"King of Duck Shit Aroma" Dan Cong Oolong tea - Spring 2015

I brewed this tea up a ton of different ways – 8g, 5g, per 100ml, 208 F, 180 F, but I just couldn’t find a way to brew it that would live up to my expectations. With oolongs, I prefer those that have staying power when it comes to resteeping using gongfu method.
This tea however pretty much dies entirely by steep 3 being completely overtaken by the mineral foretaste.
It has a fantastic almond and sour cherry butter cookie scent on the nose, but this doesn’t last very long. Perhaps I was expecting too much from this, or being too greedy, but the fact that you really only get 2 steeps out of this per session is very disappointing for me.
Perhaps if you’re the type of person to enjoy very short sessions, it may be better.

I have the Spring 2016. The aroma is nice but flavour is almost nonexistent, need to let this age for another year or more.

Intensely floral and fruity with notes of honey, all along with a pleasing mineral character. The wet leaves and brew also present a more subtle savory and woody character. There’s a pleasant mild bitterness that complements the sweet and syrupy brew. Beautifully floral but also rugged in its depth.

Being an old fart, as my nieces say, I rarely use the correct current vernacular, but here goes.
“Dis shitz da bomb yo”.
I’ve only had one version of this tea from a local shop and I drink it there infrequently, although I remember it to be a nice tea. So I saw the sale 12% off all oolongs and went tea crazy and ordered a load. This tea though is a big departure from the oolongs I’ve previously tasted from YSUSA. Those were meh, you get what you paid for but this tea is so well crafted and at a bargain price.
I should have used a gaiwan but its in pieces so I went with my least used wu yi yixing. The aroma is so floral and reminds of honeysuckle, orchids and camellia. The liquor also represents those aromas in its flavor profile with the addition of honey. The mouthfeel is just full and hits initially in the front tip but rounds nicely to finish in the back and sides. The staying power in the aftertaste is the longest I remember since raw pu erh. The infusions are exactly what you expect from a dan cong with 3 & 4 being the most expressive and flavorful and lasting about till 8.
I really like tea surprises, when you have no expectations and get blown away. I will be ordering more of this.