7 Tasting Notes

95

This is an incredibly complex tea! You can tell just by taking a whiff of the steam after pouring it into a cup.
The tea is quite thick, sweet like some sort of honey, somewhat chocolate-like, it has a somewhat hearty base, maybe malt? The tea can also be re-steeped soooo many times. I use 5g in a 120ml gaiwan, and you must quickly pour out the water after so it doesn’t over-brew the tea for the first 3-4 steeps. Every steeping is aromatic and flavorful, even at the 10th steeping (although I sometimes stop drinking this tea before the leaves are completely exhausted).
The leaves themselves are uniform buds like you would expect of a good Jin Jun Mei tea. Because of this, I think maybe its better to not use boiling water. Perhaps 90 degrees Celsius.

So if you like black teas, then I think you will really love this one!
All this being said, I am not a huge drinker or appreciator of black tea. I usually prefer drinking them very casually without paying much attention to them. And occasionally I brew good black tea western style. I pre-heat my gaiwan with boiling water, put about 1g of leaf in and then steep the tea in boiling water. I let it steep until its barely hot, basically just warm. Then the tea is very strong, and if the tea is good it will also be smooth. It has a lot of richness overall and a lot of sweetness will also come out where when brewing gongfu style it might not be noticed (perhaps some complexities are dulled because of this). Then the tea can sipped very slowly, just like how I would imagine people would sip on whisky (I don’t drink alcohol, but in my mind it seems analogous, also similar in color). Each sip will have a veeeery rich flavor. Only works with fine black teas or else it will go very bitter. Works fine with this Jin Jun Mei!

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100

I love this tea!!!

I have tried a bunch of Wuyi Origin’s teas, and so far this one is my favorite.
The flavor is sweet, the mineral taste typical of Wuyi tea, flowery orchid aroma (somewhat comparable to a tie guan yin) and cinnamon flavor. Very pleasant and smooth aftertaste as well. And like many of Wuyi Origin’s teas, it has a pleasant, very subtle menthol-like effect in the aftertaste.
It is like drinking tea brewed from the flowers of a tea tree with cinnamon bark. I really love this tea a lot!

Flavors: Cinnamon, Menthol, Mineral, Orchid, Sweet

tanluwils

This is the most approachable of the teas I’ve tried from Wuyi Origin. I’m a fan, too.

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90

This is a very good tea. I’ll try to describe the taste in simple terms.
It has a very strong typical Wuyi mineral taste to it. Perhaps the strongest that I have ever had from any Wuyi tea. This flavor lasts for quite some time after every sip you take. The smell of the tea is pleasantly aromatic and slightly sweet. It is supposed to smell of peaches, but to me it smells more like… Well… All I can say is just “fruit” in general. Perhaps dried fruit, with an occasional hint of cherries… Maybe dried cherries..? Do people even produce those? Maybe I simply don’t eat enough peaches to recognize peach aroma when I smell it, haha. I think this tea is roasted quite heavily, BUT no overpowering smokiness at all (which is a good thing). In fact, I can hardly detect any smokiness. So all the tea aromas and flavors come through very clearly without being clouded by the smoky aroma.
Apart from these aromas and flavors, the tea also seems to have a light menthol effect.

This is clearly a high grade tea. I’d imagine this tea to be most appreciated among heavy, experienced Wuyi tea drinkers. As good as it is, my personal preference goes out to Wuyi Origin’s Qilan tea.

tanluwils

I feel ya. Their Qilan is my go-to.

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80

This tea is very delicate in taste. It is a refreshing tea.
The tea is also very beautiful. The leaves are all one bud and exactly the same shape and size. It is a very nice looking tea.
If you like very delicate teas, you might want to try this one.
For me personally, this tea is a bit too light, but I am glad that I purchased this tea, because it is such a beautiful looking tea. It is very unlike any other tea that I have so far encountered.

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95

I have tried all Teavivre’s Tie Guan Yin teas and a few from other stores, and this one is my favorite. I have had Tie Guan Yin tea with a stronger aroma than this one, but this tea is very well balanced for my taste. The aroma doesn’t overpower the teas other characteristics so you get more than just orchid flavor. The tea is sweet and compared to other Tie Guan Yin teas that I have tried, more subtle.

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68

This is a very savory.
Hard to detect any sweetness as it is overwhelmed by the savoriness of this tea.
Reminds me of baked beans or something similar.

I’d imagine this tea to best be drunk during a meal.

The tea has tiny little balls of fur here and here, which I was told was an indication of a high quality tea. I was told that they form when the tea is pan fried, and the hairs from the tea naturally clump together into these tiny balls, also indicating that the leaves used were young as they have more hair than older leaves.
Still, this tea is not for me.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C
SimpliciTEA

“I was told that they form when the tea is pan fried, and the hairs from the tea naturally clump together into these tiny balls, also indicating that the leaves used were young as they have more hair than older leaves.” From what I have read, yes, the presence of the white ‘fuzz’ is good; one Long Jing I recently purchased has it, and it is clearly a high quality tea.

Too bad you didn’t like this tea; personally, I really like Long Jing. Perhaps if you experiment with the brewing parameters you may get different results (green tea can easily get bitter if brewed too long, sometimes even if brewed for more than a minute).

Dxniel

Don’t get me wrong. I really like Long Jing tea myself as well, but just not this particular one. I didn’t brew it bitter. It is too savory and not as sweet and refreshing as the Long Jing tea’s that I do like.

SimpliciTEA

Got it. I think I know what you mean by savory; it does seem like the earlier harvested green teas are typically lighter in flavor, but fresher and more complex, if that is what you are referring to, as in, if that is what you were expecting. I prefer that as well (over bolder flavors that tend to mask more delicate flavors).

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78

I haven’t had that many Phoenix Dancong teas before, but I never really was that fond of them until I purchased this sample.
When I was about to place my order, I figured I could add some cheap samples to try out. I am glad I did.
The first brewed cup had quite a smokey flavor and a slight fruity flavor in the background.
The second cup had very little smokeyness and was a lot more fruity than the first cup I brewed.
The third cup was very similar to the second cup I brewed, but a bit lighter, in a good way.
The fourth cup was worth brewing, but not that special tasting. Most of the sweetness had subsided and there was a vague fruity aroma left, but still an enjoyable cup.

I only used 2,5 grams and steeped the tea for 1:00, second 1:30, third 2:00 and fourth cup for 3:00.

I will definitely buy some more of this tea and also try out different varieties of Phoenix Dancong tea.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 0 sec
SimpliciTEA

I recently bought a Phoenix Dancong from them (it may be the same one) and really liked it as well.

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