Canton Tea Co. is a London-based company that specializes in high grade, whole leaf Chinese teas. This particular type of tea is a very lightly oxidized oolong that was grown in Taiwan. The dry leaves of this tea had that gnarled and twisted look that I love in my dan cong oolongs. They were dark green in color and had a pleasant toasty aroma. I made this tea in a porcelain gaiwan using 195 degree water and 40 second steepings. The liquor was a pale yellow.
The first infusion of this tea was surprisingly light and clean. It was floral but in a very subtle way. The second infusion was noticeably less green tasting. There was some definite nuttiness coming through. The third infusion was smokier but still sweet. This tea just kept going and going on subsequent infusions. I found it to be very forgiving on steep time. I became distracted during one of my last infusions and it didn’t cause it to become bitter at all. I would definitely recommend this tea.
I'd like to try this tea. I tend to like pouchong. This particular tea also looks very reasonably priced for being a competition-winner. I've found that some of the higher-end pouchongs can be very expensive–and in my opinion overpriced. But it's nice when you find a really good one that lacks astringency.
I like Ten Ren's inexpensive pouchongs but they definitely have a few unpleasant qualities that emerge, especially if you brew them a long time.