Tag: wudong tea

Tea: Yulan Xiang / Magnolia Fragrance is a type of fenghuang dancong (single tree phoenix oolong).

Company: Wudong Tea/ Chaozhou Tea Growers

Price per Gram: 30 to 34 cents ($15 – $17 per 50 gram packet).

 

Brewing Method: After my last brewing disaster, I decided to find new brewing instructions for the tea. I found something that said to use 2 – 5 grams of tea for 225 ml gaiwans. My gaiwans are typically about 100 ml, so I did some quick math and decided on 3 grams of tea and 95 degree water. I later found the brewing instructions on the seller’s website. They’re similar to the method I used, but they call for a slightly higher leaf-to-water ratio (5 – 8 grams for 120 – 150 ml, depending on preferred strength) and shorter brewing times.

 

Appearance & Smell of the Leaf: The dry leaves were long and twisted, but not super thin. There were browns, dark moss-green leaves and spring greens. They were relatively unbroken when I received them.

 

I learned that Yulan Xian translates to “magnolia fragrance.” I have no idea what magnolias smell like (to be honest, my repertoire of flowers is super limited). The leaves smelled like artificial grape flavoring and dried apricot. I liked it a lot, and could definitely smell that it was a phoenix oolong.

 

First Steep: I started with a quick rinse. The liquor was light and left me skeptical. I tasted the rinse, just because I wanted to, and I was struck by how thin it was. After the rinse, I brewed the tea for about 1 minute. The wet leaf smelled like cranberry wensleydale cheese and was a lot brighter than the dry leaf. It smelled like my hair product (Kinky Curly Knot Today, which contains things like marshmallow root, slippery elm, mango  fruit extract and some fragrance). The tea liquor was a super pale yellow.

 

When I tasted the tea, I was unimpressed. I didn’t find the tea pleasant at all. It tasted like what I imagine furniture polish must taste like, with a strong baking soda after taste. I could taste notes similar to what I detect in certain tieguanyin (iron goddess) teas. It was very “green” in flavor, but not green enough to be classified a green tea.

 

Second Steep: I meant to add just 15 seconds to the brew, but I wound up adding 30 seconds. This time, the tea liquor was a little furry and was more the color of pale urine. It had more yellow in it than the previous brew. The flavor had not changed all that much. It was very light and I actually started to suspect my water. The flavor of the water came through more than the flavor of the tea.

 

I felt bad because I received these samples for free and I really wanted to like them but they weren’t doing anything for me. I figure that perhaps I just don’t like dancong’s that much. Maybe I can’t enjoy the complex flavors. Later brews were more pleasant than the first two brews, and stronger brews were definitely better.

 

Yulan Xiang was so thin it felt like water, despite the fuzziness. There was also a bit of astringency but not so much that the tea wasn’t refreshing. I guess you could compare the feeling of drinking Yulan Xiang to drinking fresh spring water. I’m drawn to oolongs because of their variety, and I’d love to be able to enjoy something more delicate than my typical cliff tea. One of these day’s I’ll get it, I’m sure. 🙂

 

Actually, I still had about 3.5 grams of Yulan Xiang left, so I brewed it just before writing this post. The larger amount of leaf definitely solved the thinness problem, and the liquor was darker, but my other observations remained pretty much the same. The second time around, however, I found myself better able to enjoy the tea. Perhaps it really is just a matter of getting your taste buds accustomed to the flavor.

 

Despite feeling tepid towards the tea itself, I loved the look of the wet leaves. They totally transformed and were unrecognizable from the shriveled dark leaves I started with. The wet leaves are bright green with some orange-red and brown-red leaves mixed in. They glisten in the relatively clear tea liquor. If anything, this tea is fun to take photos of.

 

Here’s the first tea I tried from Wudong Teas. My impression was not as positive as this one. Would I recommend Yulan Xiang? If you like dancong then yes, this is probably really good. If you’re on the fence about it, perhaps you should stick to more popular and readily available varietals. While some teas can be over hyped, there’s usually a reason one or two teas become more popular than the rest.