Phoenix Duck Shit Dancong Old Tree (Ya Shi Xiang)

Tea Repertoire

Op. 131

Quantity

Type: OOLONG TEA



Tea Type: Oolong Tea

Tea Region: Da'an Village, Wu Dong Shan, Guangdong Province, China

Vintage: 2019 Spring

Tasting Notes

  • Appearance: Transluscent, golden-amber coloured liquor.  
  • Aroma:  Ripe fruit (peach, nectarine), floral (peony, rose), burnt sugar, jammed fruit (apricot confiture).
  • Flavour: Floral (frangipani, magnolia), milky, vanilla, biscuity flavours with a  light peach note. 
  • Mouthfeel: Mellow, supple liquor with velvety mouthfeel. Sweet, floral finish is long on the palate. The mouthfeel is less silky than other phoenix oolongs such as Heavenly Fragrance (Tong Tian Xiang) and Phoenix Eight Immortals (Ba Xian) with more astringency. 

Brewing Guidance

  • Measure 1g of tea per 100ml water. Boil water to 85℃. Steep for 4-5 minutes.

Reference: Op. 131

Tips for Tea Connoisseurs

"Dancong", translated into "single shrub" or "single bush" in Chinese, refers to an individual tea plant cultivated from a variety of Shui Xian cultivar. As the sub-varietals of Shui Xian cultivars grown on the region have very different characteristics in terms of leaf and tree shape, teas made from different individual shrubs happened to develop very distinctive aroma and flavour profile from one to the other, which explains why the oolong teas produced in the region are called as "Dancong Oolong". 

Ya Shi Xiang, which literally means "Duck Shit Aroma", is a legendary Dancong oolong tea from Guangdong Province, China. According to a folklore, Ya Shi Xiang Dancong Oolong tea got its name as the people in Ping Keng Tou village, who very much appreciated their unique local tea bushes that produced highly fragrant and aromatic dancong oolong tea, spread a rumour that the distinctive yellow brown soil of the region was due to duck shit and that their tea bushes consequently had "duck shit aroma" so that outsiders do not steal their tea trees. 

As Phoenix Duck Shit Dancong oolong somewhat reminds of Alishan Golden Lily (aka. Milky Oolong), high mountain Taiwanese oolong from Ali Mountain, due to its sweet, milky and floral character, we highly recommend this tea for Taiwanese high mountain oolong tea lovers as well. 

Our Ya Shi Xiang hails from Da'an Village in Wu Dong Mountain, 1100m above sea level, which forms the Phoenix Mountain Range (Feng Huang Shan) in eastern Guangdong Province. Carefully cultivated and crafted by our great tea master, Mr. Huang, the 8th generation tea farmer, this Duck Shit Dancong is definitely a tea that will up your phoenix oolong game. In Mr. Huang's tea garden, there are many old tea trees (gushu) with their age varying between 100 and 600 years old and they only produce the very finest, top of the cream phoenix dancong oolong tea from these rare, precious gushu trees. Also, as these trees are strictly protected by the Chinese government, they are not allowed to use any pesticide either. We were really impressed by the diversity of tea cultivars in their tea garden and the quality of their phoenix oolongs during our visit last year. 

As with all the teas, oolong tea also offers us health benefits to increase our sense of well-being. Several studies indicate that oolong tea is a rich source of antioxidant polyphenols and it may well be just as beneficial as green tea to promote weight loss and cardiovascular health by reducing high blood pressure and cholesterol. 

If you like this product you may also like Phoenix Eight Immortals and Phoenix Honey Orchid.



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