Phoenix Dan Cong (Honey Orchid) Oolong Tea Premium

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Cream, Honey, Orchid, Pear, Umami, Bread, Char, Floral, Grass, Lychee, Mineral, Roasted, Rose, Stonefruit, Walnut, Wood, Bitter, Plum
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by ifjuly
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec 6 g 6 oz / 165 ml

Currently unavailable

We don't know when or if this item will be available.

From Our Community

1 Image

0 Want it Want it

4 Own it Own it

4 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Kinda relieved this isn’t as perfect or honestly even much at all like Golden Moon’s mysterious Honey Orchid—on the one hand it’d be another resource for it (I’m mad for GM’s) but on the other I’d...” Read full tasting note
  • “Having a tough day today and needed the equivalent of comfort food in tea format, so I dipped into this Dan Cong that I was originally planning to save for the weekend. The only other honey orchid...” Read full tasting note
    95
  • “I bought 25 g of this Dan Cong during Tao Tea Leaf’s semi-annual sale at the beginning of 2016 and just cut open the bag a couple weeks ago. I steeped 5 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 212F for 10,...” Read full tasting note
    85
  • “Picked up a sample of this tea from Tao Tea Leaf last week. As with all of my trips there, it was very pleasant, and the owner Tao, was quite helpful. When dry, the smell of this leaf reminded me...” Read full tasting note
    65

From Tao Tea Leaf

Once reserved for the imperial family. It is now a worldwide famous oolong. There are several varieties of the Phoenix Dan Cong, but this one in particular has a fantastic flavour. It is sweet with a fruity taste of lychees and honey and a base of roasted nuts. It is a light tea with a remarkable smooth finish.

Region: Feng Huang Shan, Guangdong Province

Other Names: Mi Lan Dan Cong

Steeping Guide:
Teaware: Glass or ceramic Gaiwan
Amount: 3g /1½ teaspoons
Temperature: 100°c (212°F)
Steeping Time: We suggest that you rinse your tea leaves before enjoying them, simply add water to the leaves and discard. This wakes them up and they are ready to go. For your first steep, we suggest a 30-50 second steep. For the second steep 10 seconds is best, simply add 5 seconds to each of your next steeps. This will allow you to experience the full range of tastes the leaves have to offer.

*These steeping directions are for a traditional Gong Fu style tea, if you are brewing this tea in a regular cup we recommend steeping for 2 – 3 minutes. This tea can be steeped 4 times.

About Tao Tea Leaf View company

Company description not available.

4 Tasting Notes

612 tasting notes

Kinda relieved this isn’t as perfect or honestly even much at all like Golden Moon’s mysterious Honey Orchid—on the one hand it’d be another resource for it (I’m mad for GM’s) but on the other I’d feel a little chumpy for getting sooooo excited about GM’s (one of the first teas I really fell in love with when I joined Steepster) only to discover it was just like everyone else’s what-I-learned-is-known-as dancong (if that’s even what it is…hard to tell, vague copy over at GM!). This doesn’t give me the insta-aaahh sigh of fragrant honey pleasure GM’s does. Honestly, it tastes a bit weak to me…but maybe I need to play around with the steeping paramters or do it gongfu sometime.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

95
54 tasting notes

Having a tough day today and needed the equivalent of comfort food in tea format, so I dipped into this Dan Cong that I was originally planning to save for the weekend. The only other honey orchid harvest I’ve tried was from Yunnan Sourcing (which was excellent), so I’m comparing this to that.

Great first impression! The wash was so aromatic and sweet tasting, definitely reminiscent of what I tried from YS. I think the liquor on this is a bit more orange in colour though, silky smooth, and consecutive infusions seem to lean more towards those kind of rich sweet cream and subdued umami notes that some Japanese greens can have. I’m also interestingly getting some taste of pears in the mix, like when they get slightly over ripe and are extra sweet and watery. Id say the variety I had from YS had a much brighter orchid note, while this is leaning more towards wildflower honey or whipped cream overall. It’s so so so good, very pleased indeed. I am just such a sucker for all these sweet floral oolongs. Also has a delightful aftertaste that just wont quit. Think I’ll have to buy a huge amount of this next time I order.

Flavors: Cream, Honey, Orchid, Pear, Umami

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 7 g 5 OZ / 140 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85
413 tasting notes

I bought 25 g of this Dan Cong during Tao Tea Leaf’s semi-annual sale at the beginning of 2016 and just cut open the bag a couple weeks ago. I steeped 5 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 212F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, and 240 seconds.

The first steep has aromas of honey, orchids, roses, and stonefruit. In the mouth, the roast predominates, although there are notes of honey, orchid, rose, nectarine, minerals, and wood. There’s no bitterness, although the end of the sip is drying. Baked bread and lichi become apparent on the second steep.

During the middle steeps, the roast and floral notes become more prominent and the fruit falls into the background. By steep six, minerals and grass begin to appear, a sign that the tea is fading. By the end of the session, it’s all minerals, roast, char, and walnut shells, with faint orchid notes in the background.

This tea had a beautiful start, but petered out quickly. If all the steeps had been like the first few, I would have rated it in the nineties, but as is, it’s in the mid eighties for me.

Any advice on how to get your Dan Congs to last longer?

Flavors: Bread, Char, Floral, Grass, Honey, Lychee, Mineral, Orchid, Roasted, Rose, Stonefruit, Walnut, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 5 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
eastkyteaguy

Leafhopper, I’m fairly new to gongfuing Dancong oolongs, but there are a few things you can do to get a little more out of them. First, though, it is important to understand that Dancong is often more synonymous with intensity than longevity in a gongfu session, so such oolongs won’t always give a ton of infusions. I know that some proponents of traditional Chaozhou gongfu will absolutely pack the gaiwan or pot full of leaves and do very short flash infusions, but in my experience, you have to be fine with bitterness to enjoy that approach. What I would do, however, is this: up the amount of leaf used slightly. For a 4 ounce gaiwan, I normally use 6-7 grams of leaf when I brew Dancongs. Also, lower the water temperature somewhat. You can brew Dancong with boiling water if that’s how you like it, but I have found that the sweet spot with regard to water temperature for many of these teas is around 203-205F. I normally go with 203, but I will sometimes drop down to 194-195F if the roast is light or the tea seems particularly delicate. Another trick is to flash rinse and then start with a very short initial infusion.

Leafhopper

Thanks for your suggestions. I’m reluctant to cram the teapot with leaf because Dancongs are pricy, but 6-7 g is doable. I’ll also try it at a lower temperature.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

65
13 tasting notes

Picked up a sample of this tea from Tao Tea Leaf last week. As with all of my trips there, it was very pleasant, and the owner Tao, was quite helpful.

When dry, the smell of this leaf reminded me of rose and plum, and when brewed, this morphed into a honey plum smell.

As for the taste, this seems to be a very finicky tea in that it is easy to under or over brew it. My first steeping was bland (which is likely due to the water being too cold). The second steep was very bitter (I steeped it far longer than the first time to try and bring out the flavor). The third was quite enjoyable. It was smooth without being thick or oily, and had a natural sweetness as well as honey flavors, but still had a slight bitterness.

The leaves were oddly mottled, each one having some light spots, and some dark ones.

Overall, I think this tea will be enjoyable once I get the correct brewing style tuned in. For now, the experience was a bit hit or miss.

Flavors: Bitter, Honey, Plum, Rose

Login or sign up to leave a comment.