This Dancong from 2023 was about $1 per gram, though it was slightly cheaper for me since I bought it during a Black Friday sale. Dong Fang Hong seems to be a pricier Dancong type for some reason, possibly due to scarcity. I steeped 6 g of leaf in 120 ml of 195F water for 7, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds, plus some long, uncounted steeps.
The dry aroma is of charcoal, roast, oakwood, incense, honey, and citrus. The first steep has notes of oakwood, charcoal, roasted nuts, butter, and minerals. The tea is fairly drying. The next steep adds honey, orange peel, and incense, and the freshly cut wood smell is very noticeable. I get a kiwi and honeydew aftertaste that lasts for minutes. Steeps three and four add almond, honeydew, minerals, orchids, and other unidentifiable florals. In the next four steeps, the roasted almond, oakwood, honey, and minerals take over, with slight honeydew and orange in the aftertaste. The tea is developing a silky texture and there’s no real bitterness, just the roast and minerality. The next few steeps are very similar. The only thing of note is the lush honeydew aftertaste, which lasts for minutes after I drink the tea. The final steeps emphasize roasted almonds, minerals, tannins, wood, charcoal, and faint honeydew in the aftertaste.
This Dancong was a lot more enjoyable than I expected, even though the roast is more prominent than in the Baiye. The honeydew aftertaste is lovely, and the tea never gets too bitter. I even like the pronounced notes of freshly cut oak that I get near the beginning of the session. It’s amazing how much this tea has developed after just over a year of aging.
Flavors: Almond, Butter, Charcoal, Citrus, Drying, Floral, Honey, Honeydew, Incense, Kiwi, Mineral, Oak, Orange, Orange Zest, Orchid, Roast Nuts, Roasted, Silky, Tannic, Wood
