Dec 18
Lynn’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "The resulting liquor was a dark golden yellow and smelled not of orchids, but quite decidedly of peaches, pronounced, but not overpowering. The flavor was also quite peachy, right down to a bit of tartness around the edges of my tongue, with notes of honey, as well."
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From Adagio's website: "Our Phoenix Dancong is an oolong from Phoenix Mountain, China. These very special tea plants have been allowed to grow unpruned into large ancient trees and bushes, yielding exquisite, single bush harvests The one we have chosen intrigued us with its hypnotic orchid notes and lingering honey sweetness."Phoenix Mountain is actually a range in Guangdong Province, China. The highest peak is 1498 meters above sea level and the mountainsides enjoy 80 % humidity and fog all year, perfect for tea culture. The area is said to be the oldest tea growing region in China, and the ancestral home of oolong tea. A legend claims that a twelfth century Song emperor hid in the mountains while fleeing the Mongols, and while there, was given tea made with the leaves of some of the ancient wild tea trees that grew there. Finding it delicious, he named it Phoenix tea, and the mountain Phoenix mountain, because the pointed leaves reminded him of the beak of a phoenix.
Dan cong teas differ from others in that they come from tea plants that either grow wild or have been allowed to grow up into trees, rather than the low, neatly clipped bushes you see in Japanese tea gardens. Some of these trees are hundreds of years old, and single source dancongs are classified by age and brewed accordingly. Oolongs are the champagne of tea, and dancongs are the champagnes of oolongs.
The leaves of my sample were black, long, flat, only slightly twisted and smelled very sweet, more like fruit than orchids. I measured out 5 g. and placed them in a warmed 5 oz. Yixing teapot, then filled it with 208F water and let it infuse, gong fu style, for fifteen seconds. (For western style brewing, try 1.5g in one cup of water for five minutes.) Dancongs are exceptionally well suited to gong fu brewing and should yield multiple short steepings.
The resulting liquor was a dark golden yellow and smelled not of orchids, but quite decidedly of peaches, pronounced, but not overpowering. The flavor was also quite peachy, right down to a bit of tartness around the edges of my tongue, with notes of honey, as well. It was sweet, mouth filling, and smooth, with a drying astringency that held no hint of bitterness. The peach fragrance lingered strongly in my mouth and nose between sips. Altogether delicious!
Returning to the pot, I found the leaves limp and a dark brown. A second infusion of twenty seconds yielded another dark yellow liquor. The fragrance was considerably diminished, and so was the flavor. Bitterness had crept in, and the peach notes were gone, leaving a somewhat bland honey flavor. Rather disappointing, especially when compared to another oolong I reviewed the day before; I steeped that one all afternoon, cup after cup of flavorful tea.
I tried one last infusion of thirty seconds. This cup was comparable to the second, not bad, but lacking the wow factor of the first.
Overall, my impression is that while this is a good oolong, it is not an outstanding one, given the weakness for multiple infusions, but well worth drinking for that first peachy cup, which is delicious!
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