Milan Xiang, Phoenix Dancong by Teakan
Oolong Tea / Straight
$25.00 for 70g
Milan Xiang, Phoenix Dancong is part of the Teakan’s Spring 2020 Exploration box, which I purchased at the 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival back in March. This Exploration Box consists of 5 teas and Milan Xiang, Phoenix Dancong was 10g of the 70g.
First Impressions
Milan Xiang, Phoenix Dancong comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch. Like the other teas that came in the Spring 2020 Exploration box, Milan Xiang has a minimalist white and black label on the packaging that provides all the information that I need about the tea. This oolong tea comes from Wudong, Guangdong, China and was harvested in spring 2019.
The leaves themselves are long and wiry, in dark brown and reddish brown colours. There is a beautiful fragrance from the leaves – it reminds me of floral and buttery aromas. It’s so inviting and smells sweet, which is nice. And look at those beautiful leaves! So gorgeous and just makes me want to dive right in.
Preparation
Teakan recommends steeping Milan Xiang in 95°C (203°F) water for 2 minutes (western steeping style) or 5 seconds (gongfu method). 5 seconds was much too quick for me, so I opted to use 93°C (200°F) water and do an initial steep for 2 minutes.
First Taste
Milan Xiang steeps to a light golden yellow colour. The flavour of Milan Xiang is primarily that of buttery cream and floral sweetness. It’s really nice, and has a thickened texture for the mouthfeel, which is nice. It reminds me a lot of a milk oolong, and just has those buttery cream qualities that I enjoy in an oolong. There just the perfect level of sweetness in the tea that makes it really delicious and would likely go well with a lot of dishes.
A Second Cup?
I resteeped Milan Xiang a total of five times (six steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour to be strongest for the first and second resteeps, while slowly waning for the steeps after that. I do think I could have gotten a few more steeps out of these leaves, as it was still quite flavourful by the end of the sixth steep of these leaves. The buttery cream flavour was just so tasty and made me want to drink more and more.
My Overall Impression
I loved Teakan’s Milan Xiang, Phoenix Dancong. I really enjoyed the whole process of drinking this tea – from admiring the dry leaf, to the fragrance of the steeped tea, to just resteeping it over and over again. Definitely resteep these leaves to get all the flavour out of them – it’s just so good! The buttery cream flavours would balance well against a savoury meal, or just add a little something something to a dessert.
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