Mi Lan Dancong Black

This tea! I bought it because I LOVE Verdant’s Mi Lan Dancong oolong, and wanted to see what it would taste like in a black tea. I decided to brew it in my gongfu teapot, and have no idea how much leaf I used, I have only a 7 g sample, so I used about half the bag for this brewing.

I did 2 rinses, then steeped for about 4 seconds ish. Oh, and this has that amazing honey smell of the Mi Lan oolong which I LOVE! Mmm this makes me want to have a Yixing session after this, I haven’t in quite some time :( anyways, onto the taste!

The first steeping tastes like pure honey! Even more than the oolong did I think! The dancong taste is still there, but SMOTHERED in honey! I love this! Oh, and I thought this would brew up a darker color, it’s a lovely golden color. Wasn’t expecting that!

Second steep – yes, more honey, not quite as potent, but as I was sipping and reading the discussion boards, I randomly got some of the avocado!!! YES! It’s in the aftertaste, and not overly intense, it’s more almost a textural thing? Anyways, it’s good! Not a whole lot of chocolate yet, still tastes mostly like a bit stronger oolong to me. Bah, my untrained palate :P

I mixed a bit of the second and third steeps before I will have just the third steep, yes, there it is, the black tea taste. It was a little while coming, but now I can taste a bit of that chocolate malt, not overpowering, but just a nice hint of it to remind me this is not an oolong. And the honey is still there. YES!

This is probably my favorite black tea from Verdant so far. I have only tried this and Laoshan Black, but I think I currently prefer this one, it’s more honey and not as chocolatey (maybe I’m crazy for not liking too much chocolate lol). This is really, really good.

Oh, and on a sad, and angering note, I think Canada Post lost my Verdant order. Not impressed. It’s almost a week late, if it’s not here by tomorrow, I will have to call them and figure out what to do..not looking forward to that.

So…THIS tea…is like a TEA NINJA…it karate-chops ya in the taste buds!

I tastes roasty and toasty but a bit like dark chocolate, too. In the middle of the sip I picked up some jasmine notes but they quickly faded. THEN…wait for it…Avocado! I can taste Avocado! Seriously! But then…there is a bit of dark chocolate again…or carob even. It makes me think of Jason Mraz’s famous Raw Vegan Avocado Chocolate Mousse!

Just when I think I have this flavor figured out it throws me another karate chop…malted milk flavor and fruity-goodness! What the heck?

And not only THAT…but I can pick up characteristics of both black tea and oolong teas! There are malty notes but then there are specs of charcoal notes trying to pop thru.

There is so much going on with this – I can barely contain myself! AND…I LOVE that!

As it cools at room temp for a tick…I can start tasting some lovely, delicate spicy flavors…WOW!!! What a conversation-piece! This tea makes you think…this tea makes you talk…this tea makes you question everything you thought you knew!

KARATE CHOP to the taste buds!

LOVE it!

Good News Mi Lan Dancong Black is now available on the Verdant Website

Pre-release Preview Review Thank you David Duckler for this Sample

Last week I received my order of Laoshan White Tea…so happy to open the Verdant box. There was a note from David Duckler and 2 pouches of samples with handwritten labels that both said ‘Pre-release Preview’ and the name of the tea!
I’ve waited days to try the first tea. No distractions. I wanted to do a proper job of being quiet and still. Sometimes I tell a story with a tea review. A vision will come easily. Today, I had many visions of moonless phosphorescent lagoons and tropical flora. An Island lived on and others traveled to. The visions were many and mine alone. I don’t know why.
The flavors and tastes I am able to share with more ease.

Here are the directions:
4 tsp. tea leaves, 4oz. boiling water
rinse 1 second
steep 3 seconds and add 1 second for each additional steeping
(I followed this method for 3 steepings then switched to Geoffrey’s method of 6 oz water and 8 seconds on the 4th steeping)

The wet leaves smelled initially roasty and vegital, then more and more like tobacco.

The color of the liquor began as a light gold then changed and remained vibrant golden ocre and clear.

Steepings:
Flavor discriptions:

1. Shock! Is this a Black tea or a Dragonwell?
The first taste was such a surprise of sweet, succulent juiciness.
I was caught up in a rush, cream and floral smashing at full force then zoom…all the way to roasted pork loin with crispy skin and the scent of sugared stone fruit at the bottom of my cup. Wow! That was fast! Like the first Star Wars hyperspeed to warp speed…then jump to Lightspeed!

Pause

2. I experienced a little tannin and bitterness for a split second up front. Then, it was all gone. A sweetness swooshed around me like a golden cape of perfect burre blanc sauce with salted yellow plantain. Thick, sweet… ending with freshly sliced mango dripping with fruit sugar. Impossible! This was so tropical for a black tea!

I had to stop and catch my breath!

3. The tea smelled like risotto with a hint of saffron. This was the best flavor. There was no bitterness and the tannin was way back on the tongue. Sweet, honey, creamy with the mango lighty coupled with D’anjou pear. Um um um lick your lips good!

4. Following Geoffrey’s (Business Manager at Verdant) sensibility, I steeped the leaves a little longer to see what would happen.
Ok…
This was the first time I could absolutely tell this was truly a black tea. (I thought there was a mystery involved earlier. A cloak was disguising this Black Dancong.)
Now I remembered some black teas from Napal. Those lavish border blacks that have fruity lightness and are deeply rich that I adore.
The sugar noted in earlier steepings had become wildflower honey and there was a new nutty, salty, pecan flavor in the background that was so light and delicious. The previous fruit and a new floral softness was playfully dancing in my cup as if they had always been present together.

At that moment, all of it came together. The swirl of all three previous tastings and this final one ended with clarity…. of settling down.

I have never experienced a Black Tea like this one. It was like an oolong, a darjeeling or dragonwell and then not. Then again a Black Tea!

Some tea’s are exquisitly Beautiful! Full of private visions!
Some Sparkle!

This Mi Lan Dancong is one of those special tea’s filled with Radiance.

Thanks Amazon for your really great servers!!! (It was an Amazon cloud server problem and not the usual Steepster bugs this time around, it took out Reddit and Foursquare too.)

So now I can finally write this note. I’ve had 5 steeps so far today in my gaiwan and I want more.

The first was the best though. If I could live off avocados, I would. This one tasted like honey and chocolate dipped avocado slices. I got the hints of pomegranate too. Amazing.

After that one, the avocado kind of faded and the chocolate notes got malty. I did start to pick up some jasmine notes too, and the honey definitely stayed through them all.

I should have been writing stuff down as I drank although I did have it pretty much all in my head, but then my mother had to insult me so I pretty much lost it.

The avocado though, ugh so good.

I don’t feel like sleeping so I have steeps 6-8 in a mug right now. There are mostly now honey flavors, with a bit of maltiness. It’s reminding me a lot more of oolong than black tea now. I guess this is a good dancong light for those of us who really aren’t sure about them :P

Quick note because the parents are still here and they’re laughing at me taking notes on teas. I figure there will be a number of back logs from me tonight once they leave lol. Been having this one most of the day while we play games and enjoy our time together. My parents loved their little package of presents and I was able to surprise Ian with his expansion to the game he loves. I’m still in awe over what my parents bought us though – a full set of d5 all clad pots! Add that to the tea kettle I Bought myself and I’m over the moon this Christmas :)

Happy to be back! (Once more, I’ve had to unplug from Steepster for awhile… (My dad was sick again, so I’ve spent most of my time with him at the hospital)

It’s ok, not beign the most active member here, I still greatly enjoy following poeple and their reviews. Even if I have to disappear from time to time, I always come back!

So I’ve had «regular tea» for the last few weeks, not having enough time to indulge in «special tea» such as this one. Tonight is special…I have a date with myself! I’am alone in the backyard, it’s nightfall, and I can hear the owl’s chant, whooo, whooo, very close by…The woods are in my backyard, so I get lots of wild life sounds, and from time to time, wild life visitors. I love all my visitors, they sometimes just pass by, or they stay for a couple of days. Today, we had a red fox sniffing around. It stayed a few hours under the bird feeders, hoping for a snack.

I have brought the cast iron kettle outside to keep my water hot, along with the gaiwan. I will write this review the old fashion way by the candle light, in my tea notebook. Not kidding, a real paper notebook, with a real pen, with real ink. I realized lately that I barely ever «write» anymore, using the electronic devices all the time. I’ve missed that feeling… See, in French, (my first language) I write a lot! It’s a habit and a necessity for me. I write everything and nothing. I think in one day, I probably write more than I speak! To write on paper just feels like reading a real book after reading a thousand digital ones! It feels right again…

Back to the tea. I’m following Verdant’s instructions. A few seconds only for big flavor. I will not pretend I can review this tea the way others have. Although I can always identify some of the notes, the experience for me is more about the way it makes me feel than about the actual taste. I don’t care much if I can’t get the « cinnamon» or the «avocado». And I’m not saying that in a pejorative way, au contraire, I do admire people for being able to do that so well in their reviews and I thoroughly enjoy reading them, but it’s just not my main concern when I try to describe my tastings. However, I think it’s fun when I find exactly what has been described, I guess sometimes it’s just more obvious than others…

Anyways, I get so many different notes in one sip of this tea, it would take a lifetime for me to identify them all!

The first infusion was a burst of sweetness, yum! Chocolate and honey for sure… it’s so warming, it surprised me in such a pleasant way.

As the other infusions evolved, it got closer to oolong than black tea for me. I find roasted nut along with ripe fruits and light spiciness. Even after many infusions It’s very intense and slightly astringent.

I can’t write anymore than that, sorry… I’m too chocked up by the pure bliss it is giving me, and the night is just too beautiful not to get my full attention…The perfect tea for the perfect moment… I will type that on Steepster later when I get back in…

Thank you for that, Verdant…

Boiling water, discarded first rinse. 4.8 g. leaf into 4 oz. gaiwan. This will be my first time having this gong fu style – and I went to the Verdant site to check instructions and found that it’s been archived.

1st steep – 10 seconds-ish because I was slow getting myself situated to pour out from gaiwan to cup. This steep has the buttery texture and nutty flavor of an avocado with the lingering sweetness of apricots that is a signature dan cong flavor for me. It is reallllly smooth.

2nd steep – about the same steep time (I’m slow this morning). At first I almost got a sour note, but then I realized it was the floral undertone. I’m not a huge drinker of the flower teas for this reason, but if you look hard enough the apricot is hiding beneath the flowers. I hope this resolves itself in further steeps.

3rd steep – yes, better. Now more of a cocoa powder flavor is prominent, the fruitiness has disappeared but the buttery avocado texture remains.

Well – I planned poorly. I’m out of water after all the rinses and small steeps. I’ll keep the leaves and have some more tea later since I know this has quite a bit of life left in it. It was great for a leisurely weekend breakfast!

I should not have brewed this up tonight, I’m way too tired for a proper review. Basically, it’s absolutely delicious, and has the same honey notes as Butiki’s Mi Xian Black (does Mi mean honey or something?) There’s an amazing oolongy aftertaste, and I pretty much love this tea. At first I expected something more like the Laoshan Black (only because the aroma seemed to be kind of cocoa-y), but it’s much different. I’ll try more infusions tomorrow, and still have half my sample packet left to try later. Sleeeeeeeeeep.

ETA: Second infusion was pretty good; third was quite weak. This tea certainly doesn’t have the longevity of Laoshan Black. I will hopefully remember to compare the last of this to the last of my Mi Xian Black to figure out how similar they are/what my preference is!

I got this as a sample and it’s great. Reminds me a bit of grapefruit or at least that’s what my mouth keeps telling me :D

Third day of the Verdant black tea comparisons and I’ve decided I’ll make a week of it as I have them all. There’s a hint of cocoa as the dry leaves hit the warm mug but its mingled with other fragrances, floral and earthy true to its teroir this smells more like a dancong than a black tea when brewed up.

There’s a hint of smoke coming off the leaves and a scent of roasted veggies. Yet the first infusion is very malty, powdery cocoa dusted over fragrant oolong. There’s a mix of veg and herbaceous, I keep come back to avocado, asparagus, banana and some mustiness.

Disclaimer: I’m not the biggest appreciator of dancongs, there are a couple I’ve liked and a few more than have lacerated my tongue, but I know I like this one, I’ve had it before and even on this second infusion I know I need to lower the temp next time because those roasted veggie notes now smell charred.

Then there it is that greyish purple clay taste I get from dancongs, not as offensive here with the cocoa, avocado and now honey and yup peach. Getting stronger and stronger juicy peach oh swoon now I know what those dancong lovers search for and this peach is with chocolate, seriously just wow. Perhaps I won’t lower the temp ;)

Less peach in the third infusion there’s a woodsy quality with the clay and yes incense and just like my first tasting note I’m getting a dry sheng like quality. Interesting. Can I have that peach back please? Will come back to this note later in the day with observations.