What do qualities of coffee and Duck Shit Aroma Dancong share?
Duck Shit Xiang is one of the better-known Phoenix Dancong oolong varieties from southeastern Guangdong. The name is unpleasant, but the tea itself carries a honey-like sweetness with gardenia-like floral notes. It grows on Phoenix Mountain above misty, rainy slopes, and the trees are grown as single bushes, some reaching about sixteen feet tall, rather than as trimmed low hedges.
Processing follows seven steps before the leaf is finished. Brewing works well in a purple clay gaiwan or teapot paired with an aroma cup, which concentrates the fragrance for the first sips. Many drinkers meet Dancong for the first time through this variety, then move on to compare it with other Phoenix oolongs, whose qualities of aroma and body differ from bush to bush.
Duck Shit Xiang Dancong is one of the most talked-about varieties of Phoenix Dancong. The origin of its name, the uniqueness of its aroma, and the particularities of its brewing method all inspire curiosity among many tea lovers. From the perspective of Front Street Coffee, this article sorts out the varietal characteristics of Phoenix Mountain Dancong oolong, tells the story behind the name Duck Shit Xiang, introduces the seven steps in its processing, and gives specific brewing suggestions using a purple clay gaiwan or teapot together with an aroma cup. Whether you are a beginner just encountering Dancong or a seasoned tea drinker who wants to understand this honey-fragrance oolong further, you will find something worth referencing here.
A young monk once asked a master well versed in the way of tea: Master, why is this honey-fragrance oolong that smells like gardenia called "Duck Shit Oolong Tea"? The master replied: Some things do not necessarily have pleasant names, and some things with pleasant names are not necessarily worthy of them. If you want to find true treasure, you must look deeper and farther.
High up on Phoenix Mountain in southeastern Guangdong, you can find Duck Shit Xiang oolong tea. There, mist wraps the area all year round and rain is abundant, creating an extremely ideal moist environment for the soil and also making possible the growing conditions for this unique tea. This mountain attracts a steady stream of visitors, people who come not only to enjoy the scenery but also to catch a glimpse of the enchanting Phoenix Dancong.
What makes Dancong oolong tea special? "Dancong" means "single bush." But unlike ordinary tea gardens, a cong tea garden is not a neat, uniform array of low tea bushes. What makes cong tea trees unique is their wildness - no one is exactly the same as another. These "bushes" are closer to trees, much taller than ordinary tea plants, and some can even grow to about sixteen feet. A cong oolong tea garden is more like a primitive tea garden from centuries ago, with a distinctive scenery of its own.
Duck Shit Xiang oolong tea is a type of Dancong oolong tea. Dancong means "single bush" and is an oolong variety unique to Phoenix Mountain. Different Dancong varieties have different aromas. In recent years, because of its honey-like sweetness and floral fragrance, experts renamed Duck Shit Xiang as "Silver Flower Fragrance," meaning the aroma of honeysuckle. However, most fans of Duck Shit Xiang still habitually use the old name.
Other relatively well-known Dancong varieties include:
Honey Orchid Fragrance
Night-Blooming Cereus Fragrance
Magnolia Fragrance
Almond Fragrance
Yellow Gardenia Fragrance
Although it is called "Duck Shit Xiang oolong tea," this tea is remarkably fragrant and sweet. These qualities come from the special soil in the mountains, which provides excellent nourishment for the ancient tea trees, some of which are six hundred years old.
The story of Duck Shit Xiang oolong tea illustrates its preciousness. Precisely because it was precious, the tea farmers spread false information about their own good tea to prevent outsiders from coveting it and stealing the leaves. The soil in which the tea trees grew was distinctly yellowish-brown, so the tea farmers told outsiders that the color came from duck droppings in the soil, hoping this would discourage others' interest. For better or worse, these claims did not seem to have the effect the tea farmers wanted. Before long, Duck Shit Xiang spread widely - a fragrant tea grown from duck droppings, with a lingering honeyed sweetness, which instead aroused even greater interest.
Processing of Duck Shit Xiang Oolong Tea
Compared with other Dancong varieties, Duck Shit Xiang tea leaves are thicker and larger, but also softer. After the fresh leaves are picked, they must undergo seven steps:
Sun withering
Cool withering
Shaking
Fixation
Rolling
Baking
Refining
Because the degree of oxidation is relatively heavy, the finished product appears long, curled, and a beautiful brownish-yellow.
How to Brew Phoenix Dancong Oolong Tea
When brewing this oolong tea, it is recommended to use a purple clay gaiwan or teapot, paired with an aroma cup. Only in this way can the complete taste and aroma of this famous tea be ensured.
After the first infusion, Phoenix Dancong reveals incredible freshness and sweetness, accompanied by a faint gardenia fragrance. In the second infusion, the aroma and sweetness become more prominent, with obvious salivation. By the third infusion, the mouthfeel is mellow and full, with a long aftertaste.
Front Street recommends that when brewing Duck Shit Xiang Dancong, the water temperature be controlled at around 95°C, and that the first few infusions be poured quickly to avoid overly long steeping, which can lead to bitterness and astringency. If you want to experience this tea recommended by Front Street, you might start with a purple clay gaiwan and gradually feel the changes in each infusion.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
