Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Qing Tea
Product Description:
Fenghuang Dancong wulong tea has a history of about 900 years. Nowadays there are still about 3000 tea bushes left of this kind that range from 200 up to 400 years old. Fenghuang Dancong wulong tea is named after a mountain in the northeast of Guangdong province. Like supreme tea plantations elsewhere, Fenghuang mountain also possesses all aspects necessary for producing great tea such as: high altitude, abundant rainfall, short periods of sunshine and diffused light.
Fenghuang Dancong is a typical Guangdong wulong tea, with a high degree of oxidation and a taste that resembles lychee fruit. This tea bears resemblances with Wuyi tea, yet Guangdong wulong tea has become a style of tea cherished by tea lovers all over the world.
Taster’s Review:
This Oolong is delightful!
As the description suggests, it does have a taste that is somewhat reminiscent of lychee fruit. There are also distant notes of smoke and a front note of flower. Such a beautifully complex tea, this Lingtou Dancong!
While the aroma of this tea is a bit lighter than some Oolong teas I’ve encountered, there is no lacking for flavor here. The palate is immediately greeted with a floral note (Orchid, perhaps?) which is followed up with the lychee note I previously mentioned. The smoky taste weaves throughout the sip, never making itself dominate within the taste, rather it merely hints at its presence.
The flavor is sweet with a distinct sour note with a suggestion of savory bitterness toward mid-sip. The mouthfeel is not as well-defined with this Oolong as it is with other Oolong teas. That is neither good nor bad in my eyes, simply different. There is some astringency to this cup, but it is not a pucker-y or an overly drying astringency.
I suggest resteeping the leaves several times – with each subsequent infusion, the flavor changes only slightly, but I notice different flavors with each. In the third and fourth infusions, the flavor is slightly sweeter and smoother than in the first two. By the fifth and sixth infusions, I notice very little of the smoky essence while the overall taste becomes almost seamless.This tea is top-notch, and I highly recommend it to all Oolong lovers out there!
