Dan Cong

My Breville tea maker finally arrived last night! This morning, I decided that the perfect tea to christen my beloved happiness maker with was Dan Cong. How wonderful is it that I can now brew a beautiful oolong exactly right. It really is so exciting!

What a treat! Dan Cong is simply gorgeous. I’m finding it hard to separate all of the flavors in this tea. I get a floral, fruity, roasted, and a slightly nutty taste. It’s as if these flavors rush in almost all at once, swirl around my taste buds, and then melt away. I’m just enjoying the experience.

A big thank you to the wonderful QuiltGuppy for sharing this amazing tea with me. I feel so fortunate today :)

Dry – this smells like a combo of Raspberry, Peach, and Apricot trying to hide underneath the Dan Cong Oolong! Natural notes, of course!

OH!!! Almost forgot…special thanks to my Sororitea Sister LiberTeas for this one!

Post infusion – this smells like various fruits, nuts, and woodsy and peppery notes.

My first sip was a slightly bitter-wood, pepper, pecans, and a VERY dark spinach leaf type taste combo!

After my taste-sensors adjusted to this intense flavor I could pick up on Hazelnuts and a hint of nectarine or peach…but the bitter-peppery-wood flavor is certainly in the forefront.

This is much more intense than I thought it would be…which is a nice surprise considering all of the mellower oolongs I have had the last several days but I think a more toned down woodsy flavor and more of that natural fruit notes and cocoa mentioned in the description is what I have been longing for in this one.

It’s a powerful oolong and it’s pretty good but I am feeling like I missed something in this…perhaps in the 2nd or 3rd infusion those notes will pop thru.

I am on an oolong kick this week! Barely had anything else at all than oolongs. This one has been lying around for a while, I think it came from QuiltGuppy

Unfortunately it has been lying next to some fig flavoured stuff, which I haven’t dared try yet, and I thought I detected a vague trace of something figgy or date-y in the aroma of the dry leaves. The dry aroma was not generally very strong though. I had to search for it a bit in order to be able to identify it, but when I did I found it mostly wood-y and slightly cocoa-y. Perhaps just a smidge spicy too, but I can’t really agree with myself on that.

After steeping the aroma is all cocoa. Wall to wall chocolate! With nuts in. It makes me crave Toblerone, really. I’ve never been very experimenting with my Toblerone, but I’ve seen that there is a dark chocolate one, and that’s the one I want now. (Does it still have that honey almondy stuff in it when it’s not milk chocolate?) If I’m hard pressed, I can also find some woodsy undertones to the aroma, but thankfully none of that figgy business.

Flavour is a bit weak here on the first cup. I used rather a lot of leaf, and so the first steep was very short. Probably too short, as I can now tell. Mercuryhime gave me some good advice the other day of the sort that you would have thought I ought to have realised myself many years ago. Why make a whole pot each time? Why not just do a half? That way I can go through a lot more steeps without having to run to the bathroom constantly and also with growing bored with the tea and start wanting something else. The one I use when it’s just myself is one of those tea-for-one sized pots, so half of that pot makes about 250 ml. Suitable amount, I should say. Also gives me a chance to use the cup and saucer that came with the pot. :)

Anyway, as I was saying, the first steep was probably too short because the flavour is not very strong. To my disappointment it’s not so stuffed full of dark chocolate (although I still want some!) as the aroma was, but rather more wooden and earthy. The cocoa is still there, but now it’s taken a back seat to the strong wood note. It’s so wooden that it’s actually giving me a prickly feeling on the tip of the tongue. As the cup cools it becomes increasingly astringent too.

I should hope on further steepings this woodenness will calm down a bit. There is really no call for such aggression. At this point I am not super impressed.

Second steep is much like the first, only with a fuller flavour experience. As there is no real difference to be found, I shan’t document it further.

An AWESOME Oolong. Very flavorful. Delightful fruit tones of apricot and peach, and the osmanthus tones accentuate the peach-y flavors very nicely. I don’t know that I taste the individual nutty tones as mentioned in the description, but I definitely do taste a toasted nut flavor. I also taste the firewood … in fact, before having read the description, after my first sip, thoughts of firewood filled my head, and I didn’t know why until after reading the description and I realized that the tea had inspired those thoughts because of the warm, lightly smoky wood notes within the cup.

Very flavorful – this is the Oolong to suggest to someone who thinks that the flavor of Oolong is too delicate. This brew is definitely NOT delicate … a very rich flavor!

I usually don’t go for an oolong in the morning, but I wanted one anyway. This is another one of my samples from QuiltGuppy, thanks! The dry leaf smells a little bit vegetal, and a little bit floral. Unlike the other oolongs I’ve had recently this is a dark oolong and the leaves are long, spindly and twisted. This made it difficult to portion out into my cup, so I don’t know if I quite got the right amount of leaf; I think perhaps I should have added more. I brewed it “traditional” style using the instructions they gave on their website for that method, as opposed to gong-fu style.

Brewed, the liquor is a medium dark yellow and it smells quite floral with a hint of fruit. There’s also that deeper “oolongy” aroma there too, but I can’t quite pick out some of the darker more complex notes they mention. Despite the fact I think I didn’t add enough leaf, I am very much enjoying this cup. It’s sweet and floral and all around delicious. I’m glad I have enough leaf to brew some more cups and do a better tasting note. Thanks again QuiltGuppy for another fantastic tea!

Tea of the afternoon…..

And tea 22 of 24. This one was sent by QuiltGuppy. Of course it has taken me way too long to try it.

It is my first darker oolong in a while. I am not sure I got enough leaf in my mug. I did get out the scale for prep and did 1 gram per cup, but I think I could have done iwth double the leaf for a stronger flavor. I did get fruity and nutty notes, but will have to try again to look for more nuances of this tea. It is definitely complex.

Mug method, about 190 water, 2 grams leaf, 3 minutes.

Woodsy…with slight bake-y hints of bittersweet cocoa powder. And a smidgen of apricot jam. Overlaid with a mild fruity scent.

This is pretty on par with thepuriTeas description. Although I don’t think I am detecting all of the nuances. The flavors I do detect are super subtle in themselves.

I like this well enough. But, overall, it may be just a tad too woodsy for me—it’s kind of bordering on dry bark.

This is another of the samples that I ordered from thepuriTea. Steeped the entire sample in 500 ml. of water in my Breville at the below parameters.

The smell of this in the bag reminded me of the salt in the air by the ocean (grew up near the coast so this was actually very pleasantly nostalgic), combined with the sweetness of honey. The leaves were black, thin and spindly – much different from the rolled oolongs I’ve been seeing.

Once steeped, the smell of the tea is distinctly seaweedy and green, but as it cools, the honey shows back up in the scent. The taste is sort of green and vegetal, too. But the after taste is what sets the tea apart – a fruity, sweet note reminiscent of apricot. Its complexity is absolutely wonderful!

I think this is definitely up there with the milk oolong as far as my favorites from thepuriTea. If I should come into some Christmas money this is definitely on my shopping list!

This was a delightful oolong. It is my first Dan Cong and I think this could be one of my favorites. It is bold flavor w/o an obvious roasting flavor. There were some subtle honey and fruity notes.
Until I re-read this descrption (after drinking), I did not realize this oolong was flavored w/osmanthus. I think I want to try some others that are not flavored w/osmanthus. At longer steeping times, this tea had a definite pucker that could have been contributed by the osmanthus.

It is already a long day after a long holiday weekend (which I will be backlogging tea from throughout the week). this I tried to brew when I got to work. I am extremely disappointed to say that I think I brewed this tea completely wrong. I typically do not use boiling water – I almost always use “hot” water from the water cooler (the things in offices that deliver hot and cold water out of a large 5 gallon jug) which at home is around 180°F. We have one in work also, today the “hot” side was not working, so I quickly brewed up some water in my little coffee pot for tea (I just boil water in it, no coffee ever goes in there), unfortunately, I did not let the water cool enough and I am afraid the water was too hot and I let the tea infuse too long (at five minutes – the end of the brew spectrum for this tea).

The fragrance of the dried leaves was wonderful, even the aroma of the brewed tea is very nice, a sweet note with some woodsy aroma, however my tea is very astringent in flavor. I am getting no woodsy flavor or sweetness that everyone else experienced.

I have another sample of this, I will have to try again. For now, I will hold the rating because I do not think this was a true review.

This is my first Dan Cong, Quiltguppy to be praised for adding so many new tasting opportunities. This has a natural peachy/apricot taste and smell. The silky Oolong texture is there, but it is lighter than other Oolongs I have tried. Golden in color, it has a slightly intense flavor at first sip then fades to a mirage of it’s earlier presentation. I love that effect. A hint of nuttiness (flavor not goofy) comes through as well. The description by the company says cocoa but I have not found it yet. Maybe on a second steep. I would like to pair it with something to eat, it seems to have a complimentary profile.

This tea came to me courtesy of Quiltguppy! I have been looking forward to trying these oolongs, but oolongs are a tea that I like to drink when I have a little time to pay attention, stop and smell the aromas, and sit quietly with the cup…even if just for a few minutes. I just can’t rush oolongs!

This oolong does not disappoint. Though one review said it was scented with osmanthus, I don’t get strong floral flavor, so it is not an artificial taste to me. I am not terribly familiar with osmanthus, though. Even though the tea is a medium-light color, it has plenty of taste and heft. There is the slightest dry tingle on my tongue, so astringency is very light. It has warm, nutty tones.

This is a delightful oolong! Thank you, QG!

Dry, this tea reminds me of long, dark fingers. Some of the leaves are as long as my pinkie finger. It smells so wonderful, nutty and floral together.

195/3 min. The tea is a medium reddish color. Its scent is bold with a fruity undertone. I smell the nuttiness still and almost a chocolate like flavor. More like cocoa. The taste is phenomenal. Fruity and nutty, and definitely a cocoa note, like unsweetened dark chocolate. I am particularly drawn to the fruitiness in the tea because as it cools, it becomes more and more pronounced.

This was alright. It wasn’t strong. Enough for me. I did get the minerally flavor to it but was hoping for something deeper. I think next time I will use more leaf and max out the steep time for better results.

sipping this on a relaxing friday night- very good tea. Tasty, fruity, rich and delicious.

Mmmm… Oolong how I love thee!

Thank-you QuiltGuppy!

I know that I have a sinus infection coming to settle in my upper nasal cavity, so I am not sure I will be able to do this tea justice.

It smells indefinable (right now) but sweet, I will admit this tea deserves a coveted place next to DAVIDs Nepal Black, as both are sweet and smooth.

I will comment more on this tea, when I no longer have a cold. Other than the fact that this is delicious, I really have nothing else to share right now, I am too busy sneezing and sniffling.

Dan Cong (the pureitea) from Quiltguppy-
Dry: rich scent of nectarines, lush fruity sweetness
Wet: yuzu, grapefruit pith, citrus, osmanthus
Leaf: long twisted, oxidized-umber hued leaves that when steeped, blushes evergreen and somber.
Cup: With a luminous, grapefruit yellow-green liquor, this Dan Cong resembles the Elegant Beauty I purchased a while back, but without the deep reddish veins and leaf color. The aroma is distinctly nectarine and the first steep offered a cup that was very flavor complex, with citrus notes ranging from grapefruit, to orange pith, to Japanese yuzu. Sweet and fruit fleshy in its texture, it rolls across the palate with a citrus pith like flavor that never manifests as expected bitterness and instead keeps bringing fruit to mind and remains sweet and lush. The first steep is fresh and lingering, citrus flavor dance around the palate. The second finds the sweetness slithering next to the notes of grapefruit, but another flavor begins to elusively assert itself. By the 3rd steeping, yuzu and osmanthus flavors begin to meld in the front, separating in the linger, allowing osmanthus to fill the mouth with floral and exotic aftertastes. I admit in the first extraction, there was a creaminess that I harkened to Thai durian pudding (without of course the ‘distinctive’ and ‘acquired’ taste profile). I can see this sitting well next to dishes spiced with galangal, orchids, or Szechuan peppercorns, or served next to chilled lychees.
Brewing: used 3g in a traditional 8oz Taiwanese gaiwan, steeped in 195 degree water for 3-4 minutes, with extraction times increasing and water temp cooling with subsequent extraction.
Thank you so much for sending me this lovely sample. It was a beautiful and unexpected gift!

**I definitly see how the influence of the Wu Yi area and pheonix oolong traditions filter into this tea and I imagine the mineral content of the soil is giving this tea its unusual complexity. I don’t know if I agree with the bittersweet chocolate/walnut descriptions, but can imagine that the teas profile with change with time and storage.

This tea was OK. Not bad just not exactly what I was looking for. Dan Cong is my favorite kind of tea and I don’t see the need to scent it with osmanthus. My infusions were actually 40 sec but I couldn’t get the slide bar on the right number.

A darker oolong that put smiles on my humans’ faces when they tried it. Any tea that does that has this little teapot’s undying (or should I say “uncracking”) gratitude! http://lyt-tea-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/12/review-thepuriteacoms-dan-cong-oolong.html

Dayum this one smells good. Not the deepest or most mystifying Dan Cong in the land, it is VERY fruit forward with a pleasant dryness reminiscent of cheap white wine (Franzia Chablis?). Not much bottom end and the aftertaste is somewhat medicinal though still very nectarine.

Spend a lot of time just taking in the dry and wet leaf aromas and the deficiencies in taste will seem minor. I kind of like box wine anyway.