Autumn Harvest "Zhi Lan Xiang" Dan Cong Oolong Tea

The flavor of this tea is very surprising, as I didn’t note the main notes in the aroma. It has wonderful crisp sweetness, which reminds me a lot of champagne. The height of this flavor fades in later steeps to a more mellow floral/honey sweetness. Occasional notes of the roast come through in the aroma and early steeps. A very pleasureable and resteepeable tea.

I bought this from YS as soon as it was posted. When I received it, I actually did not care for it. The roast flavor was too strong, and there was a persistent bitterness.

Now that the tea has rested, it is very nice. The roast character is beautiful now, and while there is still some bitterness, it is easily managed, and is crisp and welcomed. Dan Cong character all the way, the sticks around for more steeps than you would expect. I think this will get better yet.

Edit: Drinking this again tonight, I find the aroma mesmerizing with red wine-like fruit character, a floral character that’s twisted into something almost spicy that comes across terpenous (like the ‘cannabis’ note described by YS), and an aromatic wood overtone. The mineral roasty character is great. This is a complex tea. You can peel the layers back and see the ‘mi lan xiang’-like floral fruitiness, but the roasting does a great job adding loads of complexity and swinging it in a more “masculine” direction, if that makes any sense.