Musings on Dancong…

[Brent D]

Enjoying a relaxing Sunday evening with Hojo’s 2018 Phoenix Oolong MiLan Nong Xiang.

Cheers!!

What was your opinion on this tea? I was just about to contact Hojo about getting some.

[Elise]

A lovely relaxing Friday afternoon tea. Phoenix wulong from a Chinese friend.

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[teaformeplease]

I've really enjoyed Wuyi Origin's dancongs. Last night I tried the Fan Shu Xiang, sweet potato fragrance. It was quite a bit more roasted and savory than other dancongs I've tried. There was definitely a sweet yammy quality to it, which I'm sure is where the name came from

[Tillerman]

I've really enjoyed Wuyi Origin's dancongs. Last night I tried the Fan Shu Xiang, sweet potato fragrance. It was quite a bit more roasted and savory than other dancongs I've tried. There was definitely a sweet yammy quality to it, which I'm sure is where the name came from

Interesting, I am drinking that one right now. This tea is dan cong leaf but, according to what Cindy told me, was finished using Wuyi techniques.

[dyungim]

I've really enjoyed Wuyi Origin's dancongs. Last night I tried the Fan Shu Xiang, sweet potato fragrance. It was quite a bit more roasted and savory than other dancongs I've tried. There was definitely a sweet yammy quality to it, which I'm sure is where the name came from

Interesting, I am drinking that one right now. This tea is dan cong leaf but, according to what Cindy told me, was finished using Wuyi techniques.

@Tillerman have you ever tried Hojo's nong xiang dancongs and if so, how would they compare to dancongs you've tried from Cindy / Wuyiorigin?

[Tillerman]

@dyungim, no, I've not tried the Hojo teas. Are there some you recommend?

[dyungim]

dyungim, no, I've not tried the Hojo teas. Are there some you recommend?

Unfortunately I cannot personally recommend any in particular (EDIT: because I have not tried them myself, not because they are bad or anything), I just thought the nong xiang type ones might fit your bill if you liked Cindy's fan shu xiang. The processing is probably not the same but they both share extended roasting relative to a lot of DCs available.

[Tillerman]

dyungim, no, I've not tried the Hojo teas. Are there some you recommend?

Unfortunately I cannot personally recommend any in particular, I just thought the nong xiang type ones might fit your bill if you liked Cindy's fan shu xiang. The processing is probably not the same but they both share extended roasting relative to a lot of DCs available.

I enjoyed Cindy's tea very much; it was an interesting experiment. Nonetheless, I must admit to enjoying traditionally made DC most of the time.

[dyungim]

dyungim, no, I've not tried the Hojo teas. Are there some you recommend?

Unfortunately I cannot personally recommend any in particular, I just thought the nong xiang type ones might fit your bill if you liked Cindy's fan shu xiang. The processing is probably not the same but they both share extended roasting relative to a lot of DCs available.

I enjoyed Cindy's tea very much; it was an interesting experiment. Nonetheless, I must admit to enjoying traditionally made DC most of the time.

Ah interesting. It seems like you have tried a fair number of Cindy's teas (Fan shu xiang, Xingren xiang, lao cong milanxiang).

In general, do you prefer more or less oxidized dancongs?

And if you have some time, would you mind to compare those three dancongs in terms of:
-oxidation
-roast
-cong wei
-mineral (yan zhi yan wei)
-savory/umami
-fruit
-floral
-woody and/or mossiness
-"ripeness"
-sweetness
-bitterness
-smoothness
-thickness
-depth
-soup color
-brewed leaf color
-cha qi (if you notice this)

[John_B]

Not to try to interrupt the flow of this discussion, but someone just asked an interesting question related to dan cong style. They are familiar with more oxidized and more roasted versions as originally being from the Chaozhou area, and I wondered how that fits in with others' experiences.

I've tried a number of Cindy's versions, and a limited range of other dan cong versions across different quality levels. I'm really not familiar at all with the idea that hers (Wuyi Origin's) are produced using wuyi yancha processing techniques; I'm curious about what that means. Both level of oxidation and roast seem moderate, comparable to what I'd expect from a standard style, so it could relate to that (and I'm just not getting it), or to a difference in rolling approach, or something else.

I just discussed this with an authority on dan congs (not Cindy), and that person offered that higher levels of oxidation or roast are common enough back in China but represent lower quality examples that don't optimize leaf potential. As with Wuyi Yancha heavier roast can be used to mask flaws. Oxidation level term use or variation here isn't necessarily a tight range; that could vary a lot within a low or medium range, or those could be seen differently. The pattern of leaf edges being oxidized differently from the inner section in dan cong (versus Wuyishan oolongs) relates to a processing step cause I'm not familiar with. Surely there are other processing step differences I'm not familiar with; I'm just a tea drinker, not producer.

It would be nice if someone could shed more light on all this. To be clear I've not had many other examples of dan cong versions comparable to Cindy's in quality level; only one example comes to mind. It really is possible that I've not tried the highest quality level of examples, a theme that keeps repeating across every tea type range. Even if I had retaining experience and understanding generalities, and then translating all that to immediate judgement, are all a bit uncertain related to my own exposure and experience. I don't even aspire to be some sort of tea expert, across any scope. If these comments seemed to imply that I might be in some sense that wasn't intended.

[Tillerman]

I've tried a number of Cindy's versions, and a limited range of other dan cong versions across different quality levels. I'm really not familiar at all with the idea that hers (Wuyi Origin's) are produced using wuyi yancha processing techniques; I'm curious about what that means. Both level of oxidation and roast seem moderate, comparable to what I'd expect from a standard style, so it could relate to that (and I'm just not getting it), or to a difference in rolling approach, or something else.

@John_B, the reference to "finishing in a Wuyi style" applies only to one particular tea (the Fan Shu Xiang) and the information comes directly from Cindy. It was an experiment that they tried (with very interesting results, I think) Her other DC teas (made by her husband's family) are traditional DC and are very good.

[John_B]

John_B, the reference to "finishing in a Wuyi style" applies only to one particular tea (the Fan Shu Xiang) and the information comes directly from Cindy. It was an experiment that they tried (with very interesting results, I think) Her other DC teas (made by her husband's family) are traditional DC and are very good.

Interesting! I can ask her about it but she seems a bit busy at present.

Whenever I do hear of tea processing details at first it all seems relatively simple but then as more layers of detail come up it seems quite complicated. For example, I always wondered why teas are baked or roasted multiple times, how this changes results in relation to giving them one longer roast. I get the impression there are finer levels of variations related to all the steps that would only be clear and meaningful if someone actually had experienced tea processing, which I haven't.

It's nice that there are details like oxidation level that do lend themselves to being simpler. Even for that there are probably variations that are not typically considered by consumers, like variations within different leaves, and differing effects from rolling / bruising step inputs.