Phoenix Oolong: Classic Styles

Fenghuang Dancong ( fèng•huáng dān•cōng ) Chinese: 鳳凰單欉, aka Phoenix oolongs. There are two distinct groups within this sub-category of oolongs. In this article, we shall look at the classic style group, also called the ripened style ( Chinese: 熟香型 ), or the traditional style. (Click here if you want to look at the other group) As mentioned in the category orientation, this grouping is much abridged for easy understanding. Other articles will cover details of specific selections and specialisation grouping.

sweet ripen fruits and honey

A classic style Phoenix oolong is characterized with a pleasant aroma of sweet ripen fruits such as peach or baked sweet potato, accented with honey and a deep, woody yet floral undertone. No other teas can be similar to it.

Matured under the right condition, the aroma acquires a woodsy depth with characteristic accents that can be associated with dried fruits such as longan and lychee.

The liquor is a long bitter-sweet with tinkling of tints of citrus peels and accents of other flavours, such as roasted cocoa, ginger flower, almond or honey, etc, or a combination of some, depending on the variety.

Each variety or even selection has its own distinctive taste profile under the broad wash description.

This is my personal staple drink. I have yet to find another tea with the kind of taste complexity and aromatic comfort that can both sooth and tickle my senses when I have it every day since 1999.

tree cultivars

The ultimate cultivar used in the classic style is Huangzhi Xiang ( Chinese: 黃枝香 or 黃橘香 ), but the demand for it is so high that the price for most top quality batches has gone quite unreachable in the past 10 years. Producers have also generally lightened the oxidation and the baking to turn this into a borderline between the classic style and the bouquet style in order to acquire a more floral aroma in the dry leaves for better appeal. And for higher prices.

A more accessible variety is Milan Xiang ( Chinese: 蜜蘭香 ). Selections popularly available are generally produced from a group of cultivars called Baiye ( baí•yè, i.e. white leaf. Chinese: 白葉 ). A cultivar named Milan Xiang does exist. The oldest specimen is known to have lived since the Qing Dynasty. It and all its relatives and “off-springs” are producing, except that the product easily got unfairly compared in price with the production from Baiye. Its complex and wonderful taste profile is thus lesser known.

Other popular production cultivars include Guihua Xiang ( Chinese: 桂花香 aka Qun’ti Dancong 群體單欉 ), Xinren Xiang ( Chinese: 杏仁香 ), and Jiangmu Xiang ( Chinese: 薑母香 ). In finer oolong production where the nature of the leaves is essential to the taste character of the product, development of cultivars is active and blooming in a competitive and yet lucrative market such as China. New ones, and thereby, new tea varieties come about regularly. <read more about production>

selection tips

The classic style is different from the bouquet style with deeper oxidation and baking.

Baking is a decisive factor in the quality. Over-baking, mostly through higher than needed temperature, causes an undesirable burnt taste. A fresh production is often baked not so deep, allowing a livelier freshness. An older stock is often rebaked for maturing. A rebaked tea should be consumed no less than 3 months after the rebake. It can be stored for peak quality between year 2 and 5 or longer, very much dependent on the original quality and the baking done onto it.

Always select a spring or first flush harvest for all classic varieties. That is true for fresh consumption or for maturing.

Productions from all cultivars specialised in the bouquet style can also be browned to make into the classic style, if when the oxidation and initial drying are properly done. As mentioned, Huangzhi Xiang, the ultimate Phoenix, is a good example. However, this is a very tricky process and few producers can really master it.

It is advisable, therefore, to buy typical and properly processed classic style and not those re-finished ones.

tasting note

Classic style Phoenix is perhaps the most delicate tea to infuse in the gongfu approach. You’d rather use a lower than higher temperature or it can taste too sharp or too bitter. Using the conventional approach particularly with the top drop method, however, is almost always successful for beginners.

Use less leaves when you are beginning to learn about the tea.

I always love a fine single batch fresh classic Phoenix oolong, when it is a few months old. For the leftover stock ( usually I have enough for a lot of leftover ), I will let it mature for 2 to 3 years, when it turns intensely sweet and rounder. Every time a cup of finely prepared Milan Xiang Dancong makes me puzzle what good have I done to deserve such wonderful luxury.

A classic Phoenix oolong is a powerful digestive so it’s good when you want to be prepared for a great meal, or if you have had one. They are not so suitable when you are going on diet. This is a great tea to be enjoyed pure, or coupled with desserts, pastry or seafood.

buying tips

The cost for this tea can vary extremely dramatically. The mecca of Phoenix production is Wudong ( Chinese: 烏崠 ) where end-users who are nova riches or the powerful send their subordinates here every late April or early May to get those harvests from reputable Single Bushes of hundreds of years of age. This brings up the price ridiculously. A catty (500 g) of pre-finished tea (maocha) can fetch a few hundred thousand RMB (check exchange rate). The demand is so high that some local farmers would buy plucks from outside of Wudong to process there in the place of real local leaves. There are a few more tricks that some producers and farmers perform to the ends of imitating genuine Wudong production for higher prices.

The fact is, although finer genuine Wudong productions are really supreme, some other su-regions in Phoenix ( Fenghuang ) can be wonderful too. Even though their prices have gone up a couple of times since the last decade, they are still within reasonable limits, for their quality.

A fine classic style from high altitude, whether from Wudong, or the neighbouring Ermao or Shitou, has a distinct and slightly different “yan’yun” ( Chinese: 岩韻 i.e. note of the large rock, translate: character of high altitude grown; a special and complex note of certain herbal/mineral character that is difficult to imitate because it harmonizes with the rest of the taste and aroma character ).

I buy directly from the producers or farmers whether for personal use or for trading. When you shop for one at the dealers or retailers, you should give much less weight to claims of origin and pay emphasis on the taste. The fact is, every so often I find products not matching the claim ( and the price ) even at wholesalers. Whether they know what they are doing is a mystery, but I hate it when the end users are not getting what they pay for.

health note

This is a great tea to keep staying calm and awake especially for those who cannot use green tea which is TCM cold, or black tea which causes dampness (TCM term). Classic style Phoenix is relatively neutral, and therefore a great daily tea for most. <read: Health aspect of Phoenix oolongs>

In some science reports, Fenghuang Dancong outranked top quality Longjing for total tea polyphenol and catechins content. This will be discussed in other articles. However, this does implies that for long term use for people with more sensitive stomach, this is an ideal option as a healthy beverage.

However, it can be a strong tea to some people so if you have not had much strong tea experience, increase your intake strength and quantity gradually and do not drink on an empty stomach. If you forget about this and over drink, you may experience tea-drunk. Have a bite of something to raise blood sugar and refrain from drinking that day. <read more about tea drunk>

If your tea experience is only beginning, a safe way to start experiencing this tea is to have one cup at just adequate strength for a half day, with a cookie or any little bites standing by.

On the other hand, if you are a veteran, this really is a worthwhile tea to spend time and efforts to explore and understand. Once you find a really fine selection, maybe you would begin to experience the kind of health change I had and keep it as one of your daily drinks.