What Does Bright Coffee Meaning Tell Us About Phoenix Dancong Aromas?

Phoenix Dancong is a specialty oolong from Phoenix Town in Chaozhou, Guangdong, ranked alongside Anxi Tieguanyin and Wuyi Rock Tea. Each tea tree has its own character and must be picked and processed separately, which is how it got the name Dancong, or single bush. Its defining traits are prominent floral fragrance, mountain charm, and a fresh, brisk taste.

The article sorts the tea by appearance and aroma type and reviews four old Songzhong varieties: Songzhong No. 1, Dongfanghong, Zhilanxiang, and Mixiang. It also lists ten famous bushes of the floral-honey aroma type. For readers who know the term bright coffee meaning from tasting notes, the same idea applies here: aroma and clarity shape how a drink is judged.

Phoenix Dancong is a specialty oolong tea from Phoenix Town in Chaozhou, Guangdong, and is as famous as Anxi Tieguanyin and Wuyi Rock Tea. Its tea trees each have their own character and must be picked and processed individually, which is how it got the name "Dancong" (single bush). This article starts with the tea's appearance and aroma classification to give you a deeper understanding of this renowned oolong tea that has been fragrant for centuries. It not only sorts out the shape characteristics, production process, and brewing essentials of Phoenix Dancong, but also reviews the four major varieties of the old Songzhong bushes—Songzhong No. 1, Dongfanghong, Zhilan Xiang, and Mixiang—as well as the ten precious famous bushes of the floral-honey aroma type and other common aroma types, helping coffee lovers and tea friends find their own favorite in flavor exploration.

After clarifying the origin of the name Phoenix Dancong, today we might as well look at it from another angle, starting from the tea's appearance and aroma classification, to get closer to this renowned oolong tea that has been fragrant for a thousand years.

Phoenix Dancong tea is also called Dancong tea or Danchong tea and belongs to the broad category of oolong tea. Together with Anxi Tieguanyin and Wuyi Rock Tea, it is known as one of the representative tea families of oolong tea, with production concentrated in Phoenix Town, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province. Prominent natural floral fragrance, distinct mountain charm, and a fresh and brisk taste are its most striking labels.

The tea-growing history of Phoenix Mountain in Chaozhou is quite long, with cultivation records already existing in the Tang Dynasty. A local legend says that in the late Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Song fled south and passed through Phoenix Mountain, where he picked leaves shaped like a crane's beak and boiled them for drinking. After drinking, they promoted salivation and quenched thirst, and afterward this kind of tea tree was widely planted and called Songzhong or Hezui tea. By the Qing Dynasty, Phoenix Dancong tea gradually became known to the outside world. Because each tea tree has its own characteristics, it must be picked and processed separately and cannot be mixed together for processing, which is why the name Dancong came about.

Features of Phoenix Dancong Tea

The flavor of each tea tree is not exactly the same. Overall, the dry tea leaves are thick and sturdy in strip shape, yellow-brown in color, and glossy with an oily sheen. The surface of the tea leaves has cinnabar-red spots, and on tasting it you can feel the natural floral fragrance, with quite outstanding returning sweetness. Green leaf with red edges is also one of its major characteristics. According to aroma, it can also be divided into Huangzhixiang Dancong tea, Zhilanxiang Dancong tea, Taorenxiang Dancong tea, Yugui Xiang Dancong tea, Tongtianxiang Dancong tea, and so on.

Production Methods of Phoenix Dancong Tea

The picking standard is preferably one bud and two leaves or one bud and three leaves. Do not pick under the blazing sun, do not pick on rainy days, and do not pick tea with dew. Usually, picking at noon is most ideal, and the fresh tea leaves picked that day begin processing that same night. The entire process includes sun-drying, cooling, shaking, fixation, rolling, and baking, totaling about 10 hours.

Sun-drying is sunlight withering, cooling refers to indoor withering, and shaking means turning the tea leaves to promote fermentation. During the fixation stage, the temperature is controlled between 150 and 200 degrees, and the leaves are stir-fried for about 2 minutes. After that, through rolling and baking, rough tea is obtained.

Brewing Method for Phoenix Dancong Tea

As for water, mountain spring water, stream water, well water, and mineral water are all acceptable. For the teapot, either a purple clay pot or a ceramic pot is suitable. The tea-to-water ratio is preferably 1 to 50, meaning 2 grams of tea leaves are placed in a 100-milliliter pot. The first infusion should steep for 2 minutes, and each subsequent infusion should be extended by 40 seconds.

Because Phoenix Dancong differs by aroma type and variety, the size and thickness of the dry tea leaves vary slightly. But overall, high-quality Phoenix Dancong dry tea should have a heavy, tight, and compact strip shape, a black and glossy color, mixed with a bit of eel-yellow and cinnabar-red spots. The liquor color is orange-yellow and bright. The brewed leaves have cinnabar-red edges and a yellow-green center.

The most fascinating thing about Phoenix Dancong is its ever-changing variety of floral aromas, and the classifications are mostly named by aroma type. The most common varieties include the following categories:

1. Four Types of Old Songzhong Bushes - Songzhong No. 1: The oldest among the Songzhong trees, a single mother tree with an age of up to 600 years. It grows in Wudong Lizai Ping Village at an altitude of 1,150 meters. At present, there are already asexually propagated descendants. Its aroma is rich and durable, with a unique old-bush charm. - Songzhong Dongfanghong: In 1958, it was once presented to Mao Zedong for tasting, hence the name "Dongfanghong." It has an obvious gardenia fragrance, with a high and lasting honey flavor. - Songzhong Zhilan Xiang: There are two mother trees in total. It has an elegant zhilan aroma. - Songzhong Mixiang: It combines floral fragrance with an obvious sweet potato honey flavor, so it is also called Songzhong sweet potato aroma. 2. Ten Precious Famous Bushes of the Floral-Honey Aroma Type: Ginger Flower Aroma (Tongtianxiang), Huangzhixiang, Yulan Xiang, Guihua Xiang, Ermao Zhilan Xiang, Almond Aroma (Juduozi), Milan Xiang, Yelai Xiang, Rougui Xiang, Moli Xiang. 3. Other Common Aroma Types: Baxian (named because there were only eight trees, white magnolia floral aroma), Hagu Lao (named according to the posture of the mother tree), Duck Shit Aroma (now formally renamed Yinhuaxiang), Wuye Xiang (orchid aroma), Baiye Xiang (honey aroma), and Youhua Xiang, etc.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.