It has been a very busy week so I didn’t have a lot of free time to write articles for the blog. I finally found the time to sit down and write about my experiences with one of the numerous samples I still have in my tea cabinet. The fact that there are more than a few samples in there doesn’t make it easy to pick the right one. For today’s session, I went with one I’ve had for quite a while. In one of my orders, Olli from The Tea Guru included a sample of a 2018 Winter Duck Shit Aroma Dan Cong, and this is the tea I picked.
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2018 Winter Duck Shit Aroma Dan Cong
This tea is a dan cong oolong tea, which implies that it’s from the Phoenix Mountains in China’s Guangdong province (广东省). There are different stories as to where this tea got its name and one of those stories has to do with the colour of the soil in which the tea is grown. Originally, the soil had a yellow brown colour and farmers would tell everyone they used duck shit as fertiliser to stop anyone from stealing the tea. A lot of people wanted to try the tea because it was really good so they had to come up with stories to prevent people trying to get their hands on it. I got my hands on a 2018 sample and I’m curious how it tastes two years after harvest.
The colour of the dry leaves is dark brown and I mostly see long and twisted leaves. I also see some stems in the mix. The aroma is really sweet with notes of fruits and honey.
After infusing, the leaves have turned green with a reddish/brown hue. The leaves are quite large once they have unfurled. The aroma is more or less the same as it’s also sweet with notes of fruits and honey.
Tea Tasting
- Water 90°C
- 4g for a 100ml Chaozhou teapot
- 1 rinse
- 6 infusions
Infusion 1 (15 sec): the colour of this one is yellow. Light honey flavour that is also noticeable in the aftertaste. It feels really smooth and delicate on the tongue.
Infusion 2 (20 sec): the colour is darker now. I’m getting more or less the same flavours, except that it’s a bit stronger. The honey is also noticeable in the aftertaste.
Infusion 3 (25 sec): the fruity notes seem to be a bit more prominent now. It’s still fairly subtle, which is a good thing. Also a hint of honey in the aftertaste.
Infusion 4 (30 sec): still subtle and the honey has come to the forefront. No big changes. A tiny bit of astringency after swallowing.
Infusion 5 (40 sec): it changed again and the fruitiness is back at it! It’s really similar to papaya fruits; those really sweet fruits that are perfect in the summer. I’m getting these fruity notes, but it’s rather subtle compared to some other dan cong teas.
Infusion 6 (50 sec): more of the same subtle and exotic fruitiness. A light astringency, but nothing too intense.
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Conclusion
I’ve had this sample for quite a while so that might be the reason the flavours were not that intense. I didn’t really mind this because some other dan cong oolong teas are way too intense and have flavours that hit you right in the face. This one didn’t do that as I only experienced subtle flavours. I mainly got notes of honey in the beginning and exotic fruits towards the end. In general, I enjoyed the session and the flavours were subtle but good. I definitely prefer this over a dan cong tea that is too intense, especially because the astringency of this one was almost non-existent.
