Tasting notes: Oolong Guifei Concubine

Grown in a garden on the slopes of the mythical Yellow Mountains, which have inspired painters, poets and musicians for millennia, this oolong is named after an equally famous concubine who was the favourite of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty.

With an introduction like that you might ask if this tea really lives up to its name.

Well, to answer that question you will have to try it!

Origin: Huangshan garden (Yellow Mountains), Anhui, China

Type of oolong: Fermented using the Formosa method between 30 – 40 percent. Certified organic.

Colour of tea: Blue-green tea (semi-fermented)

Water temperature: 95°C (203°F)

Infusion time in a Gong Fu Cha: 3 successive infusions of 15 to 20 seconds each (or 5 minutes in a traditional teapot)

How much to use: 8 grams in a small 12cl Yixing teapot (Yixing Hu) – (5 to 6 grams per 500ml in a traditional teapot)

Dry leaves: the leaves are rolled into dark brown beads with shades of black.

Infused leaves: well-developped black leaves.

Liquor: lovely clear colour somewhere between golden-yellow and honey

First infusion:

Aroma – scent cup (wen xiang bei): the scents are complex with top notes of floral honey, cocoa and red fruits. These give way to the fragrance of damp wood with subtle hints of iodine and roasting.

Taste – drinking cup (cha bei): the full-flavoured liquor lingers on the palate with notes of cocoa and red fruit evoking the taste of chocolate raspberries. Floral honey flavours blend seamlessly to produce a particularly complex, sweet and tasty drink. A final slight astringency makes for a very light infusion that you will want to keep drinking.

Second infusion:

Aroma: the honey notes are still present and particularly sweet, subtly combined with those of cocoa and raspberry. However, the nose is less floral. The scent of leather with a background hint of iodine gives this second infusion warm, animal notes.

Taste: The flavours of cocoa and raspberry are more discreet but still enjoyable. The flavour lingers on the palate.

Third infusion:

Aroma: in this final brew the scent of honey dominates and combines very pleasantly with the smell of waxed new wood.

Taste: the liquor develops a roundness with brewing. Honey and undergrowth flavours set the tone for this final infusion, which is slightly astringent and sour.

In conclusion, this oolong is a real gourmet tea with a taste that encompasses sweet and floral, fruity flavours and animal notes. Highly complex, this amazing tea fully deserves to be infused in a cha gu gong, but it will also give very good results in a medium-sized teapot (approx. 500 ml).

The Huangshan garden

The Huangshan garden is situated on the slopes of the mountains from which it takes its name in southern Anhui Province. Since 1990 the « Yellow Mountains » have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tea plants flourish there at high altitudes, alongside thousands of pines. The majority of the tea crop is turned into oolong teas using the Formosa method.

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