ITD Tasting Club Notes 2/08: Phoenix Dan Cong

[fencerdenoctum]

Warning: Long post is LONG.


2007 Yu lan Xiang- 10 g sample dan cong
brewing method- gaiwan

Dry leaf-scent is very light and sweet. Very floral.
long thin leaves

20 sec-brews a dark yellow cup. floral scent reduced with a more fruity note arising.
mouthfeel is kinda slick, but not oily.

35 sec- clearer mouthfeel, slightly astringent. fruity scent/taste gone, back to floral.

1 min- kinda woodsy. not much, but the floral scent is all but gone. underlying sweetness but very subtle.


2007 Ao Fu Hou Dan Cong

Brewing method- Gaiwan

Dry Leaf- floral, same long leaves.

20 sec- scent very fruity, finally caught that orange scent mentioned. has a very light "oily" quality. almost like earl grey does but very light.
clean ending. slick feeling doesn't last. can't describe ending not woodsy or grassy, but something else.

45 sec- orange scent diminished, smells a bit more floral. starting to get a heavy feeling to it. as it cooled that, a citrus taste rose

1 min- almost no orange scent. flowery scent domininant but less pronounced than last infusion. Flowery taste. Not much else to say on this one.


1986 Vintage
Phoenix Dan Cong

Brewing Method- Gaiwan-

Dry leaf- Much darker than the other two dan cong in the sampler. Lacks any kind of floral scent. I can't really put a name to the scent, but it almost reminds me of a doctors office or a room that has been freshly painted.

Flash Rinse- Rinse smells almost of chocolate and tobacco. Same with the wet leaf. liquor is a light yellowish brown. looks like a weak black. Rinse has an earthy woodsy taste. Not drinking a whole cup.

20 sec- liquor is darker (due to longer infusion), still has a bit of a tobaccony (sp) smell. Smell isn't harsh on the nose. Taste is VERY earthy. If good pu-erh is anything like this I'm going to be a big fan. Tastes of bark and

30 sec- tobacco smell more prominent, liquor is now a nice light brown. Bark middle note more pronounced. Mouth feel is very clean. I'm suprised by this, I was expecting something grungy. As the tea cools it just gets earthier.

35 sec- Earthy smell. Just plain earthy. slightly vegetal.

40 sec- earthy smell diminished. Taste increased. More of a bark note.

50 sec- woodsy taste almost completely gone. This round it has an earthy vegetal taste.

I ran out of water in my utilitea so I stopped there. It would definitely hold up to more infusions however.

Dan Cong really surprised me. I don't know if I would buy a ton of it but its definitely a great tea. You picked a good one Sal!

Fencer

[Salsero]

Nice review, Fencer. Thanks.

[hop_goblin]

I think I liked this tea a bit better that the previous Dan cong. It was bit more robust in flavor and seemed to be more active on the palate. While the the other was more subtle in flavor, this particular tea allowed me to taste the tea on all of my taste buds which quite enjoyable. Gordon Tea House has an interesting description on his Ebay store about Dan Cong. Apparently, the Dan Cong are breed to taste like certain flavors..

" This is a high quality handmade oolong from China. Also known as Phoenix bird oolong. Dan Cong is often translated as "Single Strain," named after tea bushes hundreds of years ago in which each bush produced a uniquely flavored tea. Fenghuang Dancong is a select oolong tea from Guangdong province and was a tribute tea in the Song Dynasty. The leaves are harvested from a strain of trees that have been selected for careful breeding as straight trunk trees. These trees have a single trunk that rises straight up and the branches form an umbrella, making harvesting the leaves particularly difficult. Pickers use tall ladders or must climb the trees to harvest the long leaves.

This strain is light and slightly astringent, with a hint of tropical fruit. This tea absolute delight, from the lovely black leaves, to the complex aroma of the infusion which is a lovely golden yellow liquor, with a complex delicate woody, fruity taste. According to its different flavours, Dan Cong teas have been divided into many types, such as Zhi Orchid, Osmanthus, Yulan, Almond, Cinnamon, Ginger Flower, Jasmine, Honey Orchid, Huangzhi, Grapefruit, etc.. Colony, Egiht Immortals, Oriental Red, Song, City-wall are considered as high grade products.

The aromatic, hearty oolong has a clear orange-brown hue in the cup. The leaves reveal their oolong characteristics during infusion and turn definitively green in the center and red-brown on the edges. The second infusion is considered by many to be the best, with a desirerable, lingering aftertaste.

There is about 20,000-acre-tea-base to produce Phoenix Dancong Tea. Our organic Dan Cong tea is in accordance with the standard of national organic tea, approved by Nuisanceless Food Professional Technical Committee of Guangxi Quality Association. Contains no pesticides. As for processing, preservation, transportation and sales, we carry them out in accordance with production technical regulations of organic tea. The quality of the tea is qualified with the standard and requirements of the regulation “Organic Tea” approved by Quality Inspection Bureau. Medium caffeine content. " AWESOME


http://stores.ebay.com/Dragon-Tea-House

[Salsero]

Warguineapig in Slovakia (a denizen of BBBs Puerh LJ) has made a short post on his blog about Imen's Dan Congs at
http://tuochatea.blogspot.com/2008/02/f ... -2007.html
He makes a couple of interesting observations. As Scruff has pointed out, everyone's experience of these teas is amazingly different.

And as I'm sure all have already noticed, our own super hero, Space Samurai, has started a week-long extravaganza on Imen's as well as some TeaSpring Dan Congs. The first post is another serving of Alex's sumptuous pics and tantalizing text.
http://anotherteablog.blogspot.com/

Sometimes I am just overwhelmed at the talent and genius in this loose collection of internet tea people!

[skywarrior]

Minty Fresh Oolong. Just Kidding!

Ao Fu Hou

Oh I like the smell of this tea! Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! And did I say, Chocolate?

1st infusion -- Rinsed the tea first and then 190F at 4 minutes. 2 oz in 12 oz cup. Almost too much time. Malty, sort of. Strong, even though this is a light tea. Chocolate overtones.

2nd infusion -- Yummy! 190F -- at 6 minutes. Much sweeter and chocolate. Will try a third infusion tonight. Definitely on my list as an awesome oolong.

[Chip]

First of all, many thanx to last month's host, Tom, for such an awesome TeaTasting. I am finally getting caught up with samples. I can see how you guys get buried in samples very easily.

My first sampling is the 2007 Yu lan Xiang. First of all, I have very limited exposure to Dan Cong, generally prefering greener oolongs. So, I am excited to try something so different.

Also, I generally semi gong fu, but today, I went full throttle. 5 grams in 125 ML.

I was a little freaked by the use of boiling water for oolong, but it worked quite well to my surprise. I just kept on brewing, so, I had 3 steeps in front of me much of the time...but have taken a break finally after 5 steeps. I am actually amazed at how slowly they are evolving from steep to steep, but I am not used to such short steeps. I get the feeling that I am far from done after my 5th.

I noticed a fruitiness with a floral background early on. As the 4th and 5th brewed, I noticed an exotic spice note as I smelled...curiously it was gone after pouring.

The aroma has evolved into something that is very hard to describe...there is a fruitiness, but I sense the smell of...hmmm...a natorium (not in a bad way though), with combined sweetness and fruitiness. The whole aroma defies desciption in my finite mind.

It is such a curious brew...I am definately enjoying it, but I have to work at it because it is rather new to me.

I have the other 2 DCs and a bag of DC from EO from SS exchange.

The flavor is fuller than the greener oolongs that I am used to. The taste is much more familiar and quite flavorful, fruity, sweet. I detected virtually no astringency, no fire, mellow and sweet.

[Salsero]

Yep, mercurial and evanescent. Still don't know if I like it.