Yunnan Wang Nian Qing Tea Company

Special thanks to Liberteas for this one!

It’s a little flat but relaxing enough. It’s smooth – thirst-quenching – and sweet with hints of charcoal tastes underneath in the front of the sip.

It’s alright but not my fave.

I love it when an Oolong surprises me. This one did.

The texture is so light with this Oolong, and it doesn’t linger the way some Oolongs do. Not that the heavier, lingering mouthfeel is bad – I enjoy it. But, I also like it when I come across an Oolong that is different. I get to a point where I think I’ve figured Oolong teas out, and then one comes along that throws me for a loop. A very nice surprise.

The flavor is floral and crisp. There is a light toasty note in the background that compliments the sweet notes. A sublime Oolong experience!

Nice looking cake with consistent leaf size on the smallish side, plenty of silvery tips in it. It is lightly compressed, and a breeze to break off a needed quantity.
The first thing that jumps out at me in the wet leaf is an intense savory, meaty aroma, almost like some luncheon meat or salami. There’s a whiff of leather in there. Visually the wet leaf looks respectable with a good mixture of leaf sizes.
The liquor is light orange with a greenish hue. On the mouth it is slightly thick, nothing near a satisfying, velvety liquid, but it is there.
Not big on aroma but also with very little bitterness. Quite minty on the throat with a fast and big hui gan and appropriately big and fast cha qi.
Later infusions get flower notes criss-crossed with wood and smoke leaving a puckery aftertaste for a long time.

All in all a very nice cake, slightly better than the economy grade tuos of Xiaguan or Haiwan but I’m not buying the Ancient Tree moniker. Looks like a plantation tea, perhaps blended with a minuscule amount of old tree leaves. Nevertheless it is an enjoyable plantation tea and a cheap one for an 2006 produced cake.