Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong Tea
Where to Buy: White2Tea
Tea Description:
I couldn’t find this exact tea on the White2Tea Website, however, I did find their Dark Feather Oolong – Dawuye Dancong which I think would be somewhat comparable and that description states as follows…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:
This Medium Roast Da Wu Ye Dan Cong Oolong Tea from White2Tea was a nice experience. Upon opening the sample bag I noticed long, sturdy pale grayish green leaves. The dry scent is gently roasted yet semi-sweet. Once infused the medium roast aroma is still there and it bumps up the sweetness to the overall scent, too! The post-infusion liquor color is a palish-grayish-yellow. The flavor has a nice amount of roast to it but an equally appreciated sweetness as well. The aftertaste lingers nicely, too! This has woodsy and earthy notes throughout the sip that fade in and out while you continue to sip it.
For those you appreciate a nice hearty roasted oolong try Medium Roast Da Wu Ye Dan Cong Oolong Tea from White2Tea I think you just might like it…I know I did!
Tangerine Dream Oolong Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
Chinese tangerine peel and California orange peel surround Phoenix Dan Cong (Mi Lan Xiang & Yu Lan Xiang) loose leaf oolong teas lightly coated with orange blossom flower extract and tangerine oil. This tea is part of M&K’s Original 20 Blends.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Nice! This Tangerine Dream Oolong Tea from M&K’s Tea Company has a really lovely tangerine flavor to it. I like how the tangerine complements the Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong tea.
To brew this, I decided to go ahead and use my Kati Tumbler instead of my gaiwan, mostly because after examining the sampler package, it appeared to be just the right amount of leaf for my tumbler. So I poured the sampler pouch into the basket of my Kati and added 12 ounces of 180°F water. I let it steep for 3 minutes (following a 15 second rinse).
I really like this. The tangerine flavor is not overwhelming. I like that I taste the lovely Oolong tea above the tangerine, but the tangerine is an obvious flavor. It definitely tastes like tangerine. The background suggests flavors of sweet potato and honey. The texture is silky.
And of course, it IS an Oolong so you know I’ve got to resteep it, right? When I resteeped the leaves, I added 30 seconds brew time to it.
The second cup is flavorful, although some of the tangerine notes have waned. I’m still picking up on faint tangerine flavors but this cup is much more about the Oolong than the tangerine. Which is alright because this is a mighty fine Oolong tea!
The tangerine notes are most noticeable in the aftertaste now, where I’m picking up on a lightly sweet, citrus note. This cup is offering a stronger honey taste, although it’s a little less ‘silky’ in texture. The first cup was definitely smoother as I detected no astringency with the first cup, and now I’m getting just a wee bit. Still not a lot of astringency, but I’m noticing a little bit of dryness to this cup.
The flavors are a lot more mellow with this infusion. The sweet potato notes are not as apparent as they were in the previous cup. I’m tasting distant woodsy notes now. This is a different tea than the first cup, but it’s still really enjoyable and definitely worth the effort of the resteep.
Dan Cong Oolong Tea from thepuriTea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: thepuriTea
Tea Description:
Dan Cong Oolong is, perhaps, our best tea. It is handcrafted from the leaves of the famous Dan Cong tea bushes of Phoenix Mountain in Guangdong, China, and then well oxidized and roasted for a remarkably rich, nuanced aroma and flavor. Its dark, wiry leaves are highly aromatic. Open a package and you’ll immediately smell apricots, peaches and bittersweet cocoa powder. The clear, pale-golden brew has lively aromas of apricots, nectarine, firewood, dark chocolate, and toasted walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts. Its flavor is fantastically sweet and complex, with notes of fruit, honey, natural osmanthus flowers, wood and minerals. The aftertaste is phenomenally full, and it changes with each re-infusion of Dan Cong Oolong.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
My favorite Oolong tea is Ali Shan, but, I think that this one may narrow in to be a close second. The flavor is outstanding!
The leaves have been deeply oxidized as evidenced by their dark color. The dry leaf is wiry and long, and possesses an aroma with deep fruit, flower and earthy notes.
The flavor is intense. I have spoken with a few people on-line who have mentioned that they do not like Oolong because the flavor is so light, to these people, I say, try Dan Cong! This is not a delicate brew; it is so flavorful and complex.
The first thing I notice is a piquant fruit note that tastes of apricots and peaches. I taste the osmanthus flower, and its natural peach-like tones further accentuate the fruit tones of the tea. There is a lovely sweetness to this that reminds me of wildflower honey.
I can also taste the firewood as mentioned in the description with hints of smokiness, and a distinct sharpness that arrives mid-sip that evoked thoughts of firewood before I even having read the description.
I don’t know that I taste the individual nutty flavors that are mentioned in the description, but there is a nuttiness to the flavor profile. Toasty and delicious! I also taste hints of cocoa within the brew, but, not a strong sense of dark chocolate. More like a hint of cocoa intermingling with the toasted nut flavor.
One seriously fabulous Oolong. I highly recommend this to any tea drinker.
***Now through the end of February, you can receive $5 off your order with thepuriTea. Just enter in the code: lulu in the coupon field during check out to receive your discount! Savings + Great Tea = AWESOME!
Mi Lan Dan Cong Tea from Canton Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Product Description:
Dan Cong is the champagne of oolongs: ripe with intense fruit and sweetness. This high grade example comes from a plantation on the lower slopes of Wu Dong Mountain, Chao Zhou. The leaves are thoroughly fermented and baked to produce a rich liquor with unique flowery and honeyed notes that can be enjoyed through multiple infusions.
Our Buyer’s notes:
“This tea is more heavily baked than the Song Zhong Dan Cong to allow the tea to produce its unique honey and lychee flavours.”
Taster’s Review:
Ooooooh-Long! This tea definitely puts the Oooooh into Oolong. It is truly wonderful.
The aroma of the brewed liquor is delightful. It has this amazing sort of “outdoorsy” kind of scent, like the fragrance you might experience if you were walking through the woods on a quiet spring morning. It is smells of earth and damp wood, as well as newly blossoming flowers and hints of fruit, and even a clean, crisp air-like scent. This is a tea that you need to inhale deeply – taking in this extraordinary aroma – before taking a sip, to truly experience it in its entirety.
And then, of course, there is the flavor. And … put simply, this has a flavor that keeps you sipping. That is to say, my cup is now empty and I need to infuse the leaves again in order to compose the right words to describe this tea. It is so good that I finished the cup before I could start writing about it.
Now as I sip my second cup (the result of my third and fourth infusions combined), I can tell you a little more about this tea. The flavor is intense. It has a honey-esque tone to it … not just the sweetness of honey, but also the unique floral taste of honey. It is sweet with the subtlest tone of sharpness in the background, such an enchanting, piquant kind of taste.
And as the description from Canton Tea Co. suggests, there is a lychee kind of flavor to this too. It is so very similar to the unique flavor of lychee, in fact, that I had to double check on this tea to make sure it wasn’t a lychee flavored or scented tea. But no: these interesting flavors are achieved naturally through the baking process of the tea leaves, and not through a flavoring process.
I was able to infuse this tea a total of six times with no loss of flavor, making this not only a delicious tea, but also a good value for your money too. This is the kind of Oolong I would recommend to a tea enthusiast who finds some Oolong teas to be too delicate for their taste. The flavor of this is so intense, they’re sure to change their mind about Oolong!
2009 First Grade Honey Orchid Phoenix Dancong Oolong from JK Tea Shop
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: JK Tea Shop
About JK Tea Shop:
JK tea shop is established by a group of tea lovers and experts in Guangzhou, China, who are out of love for Chinese fine loose leaves tea, wish to promote Chinese fine tea and tea wares, and share the fun of drinking tea and healthy life styles with all the tea lovers in the world.
JK tea members have been travelling all over tea-producing areas in China for many years, and have become good friends with the tea farmers or tea factories. We guarantee almost our teas are directly from the tea farmers, family workshops or factories, that is why our price is so competitive. Our tea knowledge and expertise grant us the privilege to guarantee the quality before handing the teas to the clients. Besides, located in Guangzhou, where there is the world’s biggest tea & tea wares market-Fangcun tea market, we are able to get into touch with the latest tea information and events at the first line, and share all those events and information with all tea lovers.
Taster’s Review:
I bought this tea some time ago, and it had been inadvertently stashed away with some other teas before I had a chance to try it. I guess I can look at this as a shame that in my carelessness I’ve not tried this earlier, but, I prefer to look at it as I found a hidden treasure!
And what a treasure it is! The thick texture of this tea reminds me of a delicious Chinese Hot and Sour soup. And while this tea does not possess “hot-spicy” notes like that soup would, it does have a savory sour note that arrives at mid-sip. Delicious!
The aroma is mesmerizing! It smells deeply floral with beautiful sweet and savory tones to it. So amazing.
This tea is aptly named. It is sweet like honey, with a beautiful orchid-like overtone. It has a lovely complexity to it. A fruit-like flavor that is both sweet and sour. This is a delight to sip, and the leaves render many delicious infusions.
This is a fantastic Oolong tea. While this tea is no longer available on JK Tea Shop’s website, I urge you to visit the website for 2010’s Honey Orchid Oolong, and be sure to visit often to watch for this year’s Honey Orchid Oolong offerings. You’ll be glad you did!