Cinnamon and Almond fragrance Dan Cong

This reviews two more Dan Cong versions from an ITea World sample set.  Earlier versions were amazing, much better than I could have expected.  This will continue that or not; we'll see.  This is from their website information about it:

That set lists for $80 ($79.99), but that vendor seems to routinely offer themed discounts, so it would be around that, maybe a little less.  Ordinarily 80 cents a gram is a lot for teas, of most types, but for really good Dan Cong that's probably fair.  These teas would be hard to find, at any price.

It's a little odd that the Chinese names for these aren't included; one would just expect that.  It doesn't mean that much to me, but I suppose others would feel differently about it.  It's easy enough to look that up, if you know where, cited here from the Tea Obsession blog (thanks Imen!):

Yu Lan Xiang - magnolia flower fragrance 玉蘭香

Huang Zhi Xiang - orange flower fragrance 黄枝香

Xing Ren Xiang - Almond flavor 杏仁香

Zhi Lan Xiang - Orchid fragrance 芝蘭香

Mi4 Lan Xiang - Honey Orchid fragrance 蜜蘭香

Gui Hua Xiang - Osmanthus fragrance 桂花香

You Hua Xiang - Pomelo/grapefruit flower fragrance 柚花香

Jiang Hua Xiang - Ginger flower fragrance 姜花香

Rou Gui Xiang - Cinnamon flavor (not the same as Wuyi Rou Gui) 肉桂香

Mi3 Lan Xiang - Milan flower fragrance 米蘭香 - tinny grain size yellow flowering plant from the southern provinces of China)

Interesting it would be called Rou Gui, but that makes sense.  That Wuyi Yancha type would be familiar to many (which translates as cinnamon).

Review:

Cinnamon:  that definitely tastes like cinnamon.  It would be nice if I could identify true cinnamon versus cassia (I think it is), the close variation that gets passed for cinnamon.  Beyond the cinnamon this is a bit vegetal.  Intuitively a cinnamon flavored version, one that naturally covers that range, would be a slightly more oxidized version, roasted to a medium level, using the extra warmth and sweetness to pair with and highlight that flavor.  That's not really the case for this.  

It's still good; the lighter style of Dan Cong is nice, and it shows off other parts of the tea character well.  Along with the lighter range there is a touch of tree-bud or green wood flavor, and a bit of astringency.  It's not pronounced, and integrates fairly well, so it's not overly negative.  Intensity is good in this; I'll need to keep brewing time limited or it could be too much.  I let this go a little long so it wouldn't be too light, but ended up brewing this round a bit strong.

Almond:  yep, almond.  This has much warmer, richer, deeper tones; it is more oxidized, and perhaps a little more roasted.  There isn't really vegetal range to speak of as a result.  Sweetness is good, as it was for the other version.  Depth of flavors beyond that almond range is nice.  There is good complexity to this, and it all balances well.  Feel might be slightly richer than the first as well.

It's that greater complexity and balance that makes it stand out over the other, at least at this point.  But the flavor range itself is interesting and positive too, beyond just covering some ground.  It leans a little towards spice tones, almost nutmeg, or actually that works as an interpretation.  To me nutmeg comes across as a fairly complex spice flavor, and this matches that, it's not simple.  It might even work to interpret one part of this as cinnamon.  The processing seems to have highlighted the potential of this tea very well.  The first lighter style can really draw out bright and fresh floral tones, but it may not be as suitable for this material version.  Of course that's on to guessing; I'm not qualified to conclude that.

Cinnamon #2:  this works better brewed lighter, which may also relate to the tea softening up a little on the second infusion.  In a recent tasting the subject of how different infusions vary came up, which we really didn't pursue far in talking then, but to me that just varies by tea type, and by version.  The old theme of "second is best" might work in a limited sense, but it's also too simple.  It depends on how any given version is transitioning across rounds.

A perfume-like floral range really kicks in for this.  Cinnamon isn't as noticeable this round.  It's still present, but only at the same level as other inputs.  Feel is richer even though this is brewed much lighter.  A vegetal edge has faded some, dropping to a more positive level.  To be clear this doesn't include a characteristic harsh edge some lower quality Dan Cong express, the type that you need to brew around by brewing rounds very light (even lighter than this, maybe).  I infused this for about 10 seconds, but a flash infusion would be different.

Almond:  this is so good.  The other is nice, very pleasant, complex, balanced, and interesting, but this is just better, across most of those dimensions.  Part of that could be my preference for this warmer toned style, but I also think it's just a better tea, or at least the processing optimized outcome better.  Everything stands out at once, all of those general themes, and sweetness, warm tones, complex pleasant flavors (almond and spice), rich feel, good intensity, etc.  

Almond with spice sounds like some sort of cookie range, doesn't it?  It's like that.  That warmth, richness, and depth almost comes across as a butter based shortbread cookie too.  This would be really fantastic to drink during cool weather, to actually pair with a winter holidays theme.  It's probably in the mid-80s F (30 C), and quite humid where I am now, but it's still nice, it would just match that cooler environment range better.  To me bright, sweet, aggressive but drinkable sheng pu'er matches the experience of heat well.

Cinnamon #3:  I'll stick with relatively fast infusions for now, again at about 10 seconds.  This is as good as the last round, still really hitting its stride.  The brighter, fresher, now only slightly vegetal edge, more into hardwood range, isn't really negative, but not necessarily positive either.  It integrates fairly well with the rest, but it's not as pleasant as the cinnamon and floral tones.  Overall balance is good.  To me this is still pretty good quality Dan Cong, but it doesn't match the level of the other version.  Again, maybe that's preference related?  Seems not, but maybe.

Almond:  the last description still works, all those positive things I was saying about this.  The almond flavor you notice early on, then a heavy and complex spice range kicks in, then as that fades the almond comes back out more again in the aftertaste.  It's funny how a tea experience can be like an almond cookie, as I mentioned, but the experience is so much more complex and refined.  Of course an almond cookie tastes exactly like an almond cookie, but the depth of feel, richness, layering of floral tones, and touch of liqueur-like character all go well beyond what a cookie could deliver.  Or maybe adding a little cognac in a cookie would be good?

I'm sure that these will transition a little more over the next couple of rounds, but I may not get back to making notes on that.  I had a big breakfast and don't feel ok with powering through 8 to 10 cups of these just now.  Breakfast was very pleasant, and quite healthy:  oatmeal with raisin and banana, two fried eggs, some fruit that seems like a cross of mango and plum, and a bit of goji berry.  I'll go do something related to getting all of this to digest some.

Of course I tried rounds later, and the teas were still very nice, but not varied enough to add much about that here.

The same is true of conclusions in general; the teas were as described.  The Cinnamon version was good and Almond version really good.  

The Almond version was good enough that it's hard to put it on a scale.  There are layers and sub-themes that come into play, beyond pleasant flavor.  These include feel (body), intensity, sweetness, overall balance, depth, aftertaste, and marker sort of aspects, like a liqueur-like quality.  I suppose that any tea could be better, but this is pretty far up there, beyond what I can place in relation to others.

Then the flavors were interesting too, and balanced well with each other.  It's still only tea, but the really interesting experiences are something else.

Rou Gui from Wuyi Origin (from Cindy)

Cindy sells more than one type of Rou Gui on her website (fruit, flowery, and cinnamon; I just looked), and I'm not sure which one this is, so it will be a blind tasting of sorts.


Rou Gui translates as cinnamon, of course, but they don't all have that characteristic taste (the Wuyishan area roasted oolongs based on that plant type, to be more specific).  When they do, per my prior experience, it's not typically exactly like the spice-jar version, a little darker and earthier instead.  I just reviewed two of them in this post, one from a local shop source, and only one of them was a lot like that.  But then bark from different plants is called "cinnamon," a subject I've passed across before, and touched on in that post.  On to review then, keeping it simple for once.

Review

The tea scent is heavy on toffee, or maybe a dark caramel.  I couldn't really pick out fruit versus cinnamon beyond that.  The initial infusion was fast, a bit of a long rinse, typical of how I usually prepare such teas, not using a discarded rinse and not really try to get full infusion strength out of it the first go.

Based on first impression this is the cinnamon one.  It tastes a good bit more like cinnamon than I've noticed in her Rou Gui before, and I wouldn't say there is no fruit aspect to it but it's subdued in comparison.  The level of roast seems somewhat medium, not charred at all, but not necessarily light.  It's hard to notice that level without thinking about it, probably a good sign, that the flavors all integrate well.

This is a really nice tea; typical for what they make.  The sweetness, balance, the way it integrates, feel; it's all good, a well made tea.  It'll be easier to break it down based on a typical strength infusion though.  The second infusion will still be on the light side compared to how I would prepare some other tea types but in a more conventional range.

The cinnamon is stronger in the next infusion; no need to check with Cindy about which this is.  That one from my favorite local shop, Jip Eu, was roasted more and that really shifted the balance, slightly into the range of light "char."  It was still good tea, still decently balanced, but this is quite different for the roast level completely integrating with the character of the tea.  Again this doesn't taste like a spice-rack cinnamon.  It overlaps quite a bit with that flavor range, but it's a bit like other tree-bark spices taste too, more rich and less sweet, "darker," if that makes any sense.

And that's basically what's going on with the tea; it doesn't change all that much over the next couple of infusions, and keeps going well after those.  I could go on about feel (it's a little thick, and it seems to coat your mouth, it's nice), or aftertaste (it stays with you after drinking the tea, quite strong for half a minute, then trailing on for awhile).

With that cinnamon taking up so much of the flavor range it's almost a stretch to describe supporting aspects that join it in detail.  It's a bit complex, not really one dimensional, but that one narrow flavor range is most pronounced.  It's a good version of a typical style Rou Gui.  It might have seemed odd saying so much about fruit in the other reviews (citrus, often), but apparently that style is also available now, it's just not this version.

It seems strange to leave it at that, since so far I can sum up this review in one word:  cinnamon.  It's not like the version that goes into a cinnamon roll, so not quite that simple, but this is quite the opposite of a flavors-list review.  Sometimes the range of taste can seem narrow but not necessarily limited or simple, supported by an underlying warmer floral tone or light malt aspect.  I see malt as coming in a range of forms, although maybe not everyone is using the concept that way, as the edgy, pronounced malt in Assams that is usually coupled with astringency, or as the sweet, cocoa-like malt in Ovaltine, or as a related warm and rich but softer malted barley flavor range, more of a grain-like sweetness.  This supporting flavor range is closest to the last.

For people that are looking for subtlety or complexity in tea tastes it may not suit their preference.  For someone that loves that one aspect, looking for a Rou Gui that tastes like cinnamon, it could be ideal.  I really like fruit aspects in black tea or roasted oolongs so their version that's fruitier suits my individual preference better, but at some level that's what it comes down to, what someone happens to like.  This tea is clearly a higher quality version than the other two I reviewed in the other post I mentioned, it's just not complex in terms of expressing a lot of separate flavors range.

Two other factors could come into play, related to me as a reviewer, not the tea.  I've only tried this tea once, and I wasn't in a loud environment when tasting (for once; the two noise-makers were out), but I was feeling a bit tired, tasting it in the morning.  Not just noise or other interference but also disposition effects how we experience a tea.  I could probably expand on this description a little after a couple more tastings.  But I think this does capture the essence of it:  the tea is clean, a bit sweet, well-balanced, with integrated flavors, simple in the sense of not presenting a long flavors list, but complex in the sense of having dimensions to its character.  It's medium in roast level so that you can't notice that level without thinking about it, striking a balance that works well, and it tastes like cinnamon.

Sharing pictures (a completely unrelated tangent)

The pictures I share here are typically just my kids (beyond those of tea, or travel), but I wanted to pass on a slice-of-life set that describes my experiences here.  These are a few of the newest local park in Bangkok, the Chulalongkorn University 100 year anniversary park.  

For those of you into parks, for whatever reason, here is the main page of information about it, and another talking about green spaces in Bangkok and what the design is doing to conserve water.  A friend is a sustainable landscape design professor, and I took some landscape architecture classes way back when, so some of that seems interesting to me, but I'm mostly visiting parks to check out the kids' play areas.

not really at the park