Fujian Congou Black Tea

Back under my own roof enjoying a real cuppa in my own mug with my own water. Love, love, love this cocoa-y, bittersweet brew. Too good to mess up with milk or sugar.

Thanks for the prayers. The good news is that tests went fine, Mom is home, and nothing requiring immediate action. 80-something bodies just begin to wear out. (Actually 40-something bodies do too, but let’s not go there.)

The dry leaf is dark, small, sharp, and wiry. It smells a bit of grain. I used 1 1/2tsp for 12oz of water heated to approx 195F. I steeped for 2 1/2 minutes in my press. The brew is dark caramel and still has the grain scent as does the wet leaf. The leaf is small fairly evenly cut pieces and chocolate in appearance.

There is no question this is a Fujian tea from the very first sip. It has that honey sweet, grainy goodness with more than a hint of malt. It has the yam notes. Yet there is something unique about it as well. It has what I can only describe as a darker edge way low underneath that comes out more in the sweet lingering aftertaste. The cooler the cup becomes the more I am detecting this as a roasted note or light smoke.

As the cup emptied I noticed the scent of the leaf still in the press. It was fruity with hints of chocolate. I needed a refill. Cup two is similar to cup one, sweeter with less of the darker notes.

Cup three is lighter. Still very flavorful. I read a description somewhere on the net that compared Fujian Congou to a cross between Yunnan and Keemun. Yes, I agree.

Grrrrrr! That was the sound that escaped me, and that was when I smelled the leaves. Same sound, a little louder, escaped when I sipped the first sips.

This is a delicious black tea. Often, black tea from China will use Asian parameters for steeping the tea and I find it too weak that way and change to Western brewing. This one is super just as they say to make it. It is smooth yet bracing, lightly cocoa flavored, and there is something arresting about the flavor that grabs your attention, but isn’t rough.

This and their Dragon Pearl Green Tea are so good they could be the base for a very nice small cupboard.

First of all I have to say thanks to Nature’s Leaf Teas for sending me these samples to review. I was also very impressed by the packaging of the samples—resealable, heavy plastic zip-top pouches with the brew instructions printed on them—and also the amount, a generous 1oz. I look forward to trying them all but today I had to jump right in with this one. I have a relatively newly-discovered love of fujian black teas, so I am excited to try this one.

The dry leaf has a nice look, pretty long with a few lighter colored leaves throughout, though not as long and spindly as some that I’ve seen. It smells grainy and alfalfa-y, which is what I would pretty much expect. Steeped, more chocolatey, molassesy aromas start coming out. The flavor is pleasant, a bit of cocoa powder, a bit of grain. When it was still a bit too hot for me to drink there was a hint of sweetness that made me think that the honey notes would grow, but alas, it seems to have faded as it cooled. I am thinking next time I will monkey with the steep parameters, but even so this is a tasty fujian and I’m glad I got the chance to try it. Thanks again!

I’m not sure that i’ve had any fujian teas so i’m happy that dinosara sent this one along for me to try. This is a delicious cup of cocoa goodness with a few honey notes in the background..maybe a bit of “wheat” taste! I wish i could say more but i totally gulped this down it was so tasty!

Thanks to Nature’s Tea Leaf for a generous sample.

I’m not that experienced with black teas beyond the basic Assam and Darjeeling, but I was excited to try this and expand my horizons. I didn’t steep this for too long for fear the bitterness would ruin my enjoyment. There is also a smokey undertone, but it’s definitely different than a Lapsang, where it’s not overwhelming.

This tea has some complexity to it. As others have mentioned, I am getting the cocoa and malty notes. It’s definitely a hearty and enjoyable tea on it’s ownn

Because it’s so strong and hearty, I decided to throw some soy milk in there to see how the taste changes. The milk definitely smooths out the harsher tones and it becomes more of a silky treat. It almost now tastes like a mild coffee to me.

Both ways are enjoyable in their own way. I look forward to exploring teas like this more.

TY Nature’s Tea Leaf for a sample of this!

DRY: Black tea – almost rosy floral smell with light raisin. (me and smelling raisins in black tea).

STEEPED: Woodsy brown tea, smells slightly raisiny again. I forgot to set my timer, so I think I steeped this for 2.5 minutes to 3.5 minutes.

TASTE: Earthy black tea, with smokey taste up front. Little bit of cocoa malt taste. Small hit of raisiny taste. No bitterness or astringency.

COMMENTS: The smokey malt flavor is interesting, however I think I prefer a sweeter more floral black tea. Still a good cup!

Thanks Sil for another interesting tea.
This one is a bit odd to me. It’s really sweet and bit fruity – but not mellow and mild – more big and bold. That’s unusual to me. Anyway, I liked it, didn’t love it – but was fun to try.

Thanks Nature’s Tea Leaf!
The samples came today in a nicely packed box. They look and smell wonderful, and there’s a whole ounce of each! This is my first Fuijan black, so take my review with a pinch of salt. :)

Dry leaves: Opening the pouch, there is a bold aroma of pepper and clove with a melon coolness. The leaves are longer than those of most blacks, and are jet black in color with a few golden tips.

Steeping: This tea brews up to a nice warm brown color. The leaves expand and unfurl to a smooth muddy, melted chocolate brown.

Tasting: This is a nice, bold black tea. It’s pleasantly bitter with a woody, peppery body and notes of cocoa, clove, and citrus.

I’m almost wondering if I got the wrong tea packaged up here. Reading the reviews, this sounds like a tea I would really like and instead I’ve gotten one rather like a lapsang souchong with a great deal of smokiness. Still waiting for it to cool down for a taste.

and it really does taste like a smoky lapsang souchong which I don’t like. I’ll refrain from rating because I kind of suspect that this has been mislabeled and the next person who wants to trade out a less smokey black with me for this can have it.