Dan Cong Oolongs
Okay so I’m finally moving onto one of my favorite tea types, Oolong. However, I am specifically moving onto Dan Cong Oolongs. If your unfamiliar, there are several types of oolong tea, and they are grown all over the world, but most famously in Tawain and China. Taiwanese teas will be the subject of many blogs further down the line, but right now the focus stands on Dan Cong oolongs from China.
Dan Cong translates to “Single Bush”. Tea bushes used for this type of tea grow in the Pheonix Mountains, located in the Guangdong province of China. The tea gardens differ from other tea gardens in that as opposed to having tea bushes that grow in rows with similar shapes and sizes, Dan Cong tea bushes grow wild, usually as individual bushes or trees. Some Dan Cong bushes grow into more of a tree and can grow up to 16 feet in height. Many of these bushes are quite old, as old as hundreds of years.
Dan Cong bushes are known for their unique and distinct aromas with no two Dan Cong teas being the same. In addition, many Dan Cong teas can mimic flavors of other foods and spices (such as almond, honey and cinnamon) and quite often the sub-varietal is named after the flavor which it mimics. When farmers discover a new sub-varietal with a particular flavor, they will do all they can do further preserve and grow that varietal.
Dan Cong oolongs range from lightly oxidized to fully oxidized and are known for their earthy, fruity, and floral flavors and aromas. These oolongs can also be comparable to Wuyi oolongs from China, in that they both grow in mineral rich soils, and at high altitudes. In terms of what makes a Dan Cong oolong a Dan Cong oolong is based around the name “single bush”. For many tea collectors, the only teas which can be called Dan Cong are teas made from a single bush. However due to the need to meet high demand for Dan Cong teas, and that single older tea tree are unable to produce enough single bush tea on their own to meet said demand, many Dan Cong oolongs are actually made up of a blend of leaves from several Dan Cong bushes.
Because of this, there are many who believe that only teas harvested from a single bush should be called Dan Cong oolongs, while other teas from blends should be called simply Phoenix Oolong. However, because of single bushes or trees being unable to produce enough tea for global demand, it is not uncommon for collectors to purchase an entire single tree, any by extension, all the tea produced from that said tree. Oolongs from single bushes or trees also, as you may expect, come with a very high cost due to the limited quantity. Whether or not you look that closely into what makes Dan Cong a Dan Cong, these oolongs are outstanding, and with roughly 10-12 different types ready to be tasted, I’m very excited to find some new favorites!
