How Does the Roasting Process Shape Duck Shit Aroma Oolong?
Spring-picked Duck Shit Aroma from Phoenix Town, Guangdong, is roasted twice over eighteen hours in a wood-fired oven, giving a thick, full-bodied soup with warm roasted wood notes and an oily smoothness that peaks by the fifth infusion. Maocha and Snowflake Duck Shit Aroma skip that treatment and lean on natural floral notes instead.
The full roasting process takes over a month because leaves are roasted, rested, then roasted again. Most traditional Dancong oolong teas get two to three extra re-roasts after the initial pass, and the final taste depends on temperature, roasting duration, the interval between roasts, leaf quality, and batch size. That is closer to a deep roast coffee approach than a light one.
As a star aroma type of Phoenix Dancong, Duck Shit Aroma presents vastly different flavor profiles depending on the picking season and roasting process. Spring-picked Duck Shit Aroma, after two long charcoal roasts, yields a thick and full-bodied tea soup with warm roasted wood notes and a smooth, oily texture; whereas maocha or Snowflake Duck Shit Aroma emphasizes more natural floral notes. This article will compare the taste differences between maocha and refined tea, and explore the characteristics of Duck Shit Aroma picked in early spring versus autumn, helping coffee enthusiasts understand the diverse charm of this oolong tea. At the same time, the article also covers Front Street brand's recommendations and insights on the roasting process of Dancong tea.
Duck Shit Aroma Type: Floral-style Dancong Oolong* Picking: Spring 2021 Origin: Phoenix Town, Guangdong, China
This 2021 spring-picked and fully processed Duck Shit Aroma is most striking for the warmth brought by the roasted wood. The eighteen-hour, two-round roast in the wood-fired oven allowed the moist tea leaves to release a rich aroma while still retaining the peaty flavor and fragrance of the leaves themselves. The tea soup color is deeper than Snowflake Duck Shit Aroma, but still presents a golden yellow hue. The entry performance is quite outstanding—mellow, warm, and full-bodied. Strangely enough, we always feel this tea has a thick texture with a pleasant oily smoothness, and by the fifth infusion this sensation deepens and reaches its peak.
Unlike Snowflake Duck Shit Aroma or Duck Shit Aroma maocha, this tea underwent two roasts in the wood-fired oven (Snowflake Duck Shit Aroma is only roasted once in a gas stove). The entire process takes over a month, because the tea needs to be roasted first, then rested, and then roasted again. Most traditional Dancong oolong teas undergo two to three additional re-roasts after the initial roast.
This roasting method allows the tea maker to express their flavor pursuit, because the final taste depends on numerous variables: temperature, roasting duration, the interval between two roasts, the quality of the tea leaves to be roasted, and the amount put in for each roast. Some of our friends in Huiwei come from old tea-making families, and they possess this more difficult and tedious experience of charcoal roasting and oven roasting. We are very satisfied with their roasting results, because this approach both preserves the tea and enhances its quality.
Tasting Snowflake Duck Shit Aroma side by side with the spring tea is a great way to experience the diversity of Dancong tea, because these two teas come from the same tree and are made by the same processor, yet their styles are vastly different.
*What does the aroma type of Phoenix Dancong refer to? In China it is called "qingxiang," which means oolong tea that is not charcoal-roasted but only roasted in wood or gas ovens, in order to highlight the natural floral aroma of the tea leaves themselves.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
