A Tea Addict's Journal

I tried my new dancong pot today with the dancong I opened. This tea is one of my favourites, and I really ought to get more of it. I got it from the Best Tea House in Hong Kong. Dancong 單欉 literally means “single bush”, and is a Guangdong oolong. It is wiry in nature, and it can sometimes look awfully like a Wuyi oolong, which is also wiry. They smell different, so that is the most reliable way to tell them apart. Here’s a picture of the tea

It looks awfully heavy, as if it’s going to taste really strong, but the brew itself actually comes out surprisingly light, and the tea leaves, when wet, exhibit a nice shade of green rather than a strong, heavy red. The tea brews a golden colour, with a brownish tinge (so unlike a Taiwan oolong that will come out golden yellow with a little green). The fragrance is overpowering — you can smell it from a mile away, and this particular one is sort of honey like, very sweet smelling. It tastes like that too, but has a little bite to it, and goes down very smooth, full bodied. I love this tea. I should get more of it when I go back to Hong Kong.

Here’s the new pot:

Today’s tea came out slightly weak, since I am still getting used to the pot and misjudged the amount of tea I should put in. Next time it should be better.