Musings on Dancong…

[tealifehk]

A good way to gauge if dancong has been fragranced is if it smells like anything dry. Good dancong often has very little aroma dry. Once the water hits it...boom!

I enjoy sniffing the first-opened Dancong tea pouches from Tea Habitat before I've removed any tea. It often gives a nice preview of what I find in the tea. It's always subtle, but there is something there. I would be wary if it were quite strong....

Right, I've had fragranced teas that people ten feet away could smell! That's when you know you have a serious issue.

[OCTO]

Right, I've had fragranced teas that people ten feet away could smell! That's when you know you have a serious issue.

How about those dancong that have evolved into a dancong that can be smelled all over the room?

In 2016 have had some high grade medium roast dancong which came with very subtle aroma that evolved into an awesome bloom of aroma and fragrance after 12 months. I am still drinking it and it’s still getting better. Blossoming under proper storage condition.

My 2cents.

Cheers!

[tealifehk]

Right, I've had fragranced teas that people ten feet away could smell! That's when you know you have a serious issue.

How about those dancong that have evolved into a dancong that can be smelled all over the room?

In 2016 have had some high grade medium roast dancong which came with very subtle aroma that evolved into an awesome bloom of aroma and fragrance after 12 months. I am still drinking it and it’s still getting better. Blossoming under proper storage condition.

My 2cents.

Cheers!

That sounds very interesting! I have yet to encounter a dancong that has aged that way.

[OCTO]

Saturday evening tea... 2018 MiLan Xiang.... sweet, aromatic and very long aftertaste. Medium roast. Getting better over time as the roast aroma recess and the after taste lingers longer and the bouquet of aroma opening up beautifully.

Cheers!!

[Brent D]

A recent session with some dc I received from global tea hut has sparked new interest in me. I have been buying occasionally from tea habitat. Just an ounce at a time, and having maybe 2-3 sessions a month.
I’d like to explore what other vendors we really trust on this stuff. The doping is so rampant.
Hojos integrity is impeccable, but I’ve never tried his.
Anyone tried seven cups?
How about postcard?
Any others we should have on a trusted dc vendors list?

[debunix]

I've tried Dan Cong two or three times from vendors besides TeaHabitat--vendors who have one or two teas labeled as Dan Cong but not given the whimsical names that come with the teas from TH, and never have been really thrilled with the result. They haven't been bad tea, just not brilliant stuff.

[Bok]

so... @OCTO came for tea to Taiwan - and brought this to share, see image.

We had:
2018 Duckshit Winter
2017 Snowflake Duckshit
2016 Duckshit

2016 Xinren Xiang
2016 Milan Xiang

1997 Wudong DanCong
1970s FengHuang DanCong

So in the space of a couple of hours I got to taste never before tasted pleasures. Never had so many *wow* effects in one go before!

I am still processing what happened this afternoon, and can not yet capture all the impressions and sensations into words, just wow! Confirms my impression that DC really is underrated compared to Yancha and that I knew nothing about it before today.

One anecdote I want to mention: The 70s could be called Mezcal Xiang in my opinion, it really has the fragrance of a good Mezcal! Surprising to say the least!

[debunix]

Wow, looks fabulous.

I love how different Dan Congs can be. I've never had Mezcal but I know that even though the fine Dan Congs from TeaHabitat are all very aromatic and share some degree of 'floral' quality, they are as different as the scent of a rose vs jasmine vs honeysuckle vs citrus flower vs buckwheat--there is a huge variety amongst them along with the strong commonalities.

[Victoria]

Pretty great Bok, allways nice to actually meet another member and share good teas. Like debunix said there is a lot of variety in DanCong. What I have found is it’s either great, or really crappy. Did you share any oolong with OCTO? I had a very good DaYuLing Sunday with a friend who just came back from Taiwan. Wanted to ask you +~what’s the price range in Taiwan for good DaYuLing?

[Bok]

Wow, looks fabulous.

I love how different Dan Congs can be. I've never had Mezcal but I know that even though the fine Dan Congs from TeaHabitat are all very aromatic and share some degree of 'floral' quality, they are as different as the scent of a rose vs jasmine vs honeysuckle vs citrus flower vs buckwheat--there is a huge variety amongst them along with the strong commonalities.

The aged ones were not recognisable as Dancong any longer. If I would have blind tasted it could also have been Yancha. Basically, once aged the whatever-xiang is gone and replaced by aged tea flavours. We were all cupping in a competition grade gaiwan. Those aged ones definitely would benefit of a matching clay pot to round of some of the edges.

[Bok]

@Victoria I can tell you none of those Octo brought were crappy They were all rather premium I would say.

Sadly, after this marathon (after DC we had Yancha) no time was left for Oolong...

Real DYL in Taiwan about 7000-10000 NTD per jin (600g) retail.

[OCTO]

Thank you @Bok for the mention and kind hospitality. Yes indeed we had an “explosive” afternoon... we started when the sun was still sunny and ended after the sun set.

Time was too short to finish all the other teas we had... the other half was giving a clear signal that gastronomical needs were knocking at the doors...

All tea were cupped using a simple white GaiWan approved for use in competitions held in China.

B22F8B38-8EC5-4885-A488-D9917FCB25F9.jpeg (187.58 KiB) Viewed 10874 times

@Victoria It’s always great to finally put a face to the online identity. It’s true to the core, forging friendship over a cup . One cup at a time.

Cheers!!

[Bok]

It’s true to the core, forging friendship over a cup . One cup at a time.

As many a cup as we had, that friendship will last more one lifetime!

I am slowly coming back to my senses, some impressions of the teas we had forming into words.

Worth mentioning is that the Duckshit from 2018 was literally only harvested a few days ago, that is about as fresh as it gets!
Very floral and in your face! For lack of better reference it very slightly reminded me of Baozhong.

Dear Octo had prepared a very diligent and educational tasting set, from the fresh harvest, almost green Dancong, over medium roast in different flavour profiles, to finlly the totally different aged Dancongs. Now I have the perfect reference tasting memory of how good quality DC should taste in its varied stages of being.

I did like all of them, if you would force me, I say I did love the medium roast the most and would need to further explore the aged ones with clay instead of porcelain to give the final verdict.

[OCTO]

Right, I've had fragranced teas that people ten feet away could smell! That's when you know you have a serious issue.

How about those dancong that have evolved into a dancong that can be smelled all over the room?

In 2016 have had some high grade medium roast dancong which came with very subtle aroma that evolved into an awesome bloom of aroma and fragrance after 12 months. I am still drinking it and it’s still getting better. Blossoming under proper storage condition.

My 2cents.

Cheers!

@Bok and I had some of this tea and it still amazes me until today how the tea is just getting better over time.

Cheers!!

[Bok]

Right, I've had fragranced teas that people ten feet away could smell! That's when you know you have a serious issue. :

I can confirm after that afternoon, that there are indeed completely natural teas that fill a whole room with delicious aromas! The only issue you have there is that you have a truly outstanding tea! Nothing fishy going on in the teas we had.

Even my rubbish bag was smelling wonderfully with all the spent leaves in it!!!

Outstanding.