★★★★★
Amazing incredible tea. Will definitely buy more. Incredible taste and very fresh. Arrives quick.
A rare tea from Phoenix Mountain in Guangdong province, China. Perfumy, orchid, and almond. Smooth and refined texture with flavors of fresh apricot, peach pit, and honey. Incredibly long finish. This is a tea to take your time with!
Customers use these reviews to describe their experience with Dancong Aria, including flavor, aroma, preparation preferences, strength, and how the tea fits into daily routines. Browse the full review history page by page to compare tasting notes, steeping tips, and favorite ways to enjoy this tea.
Amazing incredible tea. Will definitely buy more. Incredible taste and very fresh. Arrives quick.
Interesting tea with complex flavors. In addition to the mineral and floral flavors I was expecting, I found a hint of spice.
I love Dancong Aria. I don’t have a delicate palate to taste all the things mentioned in the description or other reviews. What I taste is smooth and delicious—no burnt or bitter tastes. It makes multiple beautiful cups of tea.
I liked it very much and I enjoyed it and I am glad to order again.
I love dark oolongs and this is one of my favorites. I got 3 good steeps out of it and then had to stop because I can’t have that much caffeine. The first steep was moderately light with notes of honey and mineral. The second and third steep were similar to the first but darker and toastier. I will be buying this again.
This is such an exotic taste than one will truly recommend to others!
This might be my new fav! I drink my tea the British way - with a spot of milk. Probably sounds horrid to most of you, but it works for me. And it definitely works with Dancong Aria. Try it!
What a lovely tea this is, something about it reminds me of the ocean in summertime. Malty, buttery, smooth, with just the slightest hint of a floral flavor, it leaves you with a buttery, sweet mouth feel. I have not tried this cold, however, I did serve this with some chilled cantaloupe and it was a perfect pairing of flavors. I think honeydew would also go well with this tea. Overall, Dancong Aria is very enjoyable.
A malty oolong. When brewed right, there is a complex flavor profile of mineral and floral. I sampled this tea as part of the CommuniTea July 2025 box.
Decent tea, after reading a few reviews I decided to steep at 175 for 3 minutes, I could taste the burnt flavor others mentioned but I didn't hate it
A little bitter but not bad. I probably would not add this to my personal collection but could see enjoying it occasionally
This is one of those that I am going to have to revisit for a chance at more stars. So first steep at listed temp and time was not a winner for me at all. I think the only reason I continued with multiple steeps was it still had that buttery oolong texture that is always welcome. Other than than it was too bitter, slightly vegetal, and had a super dry astringent finish that reminded me of the dry mouth feel of drinking London dry gin. Second and third steeps I reduced the temp and time and they were much more pleasant, but still no wow factor there. They lost the super dry finish and much of the vegetal flavor. It was replaced with an almost nuttiness and earthy flavor mixed with the general flavor I get with most oolongs. By the third steep I started losing some of that buttery texture so I was a little disappointed as many oolongs I can get to maybe 5 before losing that awesome attribute. This all could be due to the too high temp on first steep and I look forward to revisiting this one and lowering my steep time from the beginning. 195° 4.5 min then 180° 3 min on subsequent steeps.
I steeped this tea at 195* and I tried it at 3 minutes and at 5 minutes; it was bitter each time. Perhaps it’s better when you do a second steep, but, as of right now, I wouldn’t have this tea again.
195* for 3 and again at 5 minutes.
july 2025 - yep, still beautiful. really special. steeped 195 for 3 min, no bitterness. smooth and almost thick? I get the 'incredibly long finish' and the straw/honey/floral thing is there for sure.
ok I apparently love oolongs! I can see why a lower temp would probably have been good, i think i made mine slightly bitter but I still loved it. didn't oversteep. didn't taste floral to me but more that 'honey/straw/toasty' vibe. very astringent. enjoyed.
This is a lovely oolong. It's a touch sweet with a toasty and malty flavor. I brewed this at 180F for 2 minutes and didn't get any bitterness.
another exemplary base tea. a lovely oolong, with an earthy aroma, smooth mouth feel, and delicate flavor that lingers just right.
I needed others' warnings to be careful with time and temperature, so I brewed for 4 minutes between 180 and 195 (boiled the water, then let it cool for 5 minutes before steeping) with a packet of Splenda. The tea turned out quite nice - strong, smooth, and slightly woody with a hint of minerals.
What a delightful oolong! I was very impatient with my kettle, which worked in my favor this time! I managed to avoid oversteeping and was blessed with a cup of malty minerality with a touch of honeyed sweetness. This tea was perfect for a rainy summer day.
CommuniTEA sample: 3 min @ 180 F, second cup for 4 min @ 180 F and third for 5 min @ 180 F. I notice a few different major points in this tea. I think that it has a nice, toasty aroma, it reminds me of toasted almonds as described, but also kind of like honey nut Cheerios, toasted oats that are sweet. There's also a slightly earthy and bitter component, and then there's a final component that's a floral and honey note. In my first cup, I felt that all of those notes were distinct, and I tasted them in that order, they didn't really blend together that much. However, in successive infusions, they came together much more, creating this complex, sweet, nutty, toasty, minerals forward tea. I found it very smooth, but that nice little tingle of gravel and smoky notes coming from the mineral content, I really enjoy that. And, I find it to be very sweet as well! Definitely great for multiple infusions!
A bit grassy for me. I prefer my oolongs on the greener and fruitier side, but not the worst I've tried.
I quite possibly used too hot of water, but even still the tea was delicious! I did get more a woody taste, and also a taste I can only describe as sage. I’ll try it lower water temp next time in hopes to get a more fruity floral taste
A lovely oolong that I enjoyed very much! I brewed this gong fu style and was able to get many steeps, I lost count after 4 since I sipped this all day. This tea has a lot of flavor, it's earthy and a little sweet like caramel and never got bitter/astringent throughout the many steeps that I sipped.
Update 4/17/25 - I don’t know how I rated this tea as 5 stars, but perhaps the CT portion was a different season of the tea. At any rate, I made a cup with the sample package that I bought and found it too mineral-tasting for my liking, so I felt a need to reduce the stars.
This is a great oolong for sipping over multiple steeps. The flavors change slightly between steeps, starting out warm and buttery and finishing with a more mineral, slightly astringent finish. I added nothing whatsoever and greatly appreciated the tea session.
Like all oolongs, it has that roasty flavor. But I found it to be rather mild and simple, lacking depth and complexity. Perhaps this is just a lighter oolong--or perhaps it's an oolong that needs more leaves in the tea ball.
un te oolong mas tostado pero conserva el sabor maltosa y a nuez pero se agregan complejidades como notas terrosas y minerales
Dancong Aria not good for me that’s why only two stars
this was a very nice sip subtle floral with a touch of peach I did brew it gong fu so it makes tea time better
This is a richly flavored oolong tea with no bitterness. I got a nice fruity floral taste with hints of nuts and caramel. This is up there with my other favorites.
A flavor explosion, quite distinct character that has both a classic oolong vibe but cranked to 11. Great for re-steeping, in fact I like it even more on the 2nd or 3rd re-steep as it smooths out some of the astringency. Arguably the best bang for buck oolong in my opinion
This is a truly lovely oolong! Slightly floral with a taste of jasmine/freesia maybe orchid and a hint of almond that keeps the floral taste pleasant and more subdued. A ribbon of river rock mineral flavor runs alongside the entwined floral and nut tastes to make a nicely multi-flavored tea.
My Ct packet had 3 g. of dark broader tea leaves with a gentle tangy aroma. A beautiful clear amber liquor resulted from brewing 10 oz. at 195*F for 5 min. The liquor, floral to the nose, was wonderfully smooth with very little astringency and no bitterness detected. The floral, nut and mineral flavors were boosted by a bit of sweetening with agave and became wonderfully delicious. A resteep of 5 oz. took about 7 min. to obtain the same color as the first steep. This will always be a 5 star tea and thank you, Sherlock Ward, for introducing me to this fabulous oolong!
There's interestingly nutty and carmel like notes to this tea with an overall earthy mineral like tone that makes it absolutely delicious!
Seriously on the fence with this one, I want to like it but not sure how to feel about it, maybe my least favorite oolong I've ever tasted, will try a 2nd steep and hopefully it will be better.
Lovely dark oolong tea. Carmel, almond notes. Creamy and smooth. I added honey.
Dancong Aria produces a pleasant, light-bodied tea with the classic mineral notes I’ve come to expect from darker oolongs. There is a natural sweetness to the liquor, but I can’t readily identify it as either fruity or floral. It could be honey-like, but if it is, it’s a darker honey. Though I enjoyed three decent infusions of this tea, I found it left me wanting. I didn’t pick up on any of the tasting notes mentioned in the description, but perhaps this was just a tea that required more attention than I could really give it on the day it came up in the CommuniTEA rotation. (3 minutes @ 190F)
2 min @ 165. I didn't get any of the tasting notes. Smooth with the mildest astringency. I actually got a hint of smoke on some sips and in the aftertaste. 2nd steep 2 min @ 165. Definitely a smokey aroma from the wet leaves. Not off-putting, just not a tea for me.
a really lovely dark oolong. not sure if i get too much peach, but it definitely has a nice floral touch
I didn’t really care for today’s tea. It had an earthy aftertaste.
This is phenomenal. Floral orchid notes, almond finish, and a lingering taste of apricot? How?! It's too good!
A nice toasty tea <3 A really well rounded flavor! Would definitely recommend
I didn’t care for this tea, it smell good. It taste woody.
This is a complex and delicious tea. Definitely give it a try.
Watch your water temperature and brew times with this oolong. Too hot water and too long steeping time makes a harsh, bitter cup. When brewed right, there is a complex flavor profile of mineral and floral. You can get multiple steeps from the leaves.
A very nice simple and sweet oolong. Good with a dash of creamer.
missing out! The peaceful smell of sandalwood along with some floral notes was calling to me from my packet as I opened it. Once brewed, I felt like I was in a concert, this tea has so many flavor notes that I feel like my favorite song was playing on my taste buds. The flavor is crisp and smooth, with honey sweet flavor and floral notes that linger as you sip pair with delicious nutty notes. Once it cools down a little, the flavor unfolds to more fruity notes, the sweetness is more akin to dates and dried fruit with floral notes still preset, nutty notes and mineral notes in the background. There is some mild, but pleasant astringency to this tea, and the good news is that you can rebrew and it holds. Maybe you can tell by the review, but this one is a keeper. I love it!
Dry tea - dark in color, mineral oolong scent. Leaves hot - rich, wet soil scent. First brewed 1 tsp with 8oz 195*F, first sip was bitter, but the rest was rather boring. It could have been my yogurt and fruit pairing. Second cup, 185*F, still a nice light brown color, less bitter, but still very subtle flavors. I prefer the buttery oolongs. The tight leaves definitely offer multiple re-seeps.
I'm not much of an oolong drinker. I brewed at a lower temp as suggested, but feel like I over did it somehow. It was a bit bitter and woody tasting to me.
Not my favorite tea. I brewed it at the temperature recommended. All I tasted when hot was a mineral taste. I also brewed a second cup hot and let it cool. This one was sweeter and had a fruity flavor. If it comes in the Communitea box again I will try it at a lower temperature like recommended by others.
Delightful cup of tea! There is a natural sweetness and it's a little toasty.
A bold, potent oolong, with rich mineral and delicate floral notes.
Oh mmm, definitely best enjoyed at a slightly lower temperature -- the flavors get far more complex as the tea cools. When quite hot, it's a grassy oolong, but floral and mineral layers continue to develop, and you end up with something quite complex. I look forward to re-steeping this morning's tea bag to see how the flavor profile might change between brews.