Review topics: ["taste","aroma","bitterness","tea","oolong","dan cong","balance","overtones","cha qi"].
Reviews
beautiful, fragrant tea
"I love the nutty sweetness of this tea. best to drink it hot and not let it cool - it gets bitter quickly as it cools down."
— Amelia G. (5/5)
One of the best
"An excellent tea. The lid smell is one of the most satisfying I've ever experienced; similar to dong ding lid smell. The tea itself tastes quite bitter the way I prepare it, but in a way that's pleasant, and is met with a strong flavour of sandalwood. I use the "tea gall" brewing method from the youtube channel Tea House Ghost's video on Phoenix Oolongs to brew this tea, I highly recommend that method as otherwise the astringency can be a bit much if you're filling up nearly a whole gaiwan with the tea. Good chaqi, this tea feels complex. This is one of the few teas I would absolutely buy again and again."
— Jazz B. (5/5)
Okay only
"Not as flavourful as the typical Dan Cong"
— Mats L. (3/5)
Good tea
"Good tea"
— Donald g. (4/5)
Soft and relaxing
"I liked it. I usually brew gong fu style but this one's better in western style in my opinion, using 2 grams in 240ml for two minutes with boiling water on the first infusion, 90°C on the second, and boiling again on the third. The first two infusions were very similar, the third was pretty much done."
— Pablo M. (5/5)
Really good! Almond aroma is very delicious and comforting.
"The almond aroma is lovely and fills in the middle of the tea, if that makes any sense. The notes on the listing are accurate. It reminds me a bit of flan, or similar desserts."
— Stanley G. (5/5)
excellent balance
"A great balance between bitterness and sweetness, with punchy aroma"
— Szabolcs I. (5/5)
excellent example of xing ren
"This is a very good example of what "almond aroma" dan cong can and should taste like. Soft, creamy, buttery smooth with rounded edges yet still maintaining a potency in the mouthfeel and sweet floral overtones. The first half of the session has some cooling undertones with a faint fruitiness that is nuanced and creates a really pleasant contrast in the flavor profile. The second half is incredibly clean with a distinct sweetness that reminds me of caramel and vanilla beans. It's a very solid 8-10 cups of thoroughly enjoyable tea that I find myself getting every time I brew this up. Cha qi is pretty strong although I think the young age of the trees and bushes shows itself in this regard, as it isn't quite as refined as I've come to expect from older plants. Old age really tempers the cha qi that good dan cong delivers. The young age of the plants makes this dan cong a bit trickier to brew in the first half. It's a little easier to throw an otherwise exquisite experience off track if you don't have your technique dialed in. I also find the flavor profile flattens out a lot if I don't add water to the teapot between every steeping. Maybe it's just my opinion, but I think that getting dan cong brewing techniques dialed in is more like writing out a mathematical proof for a multi-dimensional universe than it is like putting a square peg into a square hole. 20, 25, 35, and 50 seconds at 195, 197, 201, and 205 *F respectively for the first 4 cups, replenishing the water each time, then another 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, and 300 seconds all with freshly boiled water, poured slowly to let the oxygen work its way into the teapot and coax the flavors out of these leaves."
— NN (5/5)
Rich flavour, tea is sweat,
"Rich flavour, tea is sweat, has classic dan cong aroma. Some honey in the taste, notes of almond. Highly recommended!"
— Ekaterina R. (5/5)
Strongest Dan Cong I've Encountered
"The flavor of this oolong is lovely and distinctive. It's not really floral but it is closer to that sort of description than other things I could think of for describing oolong. I'd say the "almond aroma" description indicates a slight variation from a strong classic Dan Cong expression. It's closest to the "narcissus" Dan Cong as far as what I've tried. The most unique aspect is how strong this tea is. I don't drink as many washes of this tea at one sitting as with other tea because it is remarkably potent. It's as strong as some old tree sheng that I have. This is one of my favorite oolongs."
— Steven B. (5/5)
