Andao Wuyi Golden Tortoise

Well I have been drinking a decent amount of tea, but sadly I have had little time to write about it. One of my biggest dilemmas has been dealing with my new Yixing. For the sake of informing everyone.

The vendor told me it should be used for green TGY, and nothing roasted. Whereas when talking with Toki he says at this stage of its use, there are no rules. Either way it is a wonderful pot, and after drinking a lot of Wuyi and TGY (yes out of the same pot). I settled down to the fact that the more this pot got used, the better the Wuyi seemed to taste.

So consider this a bit of a test, I am going to make the Wuyi Golden tortoise in my new yixing and see how it behaves today.

Looking at the color of the first brew, it brings up a question in my mind, are there any Yancha oolongs that have great clarity on the first infusion, or is it something about the processing that the first infusion tends to be a bit murky. I will have to run through pictures. Clarity is something I have started to really look for in a tea. Its a little thing, doesn't mean much taste wise, but lits just nice to not have a cup that looks murky. Which is probably why I've backed off the deeper steamed Sencha's.

I apologize my nose seems to be broken. As I know from previous times brewing this tea that it does have an aroma though I'm hard pressed to find much of one today. What I do get is a slight hint of buttered pastries, with hints of cinnamon, and possibly some fruits. I really can not get that more specific as like I said my nose is not working today.

The taste though, is quite nice, perhaps a bit strong, but the roast is evident, and the mouth feel is great. The taste is a bit "creme bruele" which has to be the first time I have pulled that out as a descriptor.


On the third infusion my nose started to work a bit more, it had a nice peppery aroma with hints of many other spices. The flavor though seems to have started to fade into a smooth but incredibly drinkable concoction. The only hit of astringency comes though in the finish.

This tea has its flaws, but perhaps I have a bit more of an acceptance for Wuyi Yancha flaws than most other tea's. Or perhaps its that I need to as I tend to drink an excessive amount of Yancha that I could not afford amazing stuff all the time.

Which reminds me of a post I was thinking of putting out about Price points in Tea and Teaware, and if I feel they are worth it. Though in short I feel the higher the price per gram of tea, the better it is "likely" to be. The likely qualifier is much needed, as I am sure there are always those people selling tea at inflated prices which does not command such a high price.