Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: long, dark and twisted
Steep time: 10 seconds
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: deep gold
At the end of last year, Jonathan from Rooted Rooms Tea & Ceramics reached out on Instagram to do a giveaway. Two lucky followers got to enjoy 75g of Li Shan and Osmanthus Oolong. He then generously offered to share some tea with me as a thank you for hosting the giveaway. How lucky am I? Many of you know that I’m a huge dan cong oolong geek. I couldn’t resist trying a tea called Peach Kernel Dan Cong.
This variety of tea is usually named for the aroma that it possesses. Peach Kernel, or Tao Ren Xiang, is sometimes called almond, but I believe that there some confusion in translation. Tao Ren is the name for the seed that is encased within the pit of a peach. Apparently, almonds are in the peach family. Who knew? These seeds are often used in Chinese medicine.
Leaf
The dry leaves were uniformly dark, with the characteristic long and spindly shape. I noticed an incredibly fruity aroma as soon as I opened the bag. That turned a bit roasty once I added them to a warmed gaiwan. I opted to brew this tea with my preferred method, gongfu style in a porcelain gaiwan. Both the wet leaf and my gaiwan lid had a pleasant floral quality that I did not notice before brewing. My vessel was a bit larger than the recommended 100ml so I opted to use 7g of tea.
Liquor
Peach Kernel Dan Cong infused into a deep gold liquor. I was blown away by this tea’s juicy, natural sweetness. It lingered long after each sip and almost seemed to get fruitier with each infusion. Peaches definitely came to mind. It also had a soft floral note in the background. There was some astringency, as is expected from a dan cong, but that aspect was relatively mild. It gave the finish a clean brightness that balanced all of that sticky peach. Needless to say, this a tea that I truly enjoyed. I went through my bag fairly quickly while working from home during quarantine.
Have you ever tried Peach Kernel Dan Cong? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Peach Kernel Dan Cong gifted by Rooted Rooms Tea & Ceramics
