Nectar Top Shelf Spring 2016 Milanxiang Dancong Oolong

Today I am talking about a beauty of its own – I am talking about the Nectar Top Shelf Spring 2016 Milanxiang Dancong by Bitterleaf Teas! Already those dried leaves spread out such a very nicely baked scent with a very herbal citrus hint of Ginger and ginseng plus a very nutty typical texture of pine nuts and grape seeds. Even in their dry stage those leaves really watering your mouth in expectations of the coming taste. Rinsed once, soaked in boiled water and steaming up the heat of their first bath the whole aroma gets even more heightened with a deep pickled cherry kind of flavor or like cherry jam. Beside that there is a very certain herbal note to it which reminds me again of ginseng but with a fruity aspect of lychee or best to say Chinese longan to it.

The sweetness level is very dominant but well balanced with the herbal aspects and the finish of a slightly subtle elegant grape seed bitterness at the end of it. But taste-wise there is a lot more going on and slightly different because this sourness within the aroma of longan before isn’t that much noticeable anymore. Instead there is a more lychee going on but first and foremost a very clear and straight to the point pine apple juicy flair to it. But the pine apples do not work alone they got a very lovely ally within their fruity fusion – Maracuya (Passion Fruit). Calling those the main actors so far there are some small but not unimportant cast member left like very sweet red apples and Asian pear. In the case of this Milan Dancong there isn’t a very intense warming or tingling feeling within the mouth region but instead this whole fruitiness covers your tongue, palatal, inner cheek sections and throat with a fine layer of this artistically composed symphony of aromatic pleasures for a very long time – it nearly sticks like the best glue ever to every tasting buds your inner mouth section could possible offer. Altogether the whole tasting experience reminded me a lot of a very nicely well-orchestrated multi vitamin juice. There is a certain floral aspect to it too but quite hard to put it to a certain flower typ – most I would say orchid and a hint of magnolia would suite the description the best. Talking about the herbal aspects again the two main parts which put this taste in line the best would be ginseng and cinnamon bark. There is definitely a honey sweetness to it too but more like a subtle layer very fine and thin on every of those named aspects before. This Milan Dancong is a total winner!

so, i generally think of myself as not liking oolongs. somehow they lack the complexity i crave, they aren’t enough like sheng, i don’t know. and yes, i realize there is a huge spectrum described by ‘oolong’.

i keep trying though. this and the BLT duck sh… kinda changing my mind. (also w2t’s hot & heavy.)

can’t really give brewing params; took a yixing or “yixing” 120ml pot i acquired years ago, warmed it up, stuffed it with leaf, rinsed, and carried on, starting with flash steeps.

strong flavours and quite good sticking power. the flavours in the aftertaste seem to evolve over time.