2010 Red Tea Dan Cong

_{Backlogging and based entirely on my notes}

Experience buying from Life in Teacup http://steepster.com/places/2861-life-in-a-teacup-online-easthampton-massachusetts

I got this as a free sample from Life in Teacup in the fall of 2011 and brewed it up on 12/14/2011.

This tea had long, dark-brown twisted leaves that reminded me of a darker roasted oolong; it had a gunpowder-y aroma similar to the Wuyi oolongs I have had, but more uplifting, rather than earthy.

I used my standard oolong steeping times and temperatures (I found this to be surprising, but I think I treated this as an oolong). There were seven grams of dry tea to three cups of water. The the liquor had a light caramel color, with a mild aroma (malty?). The flavor was good, similar to a Wuyi oolong. It had some mild flavor on the forth steeping. The wet leaf looked like any quality oolong I have seen: large, whole leaves ranging in color from dark green to dark brown.

Overall, my understanding is that this is technically a red tea (so fully oxidized), and yet it was best Wuyi-like tea I have ever tasted: it was sweeter and not as roasted as most Wuyi oolongs tend to be. I enjoyed watching the leaves slowly unfurl with each steeping. Although I stopped at four steepings, it may have had more to give. I enjoyed everything about this tea (although I’m not a big Wuyi oolong fan this one was sweeter).

This just SMELLS Malty!
The color is a light to light-medium brown.
The taste is near a roasted peanut type taste. Not really nutty or peanut butter tasting but very hard to thing of anything else that it would be near taste-wise…but certainly roasted…NOT Smokey…roasted. It might come to me more clear at a later date. This is pretty good tho!

Very toasty!
Strong roasted flavor but it tastes “fresh” at the same time, almost green-like. Extremely tasty and smooth. I love toasty flavors and this tea has it in abundance.
Super large twisted, charcoally-looking leaves. Very cool. :)
Super generous sample. Thank you Gingko!!

Mmm, the dry leaves smell like coffee, and chocolate, and fall (that is, dry leaves :P). They’re big and pretty too, just like the picture. The flavor is more like an oolong than I expected – might try it with a shorter steep time, maybe even cooler water, because I’m getting a little tannic kick on the back end. It’s still quite smooth overall, though, roasty and warm; it almost tastes like a Darjeeling, actually, with that sharp roasted fruit flavor.

I used about a quarter of my 6g free sample (thanks Ginko!), so I’ll enjoy playing with this some more.

Dry leaf aroma is of typical warm citrus and the wet leaf smells like a baked plum tart. The liquor strikes immediately with bright, fruity notes that are very forward though not sharp in the least and is somewhat complex without being very deep. The mouthfeel is ultra smooth and lingers with an aftertaste of peach candy and delicate butterscotch. It’s a very interesting tea that has the fruity characteristics of yellow tea and a the soft malt and slightly metallic immediacy of red tea all the while carrying the typical exotic and amiable flamboyance of its namesake.

Considering the story behind this tea (read Ginko’s blog) and the pains taken by the grower to salvage an otherwise devastated crop, we are now privy to what I consider to be a unique gem, albeit cloudy and roughly cut. Enjoy in this cup not only the tea itself but also the deftness and earnest attitude of its producer. Much thanks to Gingko for sharing this with us. For the price I suggest everyone try some as I feel it will be hard not to love and appreciate.