Dancong Aria

I finally found my perfect oolong. Just the right amount of oxidation from roasting. Subtly floral aroma, light honey sweetness and notes of peach and apricot. Very minimal astringency. Delicious with a meal or savored on it’s own.

I’ve noticed a lot of my oldest teas are pure teas, and I really need to get to sipping them down since they have no doubt lost some of their oomph now that it’s been two years… I think my problem is I think in my head these sorts of teas have to be brewed gong fu and I just rarely find myself in the mood to go to all that trouble. So I think I’m just going to get myself over that and brew western, like I did with this one today (2.8g of tea in 195F water, 3 minute steep). I will probably finish off the sampler by making cold brew iced tea.

I am enjoying the aroma coming off the cup. It smells like cinnamon toast, roasted nuts, honey, and minerals. The flavor doesn’t taste as strong as I was expecting, so with it being such an old tea, I’m thinking that maybe I needed to slightly overleaf… ah well. The flavor is strongly that of roasted nuts, with a bit of honey/molasses sweetness that lingers on the tongue. It also has a bit of a floral sweetness, though I can’t place a particular flower. I’m getting “weak houjicha with floral sweetness” vibes. It is a pleasant enough afternoon tea on a cold day, but isn’t blowing me away compared to other oolongs I’ve tried. Maybe it’s the age or the fact I brewed it western, so I feel I can’t be too harsh on it.

I haven’t done very well of posting on here like I keep wishing to. But I still drink many cups daily and look for interesting teas often. I got this tea to remember my best friend, who passed away two years ago. Somewhere along the line he got interested in teas and branched out in ways I hadn’t. His first love was matcha, which I never made properly or appreciated.
His girlfriend told me near the time of his passing (of diabetes complications), he was enjoying some oolong teas. I would guess he got them from teavana, as he liked physical stores and got a lot from them. In fact, my last text message from him was about teavana closing.
So I ordered this tea. According to the package, it has notes of peach pit and apricot. My first try making it only found bitterness, following the directions of boiling water for five minutes. Since then I’ve attempted a few other temperatures and found that 180 at 4-5 minutes suited me best. That’s when I detected the peach flavor, which is also very evident in the scent of the steeped tea and the dry leaves. They give off an almost perfumed scent.

This cup is one of more unique teas I’ve tried, and seems best supper very slowly. I detect the apricot notes once it starts cooling off. I would gladly drink this tea in the late afternoon or evening to relax with. I wish my friend were still around to see what he would think of it or know which varieties of oolong he enjoyed.

A green tea, so not my favorite, but for a green tea it doesn’t taste too green, not tart, good for a change from a steady diet of blacks.

Sipdown!

So I paid attention to how long I brewed this one this time. Only three minutes this time around. I am finding the flavor is still rather bitter. Definitely floral, but still rather bitter. I think I am going to drop the rating on this one as it isn’t just my oversteeping that made it bitter, it really just is that bitter. From what I understand, Dancongs come in many varieties. I have at least one more coming my way via teamail, if not more. Hopefully some of those will be better than this one. I’m afraid this one gets a pass from me.

This tea kind of reminds me of Dark Goddess, which ISTR is a Darjeeling (or similar) processed like oolong. It was nice enough, but didn’t set my heart on fire.

It is nice, though!

i think i’ve settled into a groove. that groove would be Dancong Aria, basically my own personal favorite afternoon sipper. i’ve had this 8 oz package of the stuff for about 2 years, but only just in the last few months have i gotten serious about it…i must say it has aged (gotten stale?!) well! every afternoon if i don’t have my 3-4 gong fu style cups, i end up craving it and wishing i’d just brought some with me already! love this tea – the wet leaf smells like wet pot, the tea is just so deep and woodsy AND floral AND earthy AND perfection. long, long dry aftertaste that is just a delight. and i just reordered another 8oz – i cannot wait to try this fresh and new!

I’m snowed in this February Sunday due to a snowpocalyse in the Great Lakes. No worries, since I have lots of unopened tea samples waiting for me to try. I’m new to loose leaf teas, and today I’m trying my first loose oolong. The dry leaves smell like apricots, sugar and floral. Almost like you’re walking into a produce store that has also has fruit pies baking. They smell like my blender after I’ve made a frozen fruit smoothie.

First infusion: The color almost perfectly matches my ripe organic bananas. Smells like sugar snap peas tossed with honey and sesame seed oil. Tastes more warm and a bit dry earthier or grainier than the dry leaves smell. It tastes like honey added to the breeze coming off a farm where they grow grain and almonds. My pot makes 3 small cups, so after the first cup, I paired the next two with a breakfast of hot buttered bread and a curious tabby cat companion. The sweet bread and butter let the floral and fruit come out better for me. As it cooled, there came a bit more bitterness, but nothing I found disagreeable.

Second infusion: Paler in color. It’s closer to champagne. Everything’s a bit subtler in smell and taste except the grainy and vegetable tastes, which are coming out a bit more for me. There’s also maybe some lavender or a flowery flavor I didn’t taste before. A sweet, honey flavor still lingers for at least a minute along with some of that flower petal, vegetable and grain. Still lots of subtle hints and ghosts of flavors long after I’ve finished a sip. I even got a bit of that coolness you get from a mint if you let the flavors stay in your mouth for a few minutes after drinking. It stayed sweet with a hint of fruit in my mouth.

I’ve been trending towards seeking citrus in my tea (or adding lemon to ones that don’t have any citrus). I’m surprised I like this so much when it has no citrus flavors I can find, yet I have no urge to add lemon or experiment with this. I like it just how it is. It tastes like a late summer day walking at the park, where the grasses are flowering and drying out but there’s still wildflower blowing in the breeze, and the apples are just beginning to get fleshy on the trees.

Being newer to loose teas, it’s hard for me to know if this is representative of oolong. It’s certainly 3x better than any of the tea bags of oolong I have sampled. If someone likes tea, I’d certainly recommend they try it, since it has a few layers to it and a flavor that lasts in your mouth long after you’ve finished your sip. If you like white tea, but want to try something less delicate, you’d probably enjoy this.

This was one of the times where I sat down to enjoy and appreciate a tea with my gaiwan, Silk Road Journey soundtrack, and quite the whole shebang. First note that hits me with this one is just how refreshing it is. It’s a very good mouth-drying astringency that makes you want to drink more.

Aroma – The leaves themselves are very fresh smelling, with floral, apricot, and grape undertones. The steeped aroma brings out more of the clean smell and the ripeness of green grapes.

Taste Profile – Very refreshing. I recommend using a bit cooler water, around 180-190 F, so that you can get out more of the floral and complex aromas. Not to say these are lost when steeped at higher temperature, but I’ve found steeping oolongs at lower temps really tends to accentuate these flavors. The taste doesn’t absolutely blow me away, but for $12 for 1.5 oz, I can’t really beat the price for a good go-to tea.

Still experimenting with this one, but love the sweet fruit that comes through.