Tea received at a discount for review
As much as I love my blend teas, I have been very interested in straight/single teas because I feel that in order to understand tea better, I need to be able to taste the difference between them. The best way to hone my tasting skills is to try straight/single teas!
Therefore, when LH Tea Farmer Family, a tea farm in Wudong Village, China reached out to me and offered to send me some teas, I was happy to cover the shipping costs. The farm describes itself with following:
“Our farm is based in Wudong village, Chaozhou, China. Wudong village is far from the hustle and bustle of the city, away from pollution. Our family has been on this farm for the past 60 years, crafting the best dancong. We mostly sell to people in China, but we believe that the rest of the world needs to know what true tea is like!”
There are some big claims! I’ve only had a few dancong in the past, so I am not the most familiar with the tea. When I checked the website, each tea had similar steeping recommendations. Each one suggested a quick wash. However, aside from one, none of them mentioned how many times the tea could be steeped. Therefore, I stopped resteeping after there was only a faint flavour.
With that being said, let’s go!
Yu Lan Xiang
Description: “After sipping the tea liquid, the whole mouth is rich in magnolia aroma mixed with sweet taste.”
Review: The first thing to note about this tea is how long and wide its leaves are. I have to say, I haven’t had too many teas like this before! The leaves were much larger than most teas I am used too. They were slightly twisted and had a dark ash brown and green colour. The aroma was bright and floral. I am not too familiar with magnolias so I can’t confirm if that is what the aroma was.
After the wash, the wet leaves had reddish areas but were mostly dark olive green and brown. The floral aroma was much more intense. This had a very strong floral aroma! The liquor was a bright yellow and it honestly felt a bit like smelling a flower.
Infusion 1: The liquor had a very thick and syrupy texture. It had nice sweet and floral notes. It actually had quite a bit of flavour for a first infusion.
Infusion 2: The bright yellow liquor made my mouth water and there was some mild astringency. The flavours were more grassy in this infusion, with some earthiness that lingered.
Infusion 3: There was a nice floral aroma when I opened the giawan, but milder than the previous infusion. There was no bitterness this time around. It was clean and floral and it lingered all over the mouth. I enjoyed this infusion the best.
Infusion 4: The leaves completely unfurled. Tasted milder than Infusion 3.
Infusion 5: This infusion left my mouth watering again. The earthy aroma was much more prevalent compared to the floral. It tasted like a weaker version of Infusion 2 and 3.
Infusion 6: The flavour was very faint at this point and I stopped steeping it.
My favourite steep was steep 3 since I found the flavour was nice and clean, with no bitterness (4/5 rating).
- Type: Oolong tea
- Origin: China
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Tea
- Company: LH Tea Farmer Family
Mi Lan Xiang
Description: “Once brewed, this tea will deliver a slightly roasted flavour combined with a floral aroma.”
Review: The dry leaves of this tea were much thinner and darker than the Yu Lan Xiang. The leaves were black, with some dark brown pieces with an earthy aroma. The wet leaves actually made me think of grapes, whereas the aroma of yellow-tan liquor was more like the dry leaf.
Infusion 1: The liquor made my mouth water and had a combination of sweet, earthy, and floral notes.
Infusion 2: Very similar to Infusion 1
Infusion 3: The liquor was more of a golden yellow and had earthy and mildly roasted notes.
Infusion 4: The leaves completely unfurled. The flavour was fairly mild, with some earthy and roasted notes, as well as some faint astringency.
Infusion 5: Throughout the steeps, the liquor made my mouth water and this one was no exception. There was more astringency and some grassy notes. The flavour was fairly thin.
Infusion 6: There was no real flavour at this point. In hindsight, I should have stopped at the earlier infusion.
Overall, this was a nice tea but not a favourite (3/5 rating).
- Type: Oolong tea
- Origin: China
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Tea
- Company: LH Tea Farmer Family
Fenghuang Mi Lan Xiang
Description: “Floral with noticeable lychee fragrances and notes […] sweet lychee after taste[.]”
Review: The leaves for this was a bit thinner, much like the Mi Lan Xiang. There was a sweet roasted and earthy aroma. Like the Mi Lan Xiang, after infusion, the aroma of wet leaves reminded me of grapes; it was sweet and fruity. The liquor was golden-yellow with a hint of tan. Very similar aroma to the dry leaf.
Infusion 1: The liquor tasted roasted and fruity.
Infusion 2: There was some mild astringency, the flavour was thin.
This is the one that mentioned only one steeping, however, I wanted to give it a try. It really was only able to hold up to one infusion (3/5 rating).
- Type: Oolong tea
- Origin: China
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Tea
- Company: LH Tea Farmer Family
Da Wu Ye
Description: “The honey orchid floral aroma lingering in mouth, refreshing, smooth and sweet.“
Review: This tea had a mixture of both smaller leaves and larger, which were dark brown and black, with a handful of green leaves. The aroma was mildly sweet and earthy. The leaves turned more of a green-brown after steeping, with a very strong floral aroma and some rich earthiness. The pale yellow-tan liquor mimicked the wet leaf and had some mild floralness.
Infusion 1: The mouthfeel of the liquor was thin, but made the mouth water. It didn’t have as strong as a taste as the other ones for a first infusion.
Infusion 2: The liquor became more of a pale yellow and there was some astringency. It tasted floral and grassy.
Infusion 3 and 4: Similar to Infusion 2 and my mouth watered.
Infusion 5: The leaves had completely unfurled. While similar to Infusion 2,3 and 4, it lacked taste, and the tail end of the note was flat.
Infusion 6: There is no real flavour left at this point.
Much like my thoughts on Mi Lan Xiang – while I liked it, it wasn’t a favourite (3/5 rating).
- Type: Oolong tea
- Origin: China
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Tea
- Company: LH Tea Farmer Family
Final Thoughts
I am happy that I was able to try these teas from China straight from the farmers. It was nice to be able to see the farm and see pictures of the teas being grown, picked, and produced. Like I mentioned earlier, I am not that familiar with dancongs. The farm might be worth checking out if you want to learn more or are a fan of dancongs already! The Yu Lan Xiang was hands down the star for me because it was very well rounded and balanced and a nice combination of flavours
Have you had dancongs oolongs before?