What Are the Characteristics on Which Coffee Is Judged in Tea Grading?
Judging Old Bush Sweet Potato Fragrance Dancong as a high-grade tea starts with oolong production regions and Dancong background. The tea takes its name from sweet potato fragrance, though the aroma is not literally that of sweet potato, and it is roasted over nearly smokeless lychee wood charcoal in a method close to Wuyi rock tea and at a higher degree than ordinary Phoenix Dancong.
Price per catty depends on tree age, production area, craftsmanship, and brand rather than a single figure. In Fujian, trees older than one hundred years are called old bush, and Phoenix Mountain in southern Guangdong has cultivated Dancong oolong for more than six hundred years alongside Wuyishan, Anxi, and Taiwan oolong regions. The same approach behind what are the characteristics on which coffee is judged applies here: origin, processing, and sensory traits.
The Dancong oolong tea system is vast and complex, and to judge whether Old Bush Sweet Potato Fragrance Dancong belongs to the high-grade tea category, one must first understand the production area layout of oolong tea and the background of Dancong. This article starts from the four classic oolong tea production regions, sorting out the origin of the name Old Bush Sweet Potato Fragrance Dancong, the production environment, picking standards, and crafting techniques, and analyzes its taste, aroma, and appearance characteristics. The article particularly notes that this tea uses a method close to Wuyi rock tea, with a roasting degree higher than ordinary Phoenix Dancong, and is roasted over almost smokeless lychee wood charcoal, forming a unique sweet fragrance and mineral sensation. As for how much Sweet Potato Fragrance Dancong tea costs per catty, it must be judged comprehensively based on tree age, production area, craftsmanship, and brand. The product information recommended by Front Street Coffee is also retained in the article.
Dancong oolong tea can be called a field of study with its own system. This statement fits both the pure tea field with its many categories and the relatively niche yet not simple world of oolong tea. Therefore, if one wants to explain in an accessible way the quality grade of Old Bush Sweet Potato Fragrance Dancong oolong tea, one must first explain the background and basic concepts of Dancong oolong tea.
Oolong tea has four classic production regions:
Wuyishan in northern Fujian is famous for rock tea, and oolong teas such as Da Hong Pao, Rou Gui, and Shui Xian all come from here;
Anxi County in southern Fujian, where Tieguanyin oolong tea is equally renowned;
Taiwan is known for many famous oolong tea varieties, such as Oriental Beauty oolong tea, Four Seasons oolong tea, Jin Xuan oolong tea, Dong Ding oolong tea, Ruan Zhi oolong tea, and others;
Phoenix Mountain in southern Guangdong, where Dancong oolong tea has been cultivated for more than six hundred years.
The name of Old Bush Sweet Potato Fragrance Dancong oolong tea
In Fujian, tea trees older than one hundred years are called "old bush." Tea made from the leaves of such tea trees also carries the "old bush" attribute.
"Sweet potato fragrance" refers to sweet potato. However, this name does not mean the tea's aroma is truly similar to sweet potato. More accurately, it evokes the era when Chaoshan people were impoverished, when sweet potato was their most basic food.
Origin
In a tea garden close to nature on Xiahushan in Chaozhou, Sweet Potato Dancong tea trees over one hundred and twenty years old grow vigorously. The local volcanic soil is especially fertile, and the Dancong oolong tea it nurtures is unmatched in complexity and energy ("qi").
Picking
Southern China has a warm climate, and the picking of this tea begins very early in spring. Right now it is about early April, and the picking period lasts only a few weeks. The picking standard is the top bud (tender) plus two to three leaves and one bud, consistent with the optimal picking standard for Dancong oolong tea.
Processing
The production direction of this Old Bush Sweet Potato Fragrance Dancong oolong tea is the Wuyi rock tea method. This means the roasting degree of Phoenix Mountain Dancong oolong tea is higher than usual. Another feature of this tea is that it is roasted using almost smokeless lychee wood charcoal.
Taste, aroma, appearance
Because it is processed in the Wuyi style, the finished tea leaves are larger, open and curled, and darker in color than typical Dancong oolong tea. It gives off a sweet fragrance reminiscent of freshly cut wood. Combined with the mineral flavor unique to rock tea, this sweetness forms the taste pattern of a clear, amber-colored tea soup. Astringency is also a common characteristic of Dancong oolong tea, but in our Sweet Potato Fragrance Dancong it becomes very mild.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
