2017 Xing Reng Xiang ( Almond fragrance) 杏仁香

Infused 10 sec. first steep, adding 5 seconds each next steep until 1 minute, then 15 sec each until fourteen infusion..
Wet leaves has an almond aroma, fresh, creamy, flowery. First infusion shows subtle mineral notes, almond notes, nutty notes, very sweet, round, elegant, fine and a lovely balance. Liquor of bright golden color and a sweet aftertaste. From second to eight infusion the almond notes predominates accompanied with a very subtle mineral notes a deep sweetness and an overall roundness. Difficul to resist its charm. untill thirth infusion the tea hugs me, very slowly with an irresistible seduction. Oh my God! its sweetness makes me drunk. Then I was spellbound with it’s flavor. It’s like the kiss of a beautiful woman who just brushes my lips. Then The liquor runs through my body giving it a warmth of life. Then, after the ninth infusion it’s beginning to slow down, but now I’m full of it’s wonderful flavor. It’s like the woman who kiss me goes out, but my lips remain vibrating with his memory. After all it’s beauty, it’s roundness, it’s sweetness remains now in my memory because is one of the great moments that a cup of tea gaves me. The tea vibrates and I vibrate with it. I don’t know if it’s the best tea that I was tried but it allows me to feel its essence…

I’ve had many sessions with this tea and it continues to impress. Dried leaves smell like roasted leaves without any remarkable scent, but once hot water hits them I am immediately hit with rich, almond (yes, really!) essence, sweet buttercream, orchids, and hazelnut. The rinse is thin-bodied, but already exudes a nice mouthfeel. This is a testament to the skill and expertise that went into the roasting, which has enhanced the inherent qualities in the leaf.

The next 4 steeps intensify in aroma, qi, texture, mouthfeel, and flavor. The almond here reminds me of fresh traditional Cantonese almond cookies. It’s very full in the mouth and feels nice in the throat. This one goes strong until the 7th or so steep where it gradually fades. It performs best in a chaozhou red clay teapot.

I had stopped trying Xing Reng because I could never “get” the almond fragrance the tea is named after. Time after time it was probably a blended inferior Bai Ye varietal and it would invariably have too much floral perfume. Well I’m glad to say this is a true representative of this fine Dan Cong. For the first pour it is imperative that you place your schnozzola just above the vessel, be gentle, as the hot water hits the thin threads of tea, bingo, almond fragrance. The soup has a lovely flavor, with almond, butter, floral tones, sweet, orange slight sourness in later steepings, just an all around enjoyable brew. I am really impressed by the offerings from this company and will continue my forays into their terroir.