Qi Lan (Orchid) 奇兰

(2023 harvest) Chocolate, toasted coconut! High toned confectionary perfume. So creamy and delicious. Palate deepens with notes of cinammon, salted caramel, butterscotch, and Hershey’s kisses. Real perception of sweetness while this also has a little lactic, sour note. And there’s a wild, slightly herbal, thrilling, satisfyingly brisk streak through the palate. Very well integrated. In thrall to WO teas.

I’m drinking the Qi Lan 2018 harvest of this from WuYiOrigin.com. The dry leaf smell on this is incredible. Orchid scent and fruity but also rich and dark like a brownie and it makes you wish you could eat the tea. This batch is highly aromatic. When pouring the rinse into the glass pitcher, I could smell it a couple of feet away. The wash from the rinse smells floral and a little smokey. The wet leaves smell great, too. I was expecting to smell roasted notes, but it’s not in the least. What I get is the strong orchid aroma and some grapefruit tanginess in the aroma.

The first infusion is very sweet and delicate. The orchid aroma is so strong, it permeates the tea taste. Not all teas taste like they smell, but this one carries it off. Smelling the lid, I get what I would describe as something similar to buttered popcorn. That doesn’t appear anywhere else. The wet leaves don’t have it. The liquor doesn’t have it, and I definitely do not taste it.

Second infusion and the unexpected buttered popcorn is no longer to be found on the lid. The wet leaves still smell heavily perfumed. Wow! I mean this is knock your socks off perfume heavy. Tea liquor is a light amber color. Super sweet in the mouth. Still comes across as delicate and thinner, which for this heady orchid scent works well. It’s very smooth and not watery at all, but it is not very thick and viscous. After swallowing, there is some menthol cooling effect and the mouth remains very wet. It is not a drying tea. The aftertaste lingers with the orchid aroma and a little bit of the grapefruit tang. It’s definitely heavily sugared grapefruit and not sour in any way.

Third infusion – losing a little orchid aroma now. The leaves smell slightly more roasted but the orchid aroma is still very much present. The tea is delicious. The taste is remaining constant. This is a tea that should be enjoyed slowly, I think. The orchid perfume is so dominate, it can act much like a strong perfume or cologne on a person, and can be overwhelming if not careful. I can get a headache from some colognes and so taking it slow keeps the aroma from becoming overwhelming. Slowing down also gives one the opportunity to enjoy this tea’s long lasting aftertaste.

I went back and put my nose back into the dry leaves bag, and it is so awesomely good. Where the tea stays in the higher perfume register, the dry leaves go richer and darker.

Fourth infusion — just amazed at how long the sweet orchid aroma is lasting. It just keeps giving. Very long lasting aftertaste.

I recommend this one heartily. It’s a winner.

Soft & gentle roast, honeyed sweet body. I found it fairly light with the orchid perfumes but there is a gentle hint of fruits in the background, I have found this with other WO teas. Its a good thing having fruit flickering in & out (especially for me who likes fruit-forward in everything), even if verrry subtle on this one.

The roast fades pretty quickly over the session into really subtle soft perfumed wuyi leaf oolong. Dark greens, good looking leaf.

‘it is quite welcome by most of the tea friends in China’ on the website, and ‘most approachable’ mentioned here. I think that sums it up.

Another stellar tea from Cindy! I have to say that she ( or whoever she has doing this ) is a master at tea firing/roasting, her teas never seem to be over roasted, and yet they have just the perfect processing to bring out flavor and aroma while insuring at least some longevity. I even tried to intentionally " burn " a couple and they held up really well. Another plus since this means the teas are very forgiving regarding brewing.
Nose; Vanilla, hazelnut, cream, very light boiled greens, plum, violets, incense, round.
Palate; light berries, cassis, vanilla, slight malt, hazlenut, chestnut, very light chamomile, slight spice.

Smoooooth! Highly enjoyable, sweet with a hint of nut and oat/wheatberry. Has all the structure of a fine Yancha with the rock appearing in the mid-late steeps, a slight increase in salivation throughout. Glad I bought scads of it.

I love this tea!!!

I have tried a bunch of Wuyi Origin’s teas, and so far this one is my favorite.
The flavor is sweet, the mineral taste typical of Wuyi tea, flowery orchid aroma (somewhat comparable to a tie guan yin) and cinnamon flavor. Very pleasant and smooth aftertaste as well. And like many of Wuyi Origin’s teas, it has a pleasant, very subtle menthol-like effect in the aftertaste.
It is like drinking tea brewed from the flowers of a tea tree with cinnamon bark. I really love this tea a lot!

This came with a few other yanchas from Wuyi Rock Tea Factory (don’t know why the first person added the “shan”, but there you have it). Skyping regularly with Cindy has given me a better idea of her wealth of experience gained from her family’s multi-generation tea making business in Wuyi. It’s also allowed me to continue to practice Mandarin – a rare opportunity in my current weekly routine!

This is my first Qi Lan. Her yanchas are grown exclusively in either the Banyan or Zhengyan areas. It’s highly floral yet subtle in its crystalline rock/mineral sweetness. The roasted notes are still there, but will fade in a year. The taste is pure and quite straightforward. There is a thick body and depth to this tea. It has good clarity and a certain cleanliness, not just in the glass pitcher but also in the mouth.

It goes for 6 to 7 flavorful infusions, but could go a bit more had I added more leaf (this time just 5.5ish grams). There are no prices listed on Cindy’s website, but if you contact her yourself she’ll give you a good price. That might not be some folks’ do business, but that’s how it’s done in China.