Mi Lan Xiang Phoenix Mountain Dancong

So excited to try this tea! The description sounds lovely. The leaves smell toasty and almost sweetly sap-like. I’m drinking extra tea lately to fuel me through the long days that come with the end of the school year. I’m going to miss these kids a lot but not the workload! Summer is so close I can taste it!

Mmmm… this tea smells good! It smells so good that I’m drinking the rinse. Is that a bad thing to do?

YUM! This is a delicious tea. I guess I’m an Oolong fan — who knew! Over and over the teas that capture my senses from Verdant have been their Oolongs. Especially this one and their spring Tieguanyin.

I’m having trouble drawing parallels to the smell/ taste of this tea. Words are failing me. The leaves are staying tightly rolled shut and producing a tea that is the color of white wine. I’m getting a slightly woody taste in the best possible way.

This tea has reinvigorated me! I was feeling depleted and ready to be done for the day, but after drinking this I think I have another hour or more in me. Is this chaqi or caffeine? Both? Who cares!

This is a fantastic tea. I almost don’t want to make another Verdant order so soon after my last one, but I really like this one! Oh, tea hoarding…

Oh… a tasty way to end a busy afternoon! A sample of this came with my Verdant order today (more Bergamot Rose Laoshan Black!) and it sounded intriguing. I just want to slide on into it, but I think a little grading will need to get done first.

Of course, I am a little goofy-happy over the new Breville that arrived today. There was no way I was waiting until the 17th to open it, so I decided it needed something wonderful – that required a special temperature – to try it out.

I’ve lived in too many places that don’t have regular seasons, but right now this tastes like fall in the Pacific Northwest. Mmmm…

The oh so generous Dexter3657 has decided to take in her hands my tea education and is determined to make me into more than a peasant. So she sent me this to try.

I rinsed the leaves as Verdant would like me to and I steeped in a big pot, only 8 oz at a time.

I’m presently at 1st steep: 30 seconds. Slightly bitter, but only slightly. Haven’t done too much irreparable damage yet. I get floral. Really floral. It says lotus, I say Jasmine. Don’t know about this juicy sweetness business, I don’t get any sweetness, juicy or otherwise. Interesting aftertaste. Savoury.

2nd steep: looking for juicy grapefruit. I feel like one would at a wine tasting where the guide says “look for the pepper and the oak; also leather” and you say “I get wet carpet”. I am much better at wine than I am at tea. I won’t tell you what the aftertaste is to me because I will get laughed at. (Cough. Hot dog. Cough). it is most certainly not citrus. Faintly peach.

Maybe I should put sugar in here. I will keep going and if at some point I do indeed get any of the flavours I’m supposed to get, I will update you all on my progress. Until then… I think I should stick to flavoured teas.

This was our evening tea last night and our morning tea today.

I owe this tea a real tasting note; I’ve been thinking about what to write since I first tried it in the spring. I will not do that justice today- let this serve as a reminder and placeholder.

This is a sample I got from Dexter3657 from our first swap – thank you for sending this to me!

This is not my first time trying this tea, but I didn’t log it. I was not very fond of this one the first time around. I don’t know what changed from the last time to this time, but I am enjoying it a lot more. Changing tastes, perhaps.

This is not quite like other oolongs I have tried so far. This one has a light roasted, woody taste to it. I’ve only done 2 steeping so far. The second steeping had more of that wood taste than the first one.

I’m enjoying it, but my preference is for more of a roasted flavour.

I had a tiny sample of this, so I figured I might as well start with this tea. It’s going to be an all Phoenix day (some of my favorites). I’m celebrating because tomorrow starts the first day of my vacation. I’m heading home to NY (and taking tea with me!). This is the first real vacation I’ve had in at least a year. I believe it was over two years ago that I took a short road trip with my very best friend, Allie, and her boyfriend Andy to Sequoia National Park and Los Angeles.

I’m finding myself extremely sensitive to bitter tannins this morning. Last night I brewed some New Vithanakande FPOPFEXSP Black Tea from the Republic of Tea, and it came out so, so overly tannic and bitter. They are still having a buy one refill bag get another one free on their “Rare Tea” collections. I picked up a bunch because they have a lot of good everyday Darjeeling teas.

Anyhow, this tea, the Phoenix Mi Lan Xiang also seemed a bit on the bitter/tannic side in the first brewing, and then again in the second. Either my palate is off, or my tastes are becoming more delicate. Oh well. On to the next tea…

I was absolutely elated to find this as my free sample with my last order. Dan congs are a special favorite of mine. They always seem to have something hiding in them that burst out when you least expect it. And this tea was no exception. The flavor profile began like most other good mi lan xiangs do: a nice honeyed sweetness, middle tones of orchid, some stone-fruit or citrus flavors near the top, and roasted, woody undertones. It had great body, an excellent finish, and a clean, sweet and warm aftertaste.

Into the sixth and seventh steep, spicy notes came through, which was a pleasant surprise. From then on to steep 10, nothing changed much. Still great flavor, great body, good character. But then I came across steep 11. This was some crazy voodoo. I could have sworn someone swapped the leaves in my gaiwan for those of another tea. The flavor profile changed so drastically I could not even believe. It turned completely on its head. Heavier flavors like a new earthiness, a stronger wood flavor, and a bark-like flavor swam to the top, while the more delicate flavors of honey, florals, and stone-fruits either vanished or became undertones. The aftertaste became heartier, more “beefy,” and the mouthfeel which was not very interesting to me until this moment, became thicker and fuller.

To explain this, I’m going to guess that the leaves finally opened fully at this point, which released a ton of flavor previously trapped. The leaves had still been, until around this point in the session, twisted very tightly, still having the appearance of the dry leaf. Whatever the reason, it was a pretty fun sample to try. One thing I did notice about the leaves, though, is that there were a ton of empty stems. I won’t complain about them, because it didn’t seem to affect the tea much, but it was something I don’t find as much in other dan congs.

I got this as a sample, thanks! The dried tea leaves are large,thin and dark; smell: grain, melon, honey. It tastes so good, I love the grainy/malty notes and grapefruit and honey aftertaste.
To me this does not need any sugar as it is quite sweet. Then again I don’t like sugar in any tea.

I used about half the packet of my 7gram sample and steeped for 25 sec in 8 oz water, after rinsing once. The aroma of the wet leaves was interesting. I didn’t really analyze it, but it certainly made me interested to try the tea. At first it was more delicate than I expected, but as I slowly sipped the flavors came out. It certainly is honey/woodsy sweet; it has a floral flavor that I haven’t encountered before. Pairing the indistinguishable floral with the sweet honey plus the woodsy-ness makes this very enjoyable. I’m curious how each sip will taste. By the middle of my cup my tongue feels completely coated in sweetness. I think my favorite part so far about this tea is the aftertaste. I feel like I’m breathing honeysuckle.
I’m going to continue to steep this out a bit. Once again, the idea that these flavors come from leaves is impressive!

I’m so excited to try this one! My husband remarked that the dry leaf smelled like licorice to him. The leaves are large, deep brown, and a bit shiny.
1st steep 10sec.: Very light. The flavor isn’t too overt. It is fruity, sweet, and clear.
2nd steep ~20sec: The first steep seemed really light, so I stepped up the timing a bit. This is (oddly) very floral. It reminds me of magnolias. It is also a bit fruity as well.
3rd steep 25sec: Very flavorful. There are fruit, floral, and some rock notes in this cup.