About this tea

Phoenix Dancong is a special style of oolong tea produced in Chaozhou’s Fenghuang “Phoenix” Mountain, a coastal region of Guangdong, in Southeastern China. This region is an ancient tea growing area celebrated for its mineral-rich soils, misty and foggy climate in a mountainous and rocky forested landscape. The region is home to a diverse range of aromatic oolong tea cultivars developed through generations of selective cultivation, breeding and grafting.

Many of the local tea tree varieties are named for their ”xiang” or “aroma” type (Mandarin language). The local teas in this coastal region of the Chaozhou are mainly referred to as Dancong Oolong (single tree or single trunk oolong) and share similar aromas with various fruits and flowers like: tuberose, orchids, ginger flowers, citrus blossoms, honey, peach, almonds and other and tropical fruits or flowers.

Ye Lai Xiang means “night blooming aroma.” It is a rare cultivar named after the night blooming fragrance of tuberose which has a rich and intoxicating floral aroma. Ye Lai Xiang Dancong Tea exudes an exquisite and multi-faceted aroma of tuberose, gardenia and jasmine with the subtle fruity scent of ripe nectarines. The aromatic compound Jasmine Lactone is peachy and floral. It occurs naturally in Ye Lai Xiang Dancong Tea as well as in jasmine flowers, tuberose, gardenia, mimosa, honeysuckle, lily, tea, peaches, and ginger. Aromatic Lactones and other aromatic substances exist in Dancong oolong tea plants at different levels and ratios, so the “Xiang” or aromas of Dancong Oolong Teas range widely.

The top class of Dancong are extremely precious and often thousands of dollars a kilogram. These are in fact single and super small batches, harvested and produced from one tree. The accessible-premium and everyday grades of Dancong (still several hundreds of dollars a kilogram) are cultivated and harvested from gardens that are planted with a single genetic strain of tea and sold in single batches that are not blended with other cultivars or gardens, so the name “Dancong” (single trunk) endures as the rightful trade name of this prestigious category of aromatic oolong tea. Dancong teas are produced from a specific range of tea genetic strains that grow in the Chaozhou region for more than 2000 years.