On Oct 7, 12:22*am, Rainy > wrote:
> Are Dan Congs always a little bitter? I tried maybe 5-6 of them and
> they've always had bitter aftertaste for me. It tastes a bit like if
> you add a few drops of alcohol to a glass of water. At the same time,
> I am very sensitive to bitter taste, I can't stand dark chocolate,
> endives, kirby cucumber skin, dark coffee (unless very well light-
> roasted and really fresh and I'm in the mood for it). I don't like
> bitter teas such as Assam or Ceylon unless it's got milk in it. All
> because of bitterness.
>
> Is that something that's true for all dan congs, or for most of them,
> or maybe there's some trick to brewing them without bitterness? I love
> the aroma of dan congs, and I like the peach/apricot taste.. but the
> aftertaste turns me away every time. Today I tried to finally sit down
> and experiment with gong-fu and dan cong and no matter what I tried,
> the bitterness is still there.

I also find all DCs to be somewhat bitter. I do like bitter
vegetables, bitter dark chocolate, etc. though so I do like DCs.
However I find that if you brew some of them even a bit too long they
can be extremely bitter. So, like the other recommendations, I would
try relatively short brewing times. I do find that short times give a
nice, not weak, tea and thus also provide for many steepings.