Get ready for a fruity bomb of a tea.
It is worth saying from the beginning that we are not usually big fans of this cultivar of Dancong (Da Wu Ye) as we often find it too dry and a little lacking in elegance. But this tea blew all of those preconceptions. Sure it is not the most subtle of teas in texture but wow, the level of flavour and aroma is truly astonishing.
The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that this is a 2016 tea and when we were searching for our 2017 Dancong (Phoenix Oolongs) we were approached by a fresh farmer on our roster of master producers. He asked us if we wanted to try some of his 2016 Da Wu Ye batch which he is really proud of and I stupidly knocked it back because:
- I don't tend to buy Da Wu Ye.
- If the tea is so good then how come he has some of last years tea left over?
But he was adamant that this was a tea which I should sample and his persistance made us very curious.
The moment hot water hit those leaves I knew that this could be a winner. The smell of boiled cherry cough sweets and buttery pastry was mesmerising. You can read all of my tasting notes on this page but sufficed to say that I was on the phone with the supplier within 10 minutes to snap up some of this tea. Grab some for your self and you will understand why.
