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I’ve been drinking this Dancong for a while, but am having trouble doing it justice in a review as I find the flavours to be complex and the roast overpowering. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 200F for 7, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of honeydew melon, tangerine, orchid, herbs, hay, and roast. The first steep has notes of honeydew, orchid, banana bread, honey, grass, minerals, almonds, cream, wood, and heavy roast. The second steep adds a bit of tangerine and grilled peach, especially in the aftertaste, along with violet and drying roast. Almond, cherry, honeydew, peach, and orchid are more prominent in the next couple steeps, but wow, the tea is drying. It tastes like a mouthful of almond skin. At the bottom of the cup I smell grilled peach and pineapple and some honeydew melon—all of which are things I’d rather have in the tea. The fruit comes out a little more in the next couple steeps, along with honey, other flowers, and some vegetal flavours. Steeps seven and eight have notes of butter, orchids, banana, honeydew, almond, and roast, with lots of astringency. The fruit peters out in the next few steeps, with almonds, wood, honey, minerals, and roast being the most notable flavours.

This Dancong has a lot going on, much of it good. However, the roast is a bit too heavy for me and I can’t get past the astringency. I’ve sent the last few grams of this tea to Derk, who should appreciate it more.