Hawaiian island is a good thing, tea or not! It’s only been in the past few years that I’ve been anywhere other than Oahu but I’ve enjoyed them all.
Lena – Thanks! I wonder if the husband will let me work some kind of deal – for every X number of teas I decupboard, I get a tropical vacation.
Delicious. Everything I expected, and more. An extremely fine example of a Gong Fu black with all the roasty, chocolatey, tangy wonderment that implies.
Mmmmmmmmmmm!
Another tea which makes me say, “Is this REAL!?” How can this other plant produce sweet chocolate!?!?!?
The Final Sipdown: Day 6.5
This tea is incredible.
Can I say it again?
This tea is incredible.
Unlike flavored alcohol, I find that I really appreciate it when I can taste the derivative beverage in a tea. The taste of alcohol makes me cringe. The taste of tea typically has the opposite effect, and so I greatly appreciate it when the taste of the tea and any other flavors it might involve can play together nicely.
Let’s begin with the scent of the leaves, shall we? It’s got an earthiness about it, but mainly I smell dark chocolate. I have a large bar of Scharffen Berger sitting upstairs that I use for cooking, and that is what I immediately thought of when I smelled these leaves.
The smell of the liquid mimics the leaf scent almost identically, with a bit more of a sweet edge. The chocolate swings between dark chocolate and cocoa.
And then the tea…
The tea is delicious. Aside from the aforementioned flavors, I get notes of caramel, brown sugar, dates, and pecans. On the aftertaste, there’s just a slight, slight tingle of spiciness. Just enough to imply heat. And it feels like I just indulged in some dark chocolate.
Listen, I gulped this cup down before I could really pay attention to it, and while I’d love to go for a second steep I fear that I have too many teas to get through tonight and thus is one of the downsides of TFS.
I will, however, say that from what I’ve tasted, this takes whatever chocolatey or desserty teas I’ve tried have attempted to do, and it does it considerably better. It even takes what teas have not necessarily been attempting cocoa or chocolate [one that comes to mind is that dragon ball pearl tea whatever it’s called from Adagio] and it makes them look like chumps. Like chumps.
I will also say that I am immensely glad that Auggy decided I was worth parting with some of her sample from Angrboda so that I could try this. And also that I will be seriously looking into ordering from TeaSpring. And soon.
Teas Downed: 17
We told you so! :D I need to get more soon too, as soon as I can defend spending money on tea again. If memory serves me right, I bought 200g the last time and that’s nearly gone. Now I have a slight worry that we’ll end up laying TeaSpring dry of Tan Yang… Again. :p
Fourth cup, ninth steep since Tuesday. I think I’m hooked.
Watch it, Steepster. I might have to order the rest of their supply.
Ha! I stocked up recently. I tend to get 200g at a time of this one. I’d get more, but I’m not made of money. Not when I also want to get other things from TeaSpring. :)
Yeah; if this tea is so spectacular, they must have something else worth drinking, eh?
Definitely. In my experience, they sell a very good quality. If I were you I wouldn’t bother too much with the more expensive Tan Yang Jing Zhi. I tried it one, and found I actually enjoyed the Te Ji more. I didn’t think the Jing Zhi was really worth the increase in price.
You should also have a go at their Bai Lin Ju Hong, I think you might enjoy that one as well. I think it’s very similar to the Tan Yang, but smoother and sometimes, not always, I’ve found an uncanny note of oranges or tangerines in it. I haven’t tried the Bai Lin Jin Zhen, but I suspect it might be the same sort of story as the two types of Tan Yang. If you enjoy Keemun, I’ve also been very pleased with the Keemun Hao Ya A. I haven’t explored their oolong section very much recently, so I can’t give you any suggestions there. I’ve got some standing around though, it’s just a question of finding a good time to give them the proper attention.
Thanks so much for your recommendations! I’ll be sure to add them to the wishlist. Bai Lin Ju Hong sounds very intriguing. :)
I think chewy means it tastes a certain sort of caramely. Like an old fashioned caramel chew candy. When I taste the tea it makes me want to chew the caramel candy :) If that makes any sense!
I think I’ll just stick to calling it some sort of sweetness, then. I don’t really find the idea of chewing tea all that pleasant. :)
Chewy for me is more of a dense mouth feel, sort of textured instead of silky. I tend to get it from Irish breakfasts and the like…
PS – YAY TAN YANG!!!!!!!
Yeah, it’s a quality that’s hard to pin down. I get it with green oolongs too, which are pretty silky…and some greens, like Sencha. Maybe it varies for all of us! I’d say a dense mouthfeel is probably the common thread though.
Also, this tea sounds delicious. :(
( :( because I’m tea-grounded until I get rid of some of my tea. >.< )
I must have some. A glowing review….