Tag: Teakan

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Teakan’s Milan Xiang, Phoenix Dancong

Milan Xiang, Phoenix Dancong by Teakan
Oolong Tea / Straight
$25.00 for 70g

Milan Xiang, Phoenix Dancong is part of the Teakan’s Spring 2020 Exploration box, which I purchased at the 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival back in March. This Exploration Box consists of 5 teas and Milan Xiang, Phoenix Dancong was 10g of the 70g.

First Impressions

Milan Xiang, Phoenix Dancong comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch. Like the other teas that came in the Spring 2020 Exploration box, Milan Xiang has a minimalist white and black label on the packaging that provides all the information that I need about the tea. This oolong tea comes from Wudong, Guangdong, China and was harvested in spring 2019.

The leaves themselves are long and wiry, in dark brown and reddish brown colours. There is a beautiful fragrance from the leaves – it reminds me of floral and buttery aromas. It’s so inviting and smells sweet, which is nice. And look at those beautiful leaves! So gorgeous and just makes me want to dive right in.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Milan Xiang in 95°C (203°F) water for 2 minutes (western steeping style) or 5 seconds (gongfu method). 5 seconds was much too quick for me, so I opted to use 93°C (200°F) water and do an initial steep for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Milan Xiang steeps to a light golden yellow colour. The flavour of Milan Xiang is primarily that of buttery cream and floral sweetness. It’s really nice, and has a thickened texture for the mouthfeel, which is nice. It reminds me a lot of a milk oolong, and just has those buttery cream qualities that I enjoy in an oolong. There just the perfect level of sweetness in the tea that makes it really delicious and would likely go well with a lot of dishes.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Milan Xiang a total of five times (six steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour to be strongest for the first and second resteeps, while slowly waning for the steeps after that. I do think I could have gotten a few more steeps out of these leaves, as it was still quite flavourful by the end of the sixth steep of these leaves. The buttery cream flavour was just so tasty and made me want to drink more and more.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Milan Xiang, Phoenix Dancong. I really enjoyed the whole process of drinking this tea – from admiring the dry leaf, to the fragrance of the steeped tea, to just resteeping it over and over again. Definitely resteep these leaves to get all the flavour out of them – it’s just so good! The buttery cream flavours would balance well against a savoury meal, or just add a little something something to a dessert.

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Teakan’s Laoshan Green

Laoshan Green by Teakan
Green Tea / Straight
$25.00 for 70g

Laoshan Green is part of the Teakan’s Spring 2020 Exploration box, which I purchased at the 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival back in March. This Exploration Box consists of 5 teas and Laoshan Green was 15g of the 70g.

First Impressions

Laoshan Green is a green tea that was a 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival purchase. The tea comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch with the minimalism white and black label on the packaging. I still appreciate the simplicity of the label because it just really allows the tea itself to shine. No fancy packaging, no glitzy illustrations – just simple.

Laoshan Green is a Chinese green tea from Laoshan, Shandong, China. The leaves were harvested in autumn 2019. The leaves are thin and wiry. The colours vary from a light grass green to a deep olive green. Such variation in shades of green! And it has a sweet, grassy aroma – which I find both inviting and tempting because I love a good green tea.

Preparation

Teakan offers two different steeping recommendations. With the gongfu method, Teakan recommends 80°C (176°F) water for 5 seconds and the western method at 80°C (176°F) water for 3o seconds.

Because 5 seconds was just a wee bit too quick for me, I opted to steep Laoshan Green in the western method.

First Taste

Laoshan Green steeps to a beautiful pale yellow-green colour. The aroma is grassy, with hints of honey sweetness in the background. The flavour of the tea has a mix of grass and vegetables – it has a nice crispness to it that reminds me a lot of green beans – which I like. There’s a sweetness to it that reminds me of honey, but it’s not overpowering the other flavours in this green tea.

A Second Cup?

I did four resteeps of Laoshan Green (five steeps total). I added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The green bean and grassy notes are most intense in the first resteep, and slowly begin to wane after that. I found that the flavour stayed really nice throughout each steep, and I think I could have gone further if I had wanted to put in more time into steeping it. It’s pleasant and tasty though, so I quite enjoyed it.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Laosha Green. I really enjoyed the flavour of the tea, I found the grassy and green bean notes to be delightful and be a treat to steep because of how well the tea resteeped and how much I liked the flavours. The honey sweetness that was present was enjoyable, and didn’t overwhelm the grassy notes. I love the flavour profile found in this straight tea, and found the sweet balanced really nicely against the green bean and grassy notes that I found in Laoshan Green.

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Teakan’s Wuyi Black

Wuyi Black by Teakan
Black Tea / Straight
$25.00 for 70g

Wuyi Black is part of the Teakan’s Spring 2020 Exploration box, which I purchased at the 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival back in March. This Exploration Box consists of 5 teas and Wuyi Black was 15g of the 70g.

First Impressions

Wuyi Black is part of Teakan’s Spring 2020 Exploration Box and it was one of the teas that I sampled at the Vancouver Tea Festival (which, despite only being 2 months ago, feels like it happened years ago). This black tea is from Tongmu, Fujian, China and harvested in spring 2017. This tea came in a sealed resealable kraft paper pouch with a minimalist white label, I do appreciate the simplicity of the design.

Wuyi Black was harvested at 2000ft elevation (so 2000ft above sea level). The leaves have a strong fruity note, and it actually reminds me of haw flake snacks (which if you grew up eating snacks of Asian origin or taking Traditional Chinese Medicine, you may be familiar with them…). There’s some beautiful dark, wiry leaves with some reddish pieces throughout.

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Preparation

Teakan has two different recommendations for steeping Wuyi Black. If you’re going with the gongfu method, they recommend 95°C (203°F) for 5 seconds. If you’re going to steep western style, they recommend 95°C (203°F) for 30 seconds. I did an initial steep (western style) in 93°C (200°F) for 30 seconds.

First Taste

Wuyi Black steeps to a beautiful orange colour. It has a lovely aroma that I find to be a mix of earthy and fruity. This black tea has a surprisingly light sweetness, which I wasn’t displeased to find. There’s a mild astringency in there as well – I can taste fruity notes that still remind me of haw flakes, and an earthiness that reminds me of portobella mushrooms (surprised? I am!). It’s interestingly a blend of flavours that I don’t find odd, maybe my taste buds are a little weird.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Wuyi Black five times (six steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. It steeped quite well, I found the flavour to remain consistent throughout all the steeps. The flavour peaked and was the strongest at the first resteep and gradually lessened after that.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Wuyi Black. I found this black tea had an interesting flavour profile and I liked it enough to resteep it – there’s just something weirdly intriguing about the mix of flavours of haw flakes and mushrooms. It makes for a nice cup of tea, and while I didn’t add anything to it, I think that it would take well to cream and sugar if you must – but I think it’s so good on its own and it really doesn’t need anything to let it shine.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.