Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong
By far the most widely available Dan Cong aroma type, and the usual introduction to the family. The name means honey orchid, and the tea delivers exactly that: a thick honeyed sweetness over a floral base, with the family’s characteristic bitter edge held just in check.
Character
The sweetest Dan Cong and the most forgiving, which is why it is the one to start with. The bitterness is still there and still a few seconds away at any moment.
- Flavour
- Sweet, Fruity, Floral
- Aroma
- Honeyed, Orchid, Stone fruit
- Mouthfeel
- Astringent, Bitter, Complex, Medium
- Complexity
- Layered
- Notes
- honey, orchid, ripe peach, lychee
- Aftertaste
- Intensely sweet and long, with a bitter-sweet return.
Moderate intensity: noticeable weight or grip, but neither dominates the cup.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- China
- Region
- Phoenix Mountain
- Oxidation
- Partially oxidised
- Roast
- Light
- Harvest
- Spring
- Processing
- Withering → Bruising (shaking) → Kill-green (fixation) → Rolling and shaping → Roasting
History
The most widely planted Dan Cong aroma type, propagated from Phoenix Mountain stock as demand outgrew the old trees. Its availability rather than its quality is what separates it from the rarer types, a distinction the market rarely explains.
Brewing
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
5–6 g/100 ml · 95–100 °C · 6 authored infusions
Western brewing (teapot or mug)
1.5–2.5 g/100 ml · 90–95 °C · 2 authored infusions
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Oriental Beauty
Both build on a honeyed, stone-fruit sweetness, from quite different causes: aroma-type selection in one and leafhopper feeding in the other.
- Phoenix Dan Cong
The sweetest and most forgiving Dan Cong aroma type, and the one to learn the family’s very short steeps on.
- Ya Shi Xiang Dan Cong
The sweetest and most forgiving Dan Cong aroma type; learn the very short steeps on it first.
- Ling Tou Dan Cong
The affordable Dan Cong to a Phoenix Mountain aroma type. Learn the eight-second steeps on Ling Tou before paying for the real thing.
- Song Zhong Dan Cong
Old-bush Phoenix material and the most planted aroma type. Same mountain, same technique, an enormous gap in concentration.
- Huang Zhi Xiang Dan Cong
Two Dan Cong aroma types, both honey-and-stone-fruit leaning. The aroma names describe intrinsic character rather than anything added, and sellers apply them inconsistently.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Anxi Huang Jin Gui
Shares 6 descriptors with Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong: floral, fruity, sweet, medium, orchid and honeyed.
- Darjeeling muscatel
Shares 6 descriptors with Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong: fruity, sweet, medium, complex, stone fruit and honeyed.
Written comparisons
Where TeaHQ has set this tea against another in full, rather than deriving the comparison.
- Dan Cong aroma types compared — Phoenix Mountain classifies its teas by aroma rather than by grade or garden, and the classifications are real cultivar and processing distinctions rather than marketing.