Dan Cong Hong Cha (\u5355\u679e\u7ea2\u8336) is a red\/black tea that comes from a tea garden of Master Huang located near Tianliao Village in the Phoenix Mountains at an altitude of approximately 600 metres. It is hand picked from the local Mi Lan Xiang cultivar trees that are about 30 years old. It produces a light yet complex liquor with wild honey notes and a tangy fruity aftertaste. This is a spectacular showcase of a Hong Cha from the Phoenix Mountain terroir, made from leaves normally reserved for Dan Cong Oolong. This current batch was harvested and processed in March-April 2021.<\/p>\n
You may be interested in our other Dan Cong teas from Master Huang<\/a>, which are available in our usual packaging or in two tea flight boxes<\/a> that contain 6 different teas each.<\/p>\n This Hong Cha (red tea according to Chinese classification; black tea according to the Western one) is a masterfully crafted tea. It showcases the best style of Hong Cha from China, while also delivering a unique Phoenix Mountain touch. This Dan Cong Hong Cha is specifically picked from Mi Lan Xiang cultivar trees, which are plants that have been selected through cuttings from original Shui Xian (\u6c34\u4ed9) cultivar trees. Most Dan Cong cultivars have a long history going back, sometimes to just one single mother tree. As these have not been \u2018developed\u2019 by plant breeding or research stations, there is no standardisation. But as these plants are propagated by cutting, the descendant trees bear most of the features of the parent trees. This has allowed careful selection process to occur over time, which allowed for the desired plant\u2019s features to pass to the newly planted trees. Normally these would be utilised to produce Dan Cong Mi Lan Xiang Oolong<\/a>, but here Master Huang crafted a rather special Hong Cha with some fantastic results!<\/p>\n The leaves of this Dan Cong Hong Cha still have a dark colour and a classic Dan Cong twisted appearance. The wet leaves and the liquor give off an aroma of honey and malt with a touch of baked notes. The amber liquor is bright and clear with a smooth taste. The predominant wild honey flavour has notes that are malty, lightly mineral, sweet, fruity and a touch floral. These give way to a tangier mineral aftertaste with a hint of lychee fruit. The finish is soft and clean, without any harshness or astringency. In many ways this is closer to a fine very dark oolong! But at the same time this is a very special showcase of a top quality Chinese Hong Cha from a somewhat unusual terroir and material.<\/p>\n Brew western style, just as our Dan Cong Oolong teas, at 90\u00b0C for 3 minutes 3+ times. For best results we highly recommend gongfu<\/em> style brewing. For gongfu<\/em>, we recommend using traditional glass or ceramic teaware or a gaiwan. Or you can use your favourite yixing or chaozhou tea pot that already performs well with Dan Cong teas. Make sure to preheat all teaware thoroughly. Use water brought to 100\u00b0C and a very high tea to water ratio of 1g per 10ml. We find anywhere between 7g (more conventional gongfu<\/em>) and 10g (more local chaozhou gongfu<\/em> style) per 100ml to be a good measure, depending on your taste. As an alternative visual guide, your brewing vessel should be about 75% full with leaves. Start with 10 second infusions for the first 4 infusions. Then start slowly increasing the infusion time after that. You can adjust the quantity of leaf and infusion time to your taste, however the bittersweet complexity that comes through when using the traditional method is very much a desired feature in Chaozhou.<\/p>\n This Dan Cong Hong Cha black tea was featured in our December 2021<\/a> Curious Tea Subscription Boxes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Location of the conventional tea garden of Master Huang:<\/p>\n