Ya-Ya’s Tea-Board

As I hinted at in my last post, we have recently received a few new teas and I have experimented rather excessively with some of them. On the top of my experimentation list was an exquisite organic Phoenix oolong from Guandong Province, China. Phoenix oolongs (named after their production area, the ‘Phoenix Mountains’), also known as Feng Huang Dancong, are a unique class of oolongs that comprises around 80 different strains of tea trees. They are very special in that each batch is made of the leaves from only one single tea tree (dan cong in Chinese), unblended and pure.

Dan Cong oolongs are often oxidized to a medium level and usually undergo a number of roasting steps to create and fix the floral/fruity aromas they are so famous for. Dan Congs are grouped according to their fragrance or flavour (like ‘orchid fragrance’, ‘ginger flower fragrance’ or ‘almond flavour’), while their individual names are either a variation of the aroma group they belong to (like ’snow orchid’ or ‘orange blossom’) or denote the tree(s) they are harvested from. The latter is the case for our Ba Xian Dan Cong or ‘Eight Immortals Phoenix Oolong’. Its name symbolizes the eight surviving tea trees that were cloned from the oldest tea trees on the mountain (which, in turn, are a symbol for the legendary Eight Immortals in Chinese mythology).

But while the origin of this tea is interesting, it is the tea’s aroma and flavour that most people - me included - are interested in. Well, let me preface this description by saying that this tea is so full of apparent contradictions, that it really keeps your mind occupied. As I mentioned above, this oolong is an outstanding example of a high quality Dan Cong. The fragrance that greets you when you open the bag is overwhelming, a mixture of the fruitiness of peaches and a complex floral bouquet that’s hard to pinpoint. The leaves are very long and slender, slightly twisted and beautiful.
Sniffing the infusion during the first steep reveals an even more intensive version of the aroma mix the dry leaves suggested. The infusion is of a surprising pale colour, much clearer than many other Dan Congs I’ve tried before. But don’t be fooled, this is part of one of the contradictions of this tea. Looking at the pale infusion, one expects a relatively mild and subtle flavour but you’re greeted with an intensiv flavour that delivers strongly on all the promises the aroma made. Peach and tropical fruit (lychee?) are mixed with the most beautiful floral notes, all balanced with a nice level of astringency. Another contradiction of this tea is the seeming oxymoron of being at the same time intensely flavoured and ethereal. Until now, I would have said that these two terms are mutually exclusive, but somehow, they are magically unified in this Dan Cong. The second and third infusions are probably the most flavourful, but the tea is going strong still after about 6-7 infusions.

Well, in the title, I hinted on a note about the role of water in tea preparation. Much has been written about the importance of water for tea preparation. Bloggers exchanging their water tasting notes regarding suitability for certain teas (think: Volvic or Evian for aged pu-erh?), semi-scientific experiments regarding the correlation between tea flavour and mineral content, etc.
While I have experienced many of these differences first hand before, they were often so subtle that only side-by-side tasting could determine the better suited water. In short, the differences were usually too small for me to bother. This is partially related to having our base here in Christchurch, arguably the city with the best tap water in New Zealand (or maybe the world?). The truth is, most of our teas reach a potential here in conjunction with the local tap water that I can only hope our customers in other parts of the country are fortunate enough to experience.

But our organic Ba Xian Dan Cong was a great teacher and determined to teach me a lesson or two about the importance of the ‘right’ water (and brewing vessel). While every session I had with this tea resulted in a pleasant tea time, some of these were truly ‘out of this world’ while others were merely pleasant. As luck had it, I started my acquaintance with this oolong through one of these rare & special sessions where everything was just right and the tea and I harmonized perfectly. Intuitively, I had done the right thing: I heated the water in my cast iron tetsubin and did the first few steepings with (nearly) boiling water and very short infusions of 15 sec or so in a glass gaiwan. Dan Congs have a tendency to get bitter when steeped for too long or with too much leaf, but the resulting tea was just perfect! The aroma and flavour was as strong and sweet as I have ever had it and the entire session resulted in me being blissed out for the rest of the day.
My second attempt was almost disappointing in comparison with the first one. This time, I had heated the water in a stainless steel kettle and brewed the tea in one of my Yixing pots. This combination didn’t work very well: the aroma and flavours were much weaker, a mere shadow of what I had experienced before.

What could be the reason for this difference? I attribute the majority on the kettle and a smaller portion to a less suitable Yixing pot. The (unlined) cast iron kettle added something to the water the stainless steel kettle couldn’t provide. My theory was supported by further experiments, in which I used water that was slightly enriched in minerals. This really brought out the ethereal qualities of the tea! Dan Congs generally prefer a slightly more alkaline water with ideal pH between about 7.4 and 8 and Christchurch water is ideally suited with a pH of 7.8. I have since tried to brew this Dan Cong in a few other Yixing pots, some yielding better results than others but none so far were notably better than my standard glass gaiwan.

I learned from this experience how important it is do some playful experimentation (a recommendation that was beautifully elaborated in the Gong Fu Tips with Master Ling Ping Piang, Pt. 2 in issue 3 of The Leaf magazine).

You can try some of our organic ‘Ba Xian Dan Cong‘, it is  $9.70 / 20g sample or $36.40 / 100g (If you’d like to buy some, please visit our ordering page)

Tags [ oolong | dancong | dan cong | eight immortals | ba xian ]