Wuyi Origin

This is a good example and reminds me of the Verdant one.
Nose; Gardenia, orchid, aloeswood, celery.
Palate; delicate, slight cooked greens, orchid, pear, a bit like Taiwan Sourcing Oriental Beauty.

Another stellar tea from Cindy! I have to say that she ( or whoever she has doing this ) is a master at tea firing/roasting, her teas never seem to be over roasted, and yet they have just the perfect processing to bring out flavor and aroma while insuring at least some longevity. I even tried to intentionally " burn " a couple and they held up really well. Another plus since this means the teas are very forgiving regarding brewing.
Nose; Vanilla, hazelnut, cream, very light boiled greens, plum, violets, incense, round.
Palate; light berries, cassis, vanilla, slight malt, hazlenut, chestnut, very light chamomile, slight spice.

I found this tea to be one of the best black teas I have tasted.
Nose; beautiful florals, rose, gardenia, light tulse, parsnip, orchid, very light ozone, like a forest after a rain. delightful.
Palate; similar to nose with the addition of rambutan and plumeria, and a sparkling character.

This is not a typical smoky version of this classic tea. Still it has some characteristics of the well known variety. Almost like a cross between Dehong and the title.
Nose; Malt, sweet potato, peach, apple.
Palate; sweet, malt, apple.

A very nice example of JJM.
Nose; Malt, honey, sweet potato, rich
Palate, similar to nose, slight orange peel, butter, sweet.

Nose; Strong fruit, lychee, peach, red raspberry, toasted nori, plumeria, jasmine.
Palate; Slight blood orange, nice sweetness at back of palate, slight cinnamon and allspice, very light toasted flavor, round, brothy,, violets,

This is a really wonderful tea and if you like fruity this one is for you.

Why take a good Dan Cong and make it into a black tea? Because you can and someone will drink it I guess are the main reasons. I personally have no bias as long as the price is not too steep. Brewed this western and gongfu, short steeps, long steeps , over steeped to get an idea on the depth. The longer processing of this into a black tea adds the requisite maltiness we all love but dampens and mutes the floral notes. The underlying sweetness is still present early but dissipates quickly. It has very good structure in dry form and on the tongue, all in all I would drink this as an every day tea.

This is another big tea from Wuyi Origin, so balanced, so sweet, so mineral, so smooth…, but with the force of a Shuixian.
Steeped 15 sec. first adding 5 sec. each until 60 sec., then 15 sec. eah until eleven.
First steep so strong, a little bitter but with a very long Yan Yun aftertaste and a weak sweet notes. In second steep bitters almost disappear increasing the presence of the tipical mineral flavor of a wuyi tea, with smoky notes, woody and chocolat notes. Tea is beginning to round up. Thirth steep is now balanced and smooth, increasing it strong mineral notes and showing honey sweetness. Fron thirth to seven steep the tea stabilizes this flavors, increasing honey notes and rounding the mineral flavor. Aftertaste is very long. base of tongue has a nice bitter that gives strength to the tea. the complete scenario shows and outstanding and very balanced tea.
From eigth steep begins to fade, only showing honey sweetness notes, decreasing mineral and smoky flavors.
The combination of old bush with 4 years aging makes a sublime tea. If you try one time sure you’ll want to repeat the experience.
The youthfulness of Cindy Chen joint with the grandparent’ s experience shaped in this tea let shows the beauty of their souls…

Yashi is a very fine cultivar and very rare. Leaves has low oxidation with medium roasting. Since first infusion soup shows a very fine orchid aroma, floral taste, sweet, fruty and subtle floral aftertaste. It’s flavor reminds me a big tea in Taiwan: Da Yu Ling. And as this tea Yashi cultivar has a complex features, but very very soft tasting. Orchid flavor remain until fifth infusion. Then become eith more strenght with a soft bitter that contrast with it’t honey sweetness giving it an outstanding strenght, that is present until 12th infusion. Indeed, like Cindy says, is a relaxing tea, but I focus on the complex flavor that make this tea a rare flavor experience as this unusual cultivare. in summary is not an everyday tea, only for memorable events

Jinjunmei Tong Mu Guan. Tea is really outstanding, sweet, very sweet and subtle with no bitter.
Wet leaves has a deep caramel aroma. So tiny and uniform leaves shows it high standard.
Steeped 12th times, first 20 sec. addig 5 sec each untill 8th steep. from 9th. to 12th. 15 sec. each.
Soup of rich brown color. Potato smell. First infusion shos a little bitter but soon shows the extraodinary sweetness. All infusion untill 11th. are very subte, sweet, sugarcane, with bits of futal flavor rhan linger in mouth many seconds. Sweet aftertaste.
This is a very subtle tea, the best hongcha i’d ever taste. At the end, you can see beautiful, uniform leaves that shows the careful selection of them. It’s no a cheap tea but you get much more than you paid for it.

Ban tian yao 2016 from Wuyi origin. very pleasant relaxing and balanced tea. It has a little smoky taste, frutal, mineral and with a pronounced sugarcane finish. This tea is very subtle, almost like a Baijiguan, but more roasted and more robust in the beginning.
Wet leaves with typical wuyi aroma with chocolat and woody notes. Medium roast.
I steep this tea with 7 gr. at 87° C. First steep 20 sec., adding 5 sec. each subsecuent steeps until 8th. steep. From 9th. to 12th. 15 sec. each and fron 13th. to 15th. 30 sec.
First infusion shows a subtle smoky flavor with typical mineral flavor and a little frutal aftertaste. This continues fron 2th. to 8th. infusion. Then soup becomes with a very nice sweet and frutal flavor that linger in mouth a lot. Total fifteen steeps.
Tea is very nce and balanced, so subtle. It remains me Baijiguan cultivar, but more complex and a little more strong flavor. It´s a relaxing tea very good to share with your friends

Outstanding tea for a Rou Gui varietal. It has a very strong presence: a classic Wuyi Yancha, with a strong Yanyun at the beginning and finaly with an frutal (peach – Apple) aftertaste. It ’s quality are like a Shui Yin Gui or a Tie Luo Han, or maybe better.
I brewed 7 gr. of tea in a Yixing teapot of 170 ml. First steep 20 sec, next eight steeps adding 5 sec. each, and fron ninth 15 sec. each steep. In total Thirteen infusions.
Wet leaves has a strong rocky, mineral and chocolat aroma. Leaves has a dark color like a médium-high oxidation. very nice wet leaves.
First steep shows a classic Wuyi Yancha with personality, strong, very strong flavor predominating mineral flavor with chocolat and Woody notes. At the end a subtle fruity aftertaste. In summary, a big strong and delicious tea.
from second to fifth steeps remains the minerality, emerging slowly honey notes and remains fruty aftertaste.
last infusions begins to lost of the minerality increasing the frutal peach notes and same aftertaste. No bitter at all. very pleasant, easy to drink, but allways with strong presence.
I think this is an art piece from a Rou Gui that combines an excellent ground, beautiful leaves and a careful baking process. The perfect combination between nature and human creativity.

Oh dear!! Did not expect this at all. Shhhhhhhhh be very very quiet, I’m drinking WuYi nectar of the immortals. This is my first time with this varietal, been scoping it out for at least 5 years but hey there is soooo much tea out there to drink and I like my favorite WuYis in my cupboard. I decided to try it because of its source WuYi Origin. All of the teas from this company have been super tasty and reasonably affordable. The first thing when opening the bag is you get a big whiff of cocoa and turbino. The leaves are deep black, plump, thick, long, velvety. The name of the tea is suggestive that this will taste like BaiYe, BaiJi & RuiGui and it does and doesn’t. First off there is the sweet floral nature of the Bai then the backbone stonefruit of the Rui, but then it morphs into a DaHongPoa but without the over smokey roastiness with creamy peach honey flavors. Super smooth and supple on the tongue with a chew. After a few steeps the rock comes in along the sides of the tongue as a slight mineral astringency but still smooth. Later the sweetness gives way to the gentle roast and some orange rind. Used gaiwan GongFu brewed out to 10 steeps. 5/10/15/20/30/45/60/90/150/300. The longer steeps at the end did not offer up any bitterness at all. West and wewaxation at wast!

This reminds me of the small batch of wild oolong (see testing note) Cindy had harvested and crafted from the same tea leaves used to process their popular wild lapsang souchong. The tea liquor is a crystal clear orange hue and is very smooth in texture. The tea can be felt in the corners of my cheeks and in the back of the throat. I would say the aroma is more of the show-stopper, while the tea flavor is extremely soothing, lively, and bright. Both in aroma and flavor, it has a definitive granite/karst mineral base, highly floral, and something juicy that is reminiscent of a very ripe vine tomato. I can get a good 7 steeps out of this one before it looses flavor.

Mi Lan Xiang Old Bushes 2017 from Wuyi origin.
I brewed in a Gong Fu 160 ml, 7 gr. of tea. After rinse, 20 sec first, adding 5 seconds each brew untill one minute, then 15 sec. next four steeps and then 30 seconds last three infusions. In total finfteen infusions.
Wet leaves has an spectacular floral and milk aroma. leaves with medim oxidation (~30%) and low-medium roast.
Liquor of ambar color, bright with a soft fruit/floral aroma.
First-Fourth steep: In mouth A little bitter, frutal with an outstanding guava, mango and passion fruit aftertaste. very very long aftertaste.
Fifth-Ten steep: Till fifth infuson the bitter was soften and emerges floral tones with a soft honey sweetness. Aftertaste has a strong and delicious tropical fruit with touches of honey.
Lasts infusions shows roundness, strong honey notes and a delicious sweet aftertaste.
Unusual tea. Different with a large spectrum of flavors, scatching perfection. Excellent relationship price quality.
When a I drank it reminds me a flowery garden wirh a lot of colors like yellow, orange, red, light green with a deep blue sky…

There is no truer tea tasting note for this tea than the one #tanluwils posted, and it was on his recommendation that I purchased this. Iron Arhat is another of the WuYi 4 that’s hard to find in a good representative state, it’s either too smokey, not roasted enough, a blend of other material, so on. This tea has such clarity and as my friend states in his notes, “I recommend taking breaks in between steeps to extract the most flavor.” I brewed gongfu with a small gaiwan and yes I drank the rinse, I know eeew but I can’t help myself sometimes. The tea holds tight the first 3 then relaxes and at 6 really needs to be told what to do. Flash, 10sec, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90, 150, using 7g in 110ml over 4 different sessions. I did go further in 2 of those sessions and added minutes to the steeps and a bit of demerara, chilled, for ice tea tasting but was not enough tea to make a splash. Overall goodness, enjoyed immensely.

I had stopped trying Xing Reng because I could never “get” the almond fragrance the tea is named after. Time after time it was probably a blended inferior Bai Ye varietal and it would invariably have too much floral perfume. Well I’m glad to say this is a true representative of this fine Dan Cong. For the first pour it is imperative that you place your schnozzola just above the vessel, be gentle, as the hot water hits the thin threads of tea, bingo, almond fragrance. The soup has a lovely flavor, with almond, butter, floral tones, sweet, orange slight sourness in later steepings, just an all around enjoyable brew. I am really impressed by the offerings from this company and will continue my forays into their terroir.

I’ve been waiting to find some free time to try this one. As expected from this vendor, the tea’s quality has surpassed my expectations.

The brewed leaves are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen – expertly processed. They’re very green and plump. The aroma is fruity, floral, and subtly grassy in a white tea sort of way. Nice pale tea soup. It’s a very gentle, rich, full bodied, and well structured tea that is delicate yet robust. It’s extremely fresh, lively in the mouth and uplifting with a gentle qi. Initial steeps are typically sweet and floral in a way that is unique to white teas.

But, this one offers something else. There is depth, mellow qi, and structure with lingering sensations and aftertaste. I prefer the later steeps (passed steep 5), which are increasingly spiced (cinnamon, nutmeg, and pears), a bit tingly and cooling with interesting karst-mineral and complex woody notes. This is indicative of high quality tea leaves from well-established plants. This is a proper white tea.

Rich, thick, and complex. Pay attention to this tea’s depth, mouthfeel, structure, and aftertaste rather than just flavors. It brews a clear orange liquor that is thick and velvety. The aroma is heavy — mineral-like, floral, and lightly roasted.

I do a flash rinse with this one, as initial steeps are immediately thick and complex. The tea coats my entire mouth but lingers in the cheeks, back of the mouth, and throat. Notes are savory-sweet zhengyan minerals, florals, red velvet cake(?), cannabis, roasted barley, and a hint of fruit.

Steep 3 onwards reveals the tea’s qi, depth, and structure. Sensations intensify from the back of the tongue into the throat and in the cheeks. The qi is relaxing and warms my core. I can feel the tea’s presence for long time after drinking. Prominent notes here are more floral, zhengyan minerals, cannabis, and hints of roasted barley.

After steep 7, the tea needs to be pushed, and that’s fine. Later steeps are moderately thick and have depth, structure, and a very pleasing zhengyan mineral and floral aftertaste. I recommend taking breaks in between steeps to extract the most flavor. Nice lingering tea buzz!

I’m glad I asked Cindy whether there was an oolong version of her wild growing lapsang souchong; she said there was a very limited quantity and that there was already a line of orders before the tea was even completely processed. I’m glad I got in line on time!

The closest thing I can compare this to is a very lightly roasted Wuyi oolong, as it has a distinctive savory-sweet mineral/rock quality to it in both aroma and flavor. The leaves have an intriguing fragrance that reminds me of roasted sweet tomatoes and orchids. Initially, the tea soup is a dark gold tiptoeing towards light orange.

The tea is very pure and lively in taste and feel. Very nice mouthfeel and qi. It’s crisp and decently thick in texture. It’s also well structured and persistent in the mouth after drinking.There is distinctive Wuyi mineral/rock taste, shuixian-like floral notes, vine tomatoes, brown sugar, and roasted grain. It goes for about 9 steeps but can be pushed further. Flavor, mouthfeel and aftertaste are consistent throughout. I need to do a few more sessions using slightly different parameters. Very unique and tasty oolong!

Bright, deep and persistent with subtle, delicate flavors. The dry leaves have a candied, woody scent. After the first rinse, the leaves exude more succulent, fruity and orchid aromas with a hint of roasted pine nuts. The tea brews a very clear and pale yellow brew.

The first steep was sweet (lilies and roasted grains) and almost tart; it seemed to lack structure and body, but after the 3rd steep the tea begins thicken and coat the roof and back of the mouth, revealing the tea’s structure. The next 5 infusions convey much more body and were much more floral and woody with sweet grain notes. The aftertaste and lingering sensations extend way into the back of the mouth, which are very pronounced and intensify at the 8th and 9th steeps. They induce a mouthfeel and qi that is uplifting, clarifying, and very relaxing. By the 5th steep, the drinker is experiencing a tea that is thick, well-structured and has real depth.

That strong sensation in the back of the mouth and top of the throat remain even in later steeps. It needs to be pushed a bit after steep 10 — I’ve been flash brewing the entire time. This is a very subtle tea that will reward those who take their time.