Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong

🍵 Tea Name

Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong (Honey Orchid Phoenix Oolong)

📍 Terroir & Origin

• Precise Origin: Phoenix Mountain (Fenghuangshan), Chaozhou, Guangdong. The cultivar is a Phoenix Dan Cong line, not a blended coastal oolong.
• Altitude & Environment: Gardens around 1,100 metres on mineral-rich volcanic soils. The height and the rock are what the trade calls Shan Yun — a mountain character that sits under the honey-orchid aroma.
• Cultivar: Phoenix Narcissus / Fenghuang Shuixian, selected for the Mi Lan Xiang (honey orchid) aromatic line.

🌱 Plucking Standards

• Harvest Timing: Pre-Guyu. Phoenix oolong is rarely a Mingqian green-tea race; this lot waits for the shoot that can take a charcoal roast without going hollow.
• Plucking Requirements: Open, mature shoots suited to strip-style Dan Cong — typically a bud with two or three leaves — kept intact through the toss so the edge of the leaf can oxidise without shredding.

🔥 Processing Techniques

Dan Cong is a strip oolong. Oxidation sits in the middle of the range (this lot is recorded at about 40%). Charcoal roast is the last craft step, not a flavouring.

• Sun-withering: Leaf is laid in sun to start moisture loss and aroma, then brought inside to cool.
• Tossing (Yaoqing): The leaf is shaken so the edges bruise and oxidise while the centre stays greener. This is where the orchid top note is coaxed out.
• Fixation and rolling: Heat stops runaway oxidation. Rolling shapes the long, dark-green strip typical of Phoenix oolong.
• Charcoal roasting: A controlled charcoal fire converts remaining raw astringency into a silky, lychee-like sweetness and sets the honey-orchid finish. Under-roast tastes grassy; over-roast buries the cultivar.

👅 Tasting Notes

• Appearance: Long, slightly twisted strips, dark olive with a dry, roasted scent.
• Liquor: Bright gold to amber, depending on steep time.
• Aroma & Palate: Natural honey sweetness with a wild-orchid high note and Shan Yun underneath. The roast should feel integrated, not ashy. A well-fired lot can run through ten or more Gongfu infusions.

🫖 Brewing & Storage

• Recommended brewing: White porcelain gaiwan in the Chaozhou Gongfu manner, or a small Yixing zisha teapot. Near-boiling water (95°C–100°C). About 5–6 g in a 110 ml gaiwan; a flash rinse, then 5–10 seconds on the first several steeps, lengthening as the strip opens.
• Storage & shelf life: Room temperature, airtight, shaded, dry, and odour-free. The charcoal roast gives this oolong more stability than a lightly oxidised green; labelled shelf life is 24 months from production.