Today’s review is White2Tea’s 2018 Carbolic Soap Oolong. This is a 200 gram cake of high-quality Milan Dancong from Guangdong province, China. A full cake is $208 and a 25 gram sample for $30. I kept forgetting I had a sample of this, its existence, then where I put my sample. I got reminded about the dancong as I recently made boxed Angel Food cake and discovered it has detergent in it to make it fluff (well I said soap first and got corrected). I might as well follow up some detergent cake with soap tea.
Leaf and Steeping Method
When my sample of Carbolic Soap oolong arrived, it smells glorious. I can’t remember how it smelled then, but right now it smells really fruity. It is like those Haw Flakes fruit flower discs candy. The pressing of this tea is very tight. I could just barely snap off chunks.
I used 1 gram of leaf per 12ml of vessel size, so leafed on the heavier side. I used boiling water and started with a long 15 second extended rinse to try and open up this tea faster due to tight compression. The hot leaf continues with that fruit floral candy smell but has a bit of floral in it.
Tasting of White2Tea’s 2018 Carbolic Soap Oolong
First Infusion: The first infusion was really light tasting slight minerally, but what pops immediately is the strong aroma. It is three times stronger as a scent than the actual tea and aroma lingers. The aroma is peachy and mystery fruit leather.
Second and Third Infusion: As I started to curse compression, the second infusion had the leaf completely break up.
2018 Carbolic Soap oolong is sharp tasting tobacco, fruit leather and hootdamn that potently crazy aftertaste. The aftertaste is echos the taste but three times as potent with strong fruity and almost (in my limited experience) white wine notes. The salivation on this tea is also nuts, I had to mop up my beak. The broth is slick feeling to drink.
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: These infusions are strong. Carbolic Soap oolong sips in an intense bitter of concentrated floral fruit tobacco swings back with the strong aroma cementing the flavour in the mouth. If you don’t know what huigan is, you know now, yowza. I sat for a few minutes to muck around with water and I noticed the aftertaste shifts more peach apricot and wet stones as I waited.
Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Infusion: 2018 Carbolic Soap oolong has calmed down finally. It is wet stones mineral and a savory. The aftertaste is perfumy floral mystery and more of those stone fruits. The texture is astringent now, drying the top of my teeth. The ninth and tenth infusion was light tasting and only had an over brewed bitter flavour.
The energy finally hits me here, feeling like head pressure. Mysteriously, the sun has appeared here in grey dreary Seattle. Then I got lost in thought while listening to metal. By the end of the session, I had a headache and needed a nap. I tasted this tea for almost an hour after finishing the tea session.
Comments
White2tea’s 2018 Carbolic Soap oolong is an exercise in crazy aftertaste/huigan. This dancong is all about the aftertaste, the flavour is subtle for the most part, but the aftertaste is explosively spectacular. Carbolic Soap oolong was one of the most intense aftertastes I’ve ever had. I got 8 great infusions before the tea went bitter.
There is limited stock on the 2018 Carbolic Soap oolong. This would be a fun tea to own and age if you don’t care about spending $200+ on a slab of dancong. If you are an absolute aftertaste junkie, you need to try it!
