"Duck Shit" Ya Shi Xiang Dan Cong Oolong Tea

A young monk once asked the wise tea master Lao Cha: 

– Sifu, how come such honey-sweet wonderfully aromatic tea that smells like gardenia flowers, is called “Duck Shit Oolong”???

– Sometimes no good things bear nice names, sometimes things are vice versa. Look deeper and beyond the surface if you want to find real treasure.

Dan Cong oolong is a variety of oolong tea grown in Phoenix mountain, Chaozhou city in Southern Guangdong province of China. Each different type of Dan Cong tea resembles a distinct aroma. So what about Duck Shit Oolong? Don't worry, it's not what you think. This is perhaps one of the sweetest and most distinguished floral Chinese teas you'll ever sip.

The tale of Duck Shit Oolong Tea tells us how special it is. So special that farmers would create fables about their precious tea so that others wouldn't try to steal it. Indeed, the soil on which the tea trees grow has a distinct yellowish-brown color. Thus, the farmers would tell outsiders that this color came from all the duck shit in the soil, hoping to dissuade interest. For better or worse, these little fables may not have worked as well as the farmers hoped. Soon enough, a word about the aromatic Dan Cong Oolong that grew from duck shit had spread far and wide, provoking much interest in trying this rare tea that leaves such a pleasant lingering honey-sweetness.

The famous Ya Shi Xiang Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong tea often draws comparisons to Tie Guan Yin, the "Iron Goddess", since both of these teas have a very prominent fragrance. However, the Ya Shi Xiang is a more balanced tea, in which the aroma doesn't dominate the taste.

When brewing this oolong we recommend using zisha teacups together with aroma cups, to extract the full taste and aroma of this remarkable tea.

This craft tea is full of "shan yun" (山韵) – "mountain rhyme", (similar to "yan yun" (岩韵) for Wuyi Rock Oolongs), used to describe the unique characteristics of Fenghuang Dan Cong Oolongs. 

After going through the first steep, this Phoenix Dan Cong will taste fresh and sweet, with a slight gardenia aroma. With the second infusion, the scent and sweetness will become more prominent, promoting the secretion of saliva. After the third infusion, it will taste mellow and full, with a long-lasting aftertaste. 

Shao Bo's grandparents founded Shao Bo's family tea gardens in Tian Zhu Keng and Wudong villages in Feng Huang Mountain. Now, Shao Bo is the head of the family and is attending to the tea trees that his ancestors planted, making him a third-generation tea farmer.

Brewing guidelines: