Bee Balm | Milanxiang Dancong

In the Phoenix mountains, no cultivar is more popular than Milan Xiang, or as we call it, Honey Orchid.  As one of the earliest teas to produce buds in the Spring, this cultivar is first on the market and has a flavor profile that has become synonymous with dancong oolong.  This particular autumn harvest from Wen Zitong is on the lighter side of roasting and has a lot of floral and stone fruit notes. 

While this tea is very rarely pressed into tea cakes, we think that this is an ideal way to store and preserve the tea for aging experiments.  If you're interested in a set of all our dancong tea cakes, check out the discounted bundle!!

When the dry leaves are placed in a warmed gaiwan, they exude a complex fragrance of kitchen spices and syrup-soaked tobacco.  This changes into something much more fruity and sweet with little vegetal notes about it as soon as it is brewed with hot water.  The fragrance of these leaves is intoxicating, and we can't stop smelling them between every infusion, as they change in exciting ways throughout the session.

The brew itself is a rich gold with a lot of body, there is an oily mouthfeel that makes this tea feel very thick on the tongue, coating all corners of the mouth with a welcoming rich taste that is sweet like honey and spicy like cinnamon.  While we get notes of orchid flowers, stone fruit sweetness, and even something redolent of freshly made corn tortillas on the wet leaves, the empty cup retains a rich melted butter and honey aroma.

This is a tea that we would love to see how it matures with age, but as this was a test-pressing, the quantity is limited, and we doubt we will have any remaining come next autumn.

Check out more teas from Wen Zitong here!