The final sample I got from Wudong Tea (or Chaozhou Tea Grower) is a Wu Dong Mi Lan Xiang, also known as honey orchid. As you might have guessed, this tea is also a Dan Cong oolong tea. This means that I used my Chaozhou shui ping teapot again. The one I have is a 100ml one and I only use it to brew Dan Cong oolongs.
Don’t know where to buy tea online in Europe? I made a list with over 80 online shops and I keep updating it regularly. You can check it over here.
Wu Dong Mi Lan Xiang
Like all Dan Cong oolongs, this tea comes from Chaozhou in Guangdong province. This particular tea comes from Wudong Shan in the Fenghuang tea mountains. It is supposed to be from bushes of more than 300 years old. The tea I tasted today is from Spring 2019. In one of my previous articles, I explained what Dan Cong teas are exactly. If you want to read more about this, you can read the article over here.
The dry leaves are medium-sized and twisted. The colour is very brown; almost black even. The aroma is roasted and I’m also getting something very sweet and exotic. It resembles a sweet lychee.
The wet leaves show themselves and it is clear that they are medium-sized. I also see some stalks in there. The colour is greener than the dry leaves and the aroma consists of roasted honey and sweet lychee. The sweetness is dominant.
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Tea tasting
- Water 90°C
- 5g of leaves for 100ml Chaozhou teapot
- 1 rinse
- 6 infusions
Infusions
1st infusion (15 sec): the colour is noteworthy; it has some reddish, orange tints to it. The exotic sweetness from the aroma is also noticeable in the flavour. It’s a combination of sweetness and bitterness. It is, however, only the sweetness that lasts and it goes on into the finish and aftertaste. It’s a decent combination.
2nd infusion (20 sec): the colour is less red and more orange. The aroma has more notes of roasted honey. The bitterness is more dominant during this infusion. There is some sweetness, but it’s more in the background. I am also getting subtle notes of roasted honey.
3rd infusion (25 sec): the initial flavour is bitter, but this quickly changes into roasted honey and sweet lychee. The sweetness stays in the background throughout the infusion. The aftertaste is some lightly roasted honey.
4th infusion (30 sec): bitterness is less prominent but still noticeable. The sweetness becomes more dominant. I also notice some roasted honey.
5th infusion (40 sec): it seems that the bitterness has diminished even further as it is somewhere in the background. It’s just very subtle notes of roasted honey with a light sweetness.
6th infusion (50 sec): this infusion is less bitter. I’m also getting some sweet lychee again. Some roasted honey in the finish.
Do you want to read more about a Gui Fei oolong I’ve tasted recently? Click here to read my notes on the Songboling Roasted Jin Xuan Gui Fei oolong.
Conclusion
I’m not a big fan of bitter so this Wu Dong Mi Lan Xiang wasn’t for me. I’m happy I tried it because of the roasted honey and sweet lychee. Those were amazing! Unfortunately, there was a prominent bitterness in there as well. If you like bitter, the combination might work for you but it didn’t work for me. If I were to drink this tea without the bitter flavours, I would like it a lot more. I liked the later steeps most because those were less bitter.
If you want to buy this tea to try it yourself, you can do so here.
