Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: White Two Tea
Tea Description:
Dark Feather Dancong oolong tea is a Dawuye variety oolong from the Guangdong province of China. The tea has a light to medium roast and is sweet, fragrant, and has a lasting complex finish. Best brewed Gongfu style, the Dark Feather can be resteeped many times.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh how lovely! This Dark Feather Oolong – Dawuye Dancong Tea from White Two Tea is a wonderful Oolong tea.
To brew, I went gongfu style and grabbed my gaiwan. I eyeballed a bamboo scoop size measurement (these leaves are too long and wiry to actually fit in the scoop) and put them in the bowl of my gaiwan. Then I heated water to 180° and poured enough water in the gaiwan to cover the leaves. I let this steep for 15 seconds to rinse the leaves. Then I strained the liquid and discarded it and started over with more hot water. This time I let the tea steep for 1 minute. Ordinarily, I will steep an Oolong 45 seconds for the first infusion, but after 45 seconds, the color was very pale so I went with another 15 seconds. I added 15 seconds onto each subsequent infusion. I combined the first and second infusions for my first cup; my second cup was infusions three and four … and so on!
My first cup: It’s so sweet and has delightful fruit and honeyed notes. The sip starts out with the honey flavors right away, filling the palate with delectable sweetness. Then I start to pick up on some hints of flower. Mere hints, this is not what I’d call a floral tea, but there are subtle whispers of flower in the distance. Then I taste the fruit. I taste notes of plum and peach. They are intensely sweet fruit notes – like cooked fruit (pie filling, perhaps!)
Just after mid-sip, I start to pick up on subtle notes that are slightly earthy and woodsy. Again, these flavors are very subtle, because this tea is mostly about the fruit and honey flavors! It’s all about SWEET with this tea – I like that! The texture is soft and thick, almost brothy. Before I knew it, the cup was empty and it was time to steep those leaves again and discover what the next two infusions had in store for me.
My second cup: This cup has a slightly lighter texture to it. The flavors are different than the first cup too. This is more focused on the fruit notes and I taste both sweet and savory elements from the fruit tones. I get a slight tart note to the flavor; it’s a nice contrast to the sweeter flavors of the tea. I taste a slight mineral-y note now. There are notes of honey, but these have thinned a bit from the first cup are not as dominate.
I can taste more of the roasted flavors now. They taste savory and slightly smoky, but, again, this smoked note is very slight. It’s not really a ‘nutty’ flavor the way so many other roasted Oolong teas taste, instead, this tastes more like the fruit has been drizzled with honey and then roasted. YUM!
My third (and final) cup: Because I noticed that the texture was lightening up in my second cup, I decided that my third cup would be the last for me. Oh, don’t get me wrong – the flavors are still there and still ABUNDANT! This tea is delivering many wonderful infusions, just like a good Oolong should.
And this third cup is probably my favorite of the three! Yes, the flavor and texture is lighter than the first and second cups, but I like the way the flavors have all melded together. It’s sweet with just enough savory flavor to bring a nice contrast to the palate. I’m picking up on light buttery notes and I find those to be so lovely! There is a light creaminess to this cup that I didn’t taste in the previous two cups – the texture is lighter but it’s creamier.
A really lovely cuppa. If you’re into Oolong teas (or even if you’re not!) this is a tea you should try. Those early fruit and honey flavors as well as the creamy, buttery notes of the later infusions make this a tea journey definitely worth the trip!
