Dancong Aria

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Oolong Tea
Flavors
Cinnamon, Floral, Honey, Mineral, Molasses, Nutty, Roasted, Roasted Nuts, Sweet, Toast, Toasty, Bitter, Earth, Nuts, Flowers, Peach
Sold in
Loose Leaf, Tea Bag
Caffeine
Medium
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by JulieWyant
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec 3 g 11 oz / 316 ml

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75 Tasting Notes View all

  • “2nd infusion w/ dinner. Left over Chinese- Lemon Chicken w/ white rice… my FAVE! My family are not Chinese food eaters so I only get it on my birthday.” Read full tasting note
    91
  • “Crazy day so far. Got new washer and dryer. Watched the husband install the thing without really looking at the manual. Had a gas leak. Hardware store trips. Fixed leak. Put stuff in the washer and...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “I’m glad the description for this one says ‘perfumey’, because I definitely got that when sniffing this tea dry, and even now as it is brewed, and thought it was perhaps contaminated. I now doubt...” Read full tasting note
    77
  • “Wow. I love this tea more and more each time that I’m actually rationing it off. I am definitely going to buy this after I’ve decupboarded a couple of teas. :) Lychee sweetness! So great! I get...” Read full tasting note
    97

From Adagio Teas

Dancong oolongs are a rare variety from Phoenix Mountain in Guangdong province, China. Our Dancong Aria (Mi Lan Xiang) is grown at an elevation of 1000 meters and exudes a perfumy aroma of orchids and almonds. Smooth and refined texture with flavors of fresh apricot, peach pit, and honey. Incredibly long finish. Dancong Aria is a tea to take your time with – for maximum sweetness use lower water temperature than for most oolongs and be careful not to over-steep it, because, for a tea that’s got ‘flowers’ going on for days, this is no shrinking violet. A rich, grounding cup, perfect to enjoy in multiple infusions.

Dancong tea trees are not pruned to waist-level bushes but are grown into full-sized trees, often 30 ft. high. Some are 60-years-old. Our selection is from the Guangdong province, grown at 1000 meters’ elevation on the Phoenix Mountains. Teas from such older, unpruned trees result in leaves with intense flavor and fragrance redolent of orchids which is enhanced when brewed gong fu style to capture the taste and fragrance as the expressive leaves open up in the water. Use a moderately low water temperature for our Dancong Aria (Mi Lan Xiang) to enjoy the long finish and multiple deep-flavored infusions.

Oolong Tea | Moderate caffeine | Steep at 195° for 3-5 minutes.

About Adagio Teas View company

Adagio Teas has become one of the most popular destinations for tea online. Its products are available online at www.adagio.com and in many gourmet and health food stores.

75 Tasting Notes

98
1 tasting notes

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.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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68
1214 tasting notes

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.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Floral, Honey, Mineral, Molasses, Nutty, Roasted, Roasted Nuts, Sweet, Toast, Toasty

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 12 OZ / 350 ML

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10 tasting notes

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.

ashmanra

If your friend liked Teavana, he was almost sure to have bought their Monkey Picked Oolong. Perhaps you can choose one or two teas from Harney and Sons and Yunnan Sourcing US. Oolong can be very fresh and green or roasty toasty, even ti guan yin could go either way. I love The Odor’s JE Milky for a green one. Sorry for the loss of your friend. We here on steepster lost KS last year. I raise a cup in his memory now and then.

quietcreation

Maybe so! I’ll have to look into those. Oolong teas are definitely more varied than what I’d had in Chinese restaurants. Haha.

Sorry to hear to the loss of your friend also.

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70
111 tasting notes

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.

Preparation
4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 15 OZ / 443 ML

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65
201 tasting notes

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.

Flavors: Bitter, Floral

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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85
42 tasting notes

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!

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98
191 tasting notes

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!

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 0 min, 30 sec 3 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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75
27 tasting notes

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.

Flavors: Floral, Honey, Nuts

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 4 g 16 OZ / 480 ML

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85
19 tasting notes

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.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 0 min, 15 sec 3 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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72
1 tasting notes

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

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 15 sec

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