Mi Lan Dan Cong

I must have watched around 10 episodes of Criminal Minds now back to back…that’s some hard core marathon activity. I have nothing better to do, packed my bag with copious amounts of tea ready for being picked up in the morning and taken to my parents house. They have the largest collection of horror films that I have ever seen so I will be in good company. :)

In raw form this tea is very dark brown/black in colour and is long and thin in shape. The scent is thick with a strong musky fruit tone. A little tobacco like or leather like with a sweet wood finish.

The packaging says to infuse into a teapot for at least 2 minutes so my first steep shall be as such.

Once steeped this tea is gold in colour with a rich, toasted aroma.

Flavour is toasty, fruity, fresh, honeyed and perhaps a little vegetal. There is no bitterness or astringency to speak of and flavours remain thick. I keep picking up a thick green taste like spinach which reminds me of a few Oolongs I have had recently. Food wise it would be a fresh loaf of bread with small pieces of spinach inside and glazed in honey. Interesting and strangely delicious!

ps. I’m still digging Dr Reid ;)
http://tinypic.com/r/33mqw6f/5

Holy crikey,

It’s been two weeks since I’ve chimed in on here. Where have I been (er…besides watching copious amounts of Youtube, and saying “OWWWWwwww!” after work)? Okay, maybe that answers that question.

Got this in the mail as part of the Canton Tea Club. I’d had it before, but it I didn’t quite remember what “exactly” I thought of it. After four steeps so far, I now know that I “wuvved” it. It was toasty and tart like a good Dan Cong should be. Further cementing this as my favorite style of Chinese oolong.

It also helped to alleviate my general feeling of “blah” that’d been prevalent for the better part of a week.

For more info, go here: http://www.cantonteaco.com/blog/2012/12/canton-tea-club-week-10-mi-lan-dan-cong/

Very fruity and refreshing. I set my expectations pretty high for this one. It’s very lychee and sweet. The honey flavors are muted. All the sweetness is balanced by the toasty earthy flavors of the oolong.

I was also very amused by the dry leaves. Basically, they are delicate looking twigs which were almost too long to fit in my little pot.

The fragrance of the brewed leaves is just lovely. I can’t wait to share this with my sister. :)

I read a description of this before preparing the tea. Is it me or does every description of tea have the word fruity in it? Some teas actually have NO fruity notes whatsoever.

In time I have learned to ignore the descriptions and I actually learned to enjoy sitting for hours trying to figure out the name of a specific flavor. Today was different. I had to find out what Canton tea had the name “DAN” in it. The name was handwritten on my sampler so I wasn’t sure of the name – Milan DanCang sounded a bit off.
By the time I founded the correct entry I started to read the tasting notes just for the fun of it. When I went over the “fruity” description I ignored it. All teas can’t be fruity, It’s a naturelaw.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this tea really was fruity.
I still can’t figure out what fruit it is. Peach? Something like that. Anyway, the tea also have a nutty flavor in the end.

Fruity AND nutty!
I like it (honestly what don’t I like?!).

By the way! I just won some tea by Doulton! Yay!
- I shouldn’t write it in a teanote but I can’t help myself. I am just too happy ;)

Floral and honey notes, certainly! But what I also find interesting about this is…the scent. The scent reminds me of being out in nature…like in the middle of the woods or even on a beach…those familiar nature-smells! Then when you taste it…it’s not really what you expect…altho even more pleasant. There is a soothing and lingering yummy aftertaste, too!

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a sample of this to try!

As most of you probably are aware – I LOVE Oolong tea. So much so that I think that my gaiwan is becoming an essential tool rather than just a gadget. (tsk tsk) I don’t know why I prefer to brew my Oolongs in a gaiwan… but I do.

I can taste the lychee flavor, and the honey-esque tones in this tea. It has a wonderful fruit and floral aroma. Pleasantly sweet with a charming baked quality to it.

Delicious… amazingly delicious.

The dried, dark leaves are quite long (1 to 2 inches) so it would have been easier to prepare this by weight versus spoon. The tea has a really unique fragrance- cereal and fruity, like graham crackers and stone fruit.

The prepared tea is on the darker side for an oolong with a slight red tint. The malty cereal notes are prominent in both fragrance and flavor. This is subtly sweet, leaning more towards fruit than honey. As the cup cooled, it developed a very slight tannic quality making it similar to a very weak black tea.

I really like the fragrance on this one. As soon as I opened the bag, I had the imagery of Teddy Grahams holding peaches. I like when there’s an immediate connection. The flavor was enjoyable, but there wasn’t anything that set this apart for me.

Very nice. It’s sweet and I can taste the lychee flavour. The first sip was wonderful and it had an enduring aftertaste that made me want more. My first pot did not re-steep well, so I tried again with more leaf and this time it has worked much better. It does not go on and on like some of my other teas, but I can still get three or four good mugs of tea out of one portion of leaf. I may have to try it in the gaiwan with lots of leaf and short steeps next to see how that works out, but I am very satisfied with this purchase as it is.

Wow! WOW!

I try not to read the descriptions before I take my first sip, because I usually can never taste the flavors they say I should be able to taste. But this? Lychee all the way. This is amazing. Love it. I can’t wait to play with it some more.

This was really delicious! Thanks Mercuryhime! I got through 4 infusions and they were all very fruity, floral, sweet and roasty. Definitely tasted some lychee or similar notes. I loved how the leaf tips turned green after the first infusion. They looked and smelled like a chinese green or somthing similar. Not what I was expecting from an oolong but I quite enjoyed it.

It’s rainy today and rain always has me craving tea. Wait, I always crave tea.. but it seems more appropriate to sip on a cup while it’s raining. Instead of going for something flavored (the kind of tea I typically drink) — I was in the mood for something a bit different. These leaves are long and wiry. I definitely struggled trying to measure the leaves in my little spoon. The color of the tea wasn’t that pretty, in my opinion. It was a dirty yellow, not bright or clean looking like some other oolongs. I’m not sure what I was expecting from this appearance.. maybe something not so great? I was really surprised after the first few sips.The flavor is definitely that familiar oolong taste (no fruit, unfortunately) with a nice honey finish. I’ve never actually gotten a honey taste from a tea before, so I’m quite glad that I was able to experience this. The honey finish is what bumps this tea up. It lingers in the mouth leaving you wanting more. Quite delicious! I saved the leaves and think I’ll treat myself to another steep. Thanks to TeaEqualsBliss for this good cup!

Because of the delicacy of this oolong, I decided to brew this in a gaiwan with short infusions. First, while I heated the water, I took a look and smell of the dry leaf. Opening the pouch, I bring it to my nose and inhale deeply. The scent is sweet and heavy. Complex, because the heaviness and “darkness” in it seem to be along a different track than the sweetness, which seems to spiral through the tea, never settling in one place. The leaves look dark, twisted, and almost fragile. I rinse the leaves and prepare to begin.

The first steeping is for 30 seconds, and produces a deep and sweet smelling liquor that entrances the nose. The flavour mimics the scent, with a floral profile and a dark flavour reminiscent of a Formosa oolong. A sweet aftertaste sits on the tongue and coats the inside of the mouth. Immensely potent describes this steeping well.

I eagerly steep the leaves again. This steeping is much more subdued. The various elements are well-pronounced. This tea is very delicious and is quite the joy to drink.

By the third steeping, the aroma has become lighter and more vegetal, while maintaining its sweetness. The sweetness of flavour, mingling with the newly developed vegetal flavours, bursts in the mouth quite pleasantly.

The fourth steeping seems to have leveled out the flavour profile. It tastes much like the third steeping. I resteep the leaves again and decide that I am not going to get any more transformations from this delectable tea.

I will continue to steep these leaves until they give out, but this has so far been an excellent experience.

I give this tea an 85/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

This is a really interesting one, and gives me a sense of how widely oolongs can vary. The leaves are long, medium-dark green, and smell rich and vegetal. After two minutes, the liquor is light brown with a hint of green, and smells quite surprisingly of seaweed. Don’t get me wrong, I like the whiff of seaweed that often comes in with green and oolong teas; this one is just particularly pronounced.

On tasting, there is a lot going on. Melon, vegetable, definite toastiness there too. This is a good, interesting tea. Further steeps will need to wait until later today…

Enjoyable. Strong honey notes. I prefer Canton Tea Co’s Magnolia Blossom Dan Cong, however, this tea may be more accessible.

Another tea from my Canton Tea sampler. I really enjoy Dan Cong tea, and especially love oolong. This one was no exception.

These tea leaves are very dark. They smell roasted. 195/3 min. Whoa. I can smell the roasted leaves quite clearly from across the room. It’s quite fragrant, actually. The liquor is dark, a medium-dark brown. The taste is lovely. It’s quite intense for an oolong. Very roasted, to match the scent. I’m not picking up that much fruitiness, but there is definitely a sweetness to it that I can’t quite put my finger on. It lingers for quite some time after taking a sip.

A glorious Oolong with marvellous ‘staying power’ – floral and with just the right amount of Oolong toastiness – Had never had a Dan Cong before this and this is one I will be ordering

This is something over the top for an oolong – immediate peachy taste, with just a tiny hint of astringency. The fruitiness wells up – it’s tutte frutte, with a strong dash of honey! Subsequent infusions keep up the taste, leaving a wonderful gum-lickable aftertaste. Altogether too heady, with a taste satisfaction that endures. Maybe too fruity, but keep some to entice your girl friends!