2008 Dancong Yulan AAA

This tea-producing area is also renowned for the large amount of old wild trees still in use (the top teas are allegedly 100% old growth, and some even advertised as ‘single bush’; Dancong originally means just that); as a drawback, prices for the top grades are very high, often pushing $100 / 100g in the West.
This is only a very brief introduction to Dancong; for more info, see here.

Here I look at the 2008 Dancong Yulan AAA purchased from Jing Tea. At $29 per 100g, it can be said to be reasonably priced for an ambitious Dancong. Yulan means magnolia, so we know what aroma to look for. With Huangzhi (‘Orange Blossom’), this is the most popular variety of Dancong.

Brewed in: gaiwan
Dosage: 3.5g / 120ml
Dry leaf: Long and rather straight leaves that are surprisingly green. Usually Dancong is a medium oolong, meaning a moderate (~50%) oxidation. Here, there clearly is less. The aroma is extraordinarily flowery, with a mixture of orange blossom, lilac, and lilies perhaps.
Tasting notes:
30s: A clear, saturated yellow colour. Intense aroma is consistent with the dry leaves, narcotically flowery. Palate also has a flower petal bittersweetness, and an almost buttery texture with no aromatic other elements such as fruits or spices. Elegant, smooth, with good presence on palate and a longish finish. Rather elegant for a DC, this reminds me of Baozhong with its extravagant flowery crest over a rather slim body.
1m (overbrewed): Colour deepens into a yellow+. Interestingly this has not become bitter, but there is a flowery dustiness at the back of the throat.
45s: Now lighter in flavour and a little neutral, as if suffering from the previous, excessive infusion.
1m: Back to shape now. As often with Dancong, the initial top floral notes are gone, but what remains is a solid medium-bodied architecture and a streak of solid, invigorating, elegantly bitterish flavour akin to grated orange or grapefruit zest.