Chá Dào China Tea & Art

Nice energetic Pu Erh with walnutty notes and long aftertaste like mint.

Read the tasting on my blog:

http://chazichaxi.blogspot.de/2016/04/tea-tasting-2006-nian-da-lan-ying-sheng.html

I retried this tea after some suitable storing time in my selfmade “pumidor”. Wow! What a transformation. It didn’t appear aggressive at all anymore. Instead, the complexity sent me straight into summer holiday. I was really impressed by the range of associations it gave me. Flowers, plants, hot stone tiles, Earl Grey, Sweets.

If you want, you can read a complete review on the blog I newly created.

http://chazichaxi.blogspot.de

1990 Zhong Zhuan (Blue Zhong) Sheng Puerh was once a tea cake, but was only available in chunks broken from that, thus also in smaller quantities than 400g. This also makes preparing it a bit easier, as you basically just have to take one of the chunks and put it into the pot (although I enjoy preparing Puerh with the proper equipment).

It is quite a wily tea. It starts considerably bitter, which after some consideration reminded me of an overextracted espresso, only to prepare the palate for the long-staying sweetness that follows. It has similarities to pumpkin and red grapes. Will retry this after some more proper humid storing.

Second review having prepared it in a Zisha pot now. I smell vanilla and later ginger. The taste is still very tangerine / mandarin like, without me even remembering that I called it that way before. Good sign! I like the contrasting light infusion for a dark Oolong like this.

Read the whole thing on my blog:
http://chazichaxi.blogspot.de/2016/02/tea-tasting-fenghuang-dan-cong.html

Feng Huang (Phoenix) Dan Cong is a dark and strongly roasted oolong from Chaozhou in northern Guangdong. I actually bought it just to know what tea would come from the home of the famous elaborate Chaozhou Gongfu Cha. I imagined it tasting somewhat like Da Hong Pao, but it turned out very different. The brew is lighter, the tint reminded me of less concentrated filter coffee. It has incredible apricot and tangerine aromas. Not the smokey notes, rather with a sweet roasted taste.

2002 Chuan Fang is a medium aged shou Puerh brick. I had to completely destroy the nice looking wrapper to get it out. What a pity. The tea brick itself was also sort of hard to handle, I think it has been a bit too dry in the time before. I will check on that after some “pumidor” storage has passed by. The smooth and thick brew has notes of cashew and cream, with a mouth-watering after-feel. Can’t yet decide on a rating.

Jiangshan Meiren is an Oriental Beauty Oolong from Dehua, Fujian. There are many white buds among the young leaves, hence the name White Tip Oolong. The whisky-red brew starts off with fresh bread and sesame tastes along with red grape-like sweetness. Further infusions give more and more creamy honey sweetness and hints of cinnamon.

Keemun or Qimen is one of China’s most famous teas. Anhui, apart from that more of a green tea area, provides a very light red tea (black tea) with a caramel-golden cup. It has intense almond and cream flavours which remind me of Silver Needle. It’s completed with subtle orange sweetness. If you’re used to strong black teas, like Indian ones, this is a very different experience here.

I cannot quite decide what to rate it. Will have to come back to that.

I was amazed by the sweetness of this low oxidized Oolong from Anxi. The eponymous big leaves give a deep yellow brew with rose aroma and a very smooth feeling. It tastes like sweet braided bread, butter and almonds. The tea has no bitterness at all.

Gao Cong Shui Xian is a type of Da Hong Pao dark Oolong from the Wuyi mountains. As its name translates into “old fir”, it has a woody, ethereal aroma paired with a hint of nutmeg and the typical Da Hong Pao smokey note. Also there’s ripe pear sweetness and a lingering aftertaste of Indian spices.

I heard a lot about this tea’s super fancy and almost mythological background story before first drinking it.
I was not disappointed! The dark honey coloured brew has complex aromas of dry tobacco, some spices and forest wood. The roasted taste makes me hungry for roasted almonds and other sweets. However, it has a very strong, noble appearance, feels a bit like when drinking Whisky.

Yibi Hong is a loose leaf raw Puerh, processed as a red tea (black tea) from Yiwu, Yunnan. The long golden black leaves are very beautiful to look at, and difficult to get into small Zisha pots. The very orange tinted brew tastes like hazelnut and orange juice, while feeling very smooth and creamy. Later, a sweet spicy rosemary-like note comes up. Doesn’t feel very much like a black tea, neither like a Puerh. Very interesting.