Dan Gui Wuyi Oolong

Dang it all. I made the mistake of brewing up two similar oolongs from Verdant, and am not sure which is which. I’d kept it straight but am now second-guessing myself. So I think I am reviewing the correct one here, but it’s possible I have them reversed. They are noticeably different, so I might be able to sort this out in the future if I’m wrong!

Anyhow – this one greeted me with quite the floral aroma upon removing the infuser from my cup (yes, I brewed western style. I’m simply too lazy for gongfu, though I suspect this would shine in that context). Brain too tired to deduce the particular floral, but it’s not an uncommon one to oolongs (reminded me of some greener ones). I was worried that it would also taste floral, but it doesn’t overly. It’s actually fairly creamy, light, minerally. Really delicious and enjoyable to drink. A lovely creamy, umami flavour left in the mouth after swallowing – a tea that one wants to have remain on their palate for a while. It’s interesting – I actually prefer the taste remaining in my mouth post-consumption more than I do the taste of the actual tea in my mouth. Unsure why, but that has happened to me before, in particular with oolongs. Perhaps it’s a sign of the tea being oversteeped and too complex, then when watered down, it really shines? I have no idea. Either way, this is a nice tea, and it might be making me tea drunk. The baby should probably wait to wake up for his mid-sleep snack until Mommy is sober again.

Here is another sample sipdown for everyone. I have had two other Dan Gui variants from Verdant Tea, but both have been rolled Anxi oolongs. Dan Gui, though a newer cultivar, is most strongly associated with the Wuyi Mountains and is typically used for strip-style Wuyi oolongs. I wanted to see how Verdant’s Wuyi Dan Gui compared.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. In order to keep my brewing methods for these Wuyi oolongs consistent, I followed pretty much the same approach I have been favoring lately for other Wuyi teas. After the rinse, I started by steeping 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 205 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted lovely aromas of fresh flowers and fruit. It was like a blend of dates, citrus, and osmanthus. There was a hint of cinnamon there too. After the rinse, I again detected aromas of dates, citrus, osmanthus, and cinnamon. The first infusion produced a virtually identical bouquet, though I could detect hints of honey and lemongrass. In the mouth, I picked up on notes of osmanthus, lemongrass, yuzu, pomelo, and lemon rind underscored by fleeting impressions of butter, cinnamon, and dates. Verdant’s tasting note insisted I was missing a flavor of marigold, but I didn’t get it. Subsequent infusions faded fairly quickly. Citrus aromas and flavors tended to dominate this tea, though at one point in the early goings, the lemongrass and osmanthus were more assertive. The final infusions came across like a wash of butter and minerals backed by ghostly impressions of citrus, lemongrass, and osmanthus that gave the tea a very light, perfumey presence in the mouth.

While I appreciate that the teamaker kept the roast comparatively light, this tea came off like a citrus bomb. There wasn’t much subtlety to it, and subtle balances of aromas and flavors are what I tend to enjoy about Wuyi oolongs. They may not be deep or have a ton of body, but they are complex on the surface with a texture that focuses the nuances they offer. This one was very aggressive in that it really bludgeoned the drinker with citrus, citrus, and more citrus before ducking out early. I found it hard to maintain interest in this tea over the course of a long session since it seemed to be so unbalanced. While I wouldn’t necessarily caution curious drinkers to avoid it, I would provide the opinion that Li Xiangxi does far better work than this and may not have this one where it needs to be just yet.