Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: small, dark
Ingredients: black tea
Steep time: 30 seconds
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: deep reddish brown
Four Seasons Tea Co. is a fairly new to me company but I’m been very impressed so far. Their Da Hong Pao was the best I ever had so I couldn’t wait to dig into the other samples that they were kind enough to share with me. Tan Yang Gong Fu is a very small leafed cultivar that hails from the Baiyun Mountain in Fujian. I’ll be sharing several other grades of Tan Yang Gong Fu in the future so keep an out out for those! The mouth-feel of this one was fairly thick. I immediately took notice of the unusual notes of rose. I don’t think I’ve ever had a black tea that was this floral (other than this one smuggled Jin Jun Mei that I’ll never see again). The listing for this tea mentions milky cereal and although it might sound odd, it’s a very fitting description. +Geoffrey Norman likened it to Crunchberries in his review but I got more of a Honey Grahams aroma. After the fourth steep that sweetness deepened to an almost Keemun-like fruitiness with hints of raisin. Gongfu is definitely the way to go with this one. Your patience will be rewarded with many delicious infusions. I got to the recommended eight rounds but then kept pushing until it was time for bed. Even after it lost most of its oomph there was a really nice lingering sweetness. At $2.24 a serving this tea is not an everyday drinker but some things are simply worth paying for. Really, really good tea is one of them in my book.
Tan Yang Gong Fu Jin Cha Xiang samples provided by Four Seasons Tea.