Monkey Varietal "Hou Zhong" Dan Cong Oolong Tea * Spring 2018

I have a little bit of a lull in the evening and didn’t get as much posted as I wanted when I was on here earlier in the afternoon, so I’m going ahead and posting another review now. Like the four teas I reviewed earlier, this was another of my 2020 sipdowns, but it was from the summer rather than late winter or early spring. I had never tried a Hou Zhong Dancong prior to trying this one, but I found this to be a greatly enjoyable tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 fluid ounces of 203 F water for 7 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cream, custard, orange blossom, gardenia, orchid, cherry, and nectarine that were underscored by a faint scent of jasmine. Fresh aromas of roasted almond, grass, spinach, and apple blossom appeared after the rinse and were underscored by a subtle cannabis scent. The first infusion introduced aromas of pear, vanilla, longan, and rose. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of cream, butter, roasted almond, grass, orchid, orange blossom, pear, apple, and sugarcane that were chased by hints of jasmine, cherry, spinach, longan, nectarine, cucumber, lychee, plum, and rose. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of cucumber, candied pomelo, and fresh apple to the tea’s already impressive bouquet. Stronger and more immediately apparent flavors of cucumber, cherry, spinach, plum, longan, and rose emerged in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals, custard, lettuce, coriander, orange zest, and candied pomelo. Hints of vanilla, cannabis, and gardenia were present as well. As the tea faded, the liquor continued emphasizing notes of minerals, roasted almond, grass, butter, cream, orange blossom, sugarcane, pear, apple, rose, and orchid that were backed by a swell of more delicate orange zest, lychee, plum, spinach, lettuce, cucumber, and longan impressions.

This was a very smooth, creamy Dancong oolong that offered tremendous depth and complexity on the nose and in the mouth. I found very little to fault with it. It didn’t turn as astringent, bitter, and/or soapy as many Dancong oolongs seem to do, and it retained its wonderful aroma and flavor profiles throughout my review session. A fantastic tea overall!

The name of this tea intrigued me enough for me to pick up 25 g of it last year. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 203F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

Dry, the tea smells like honey and roast. The first steep smells and tastes like banana bread. (Maybe this is why it’s called Monkey Varietal Dan Cong?) I get notes of char, roast, ripe bananas, honey, grain, and faint florals. The banana bread vibe is even stronger in the second steep, and is helped by the tea’s heavy body, if not by the slight astringency at the end of the sip. The next couple steeps have a very slight fruity note, maybe guava? By the fifth steep, the tea is roasty, bready, and nutty, and the banana is gone. Wood, minerals, nuts, and roast dominate the last few rounds.

If I didn’t know better, I’d say this was a Wuyi oolong instead of a Dan Cong. It’s also much less complex than other Dan Congs I’ve had, though this could be due to my brewing. While the banana bread flavours are fun, it’s way too roasted for my liking and I probably won’t repurchase it.