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Dear Leo,
I’m Gabriele, the founder of http://www.nannuoshan.org
The question I’m struggling with is: “How to clearly recognize a bouquet from a Classic?”
I was puzzled when I read on teaguardian about the two groups of Phoenix, namely Classic and Bouquet. I never noticed the differentiation among the Phoenix I had; and I have been drinking them for quite a while.Are those named like orchids and flowers certainly Bouquet styled? Thinking of Milan, Zhilan, Guihua, Huangzhi Xiang… What about Xing Ren?
On the contrary is Hudi Laocong a Classic Fenghuang Dancong?
Thanks a lot for you time!
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This is a much more complex question to answer than a simple yes and no.
Traditionally there are two kinds of Phoenix, namely Qing Xiang and Shu Xiang, ie fresh fragrance and ripe fragrance. Fresh fragrance refers to those varieties with distinct floral ( in the Chinese sense of the word, meaning blooming flower types of fragrance ) and fresher kinds of taste profiles. Traditionally varieties such as baxian ( eight immortals ), zilan, yulan, etc belong to this category.
Ripe fragrance refers to those varieties that are baked more deeply to render the characteristically classic Phoenix oolong type of ripen fruit, honey or baked sweet potato types of aroma and a sweeter liquor. Traditionally milan, qunti, mi xiang etc belong to this category.
The grand Phoenix oolong specialist Huang Bozi further differentiates by creating the the nut taste category ( eg xingren xiang ) and pure category ( eg zhuye dancong ).
Developments in recent decades have further given rise to more varieties, but they are basically classifiable under these categories.
The most confusing part in this concept lies not in the conceptual arena but in how certain producers and wholesalers have manipulated the idea to conveniently market their products.
I was just talking to an old producer yesterday about how some sellers deceptively put grand names on ordinary products. A big name is always a big push for anything. Buyers from all over the country lined the single lane winding road in the Phoenix region trying to get the best batches. Manipulation of concepts and facts begins there. Half finished tealeaves from all round the region come through the back doors of the farmers/producers to make up for the greater demand than volume. This is only the beginning…
The resultant condition is a market with confusing understanding of what quality a certain label represents. Certainly there is also the universal condition of a huge range of quality grade under the same variety.
As a result, there can be countless kinds of quality for one single label, e.g. Milan Xiang, in the market, all tasting differently. Which category it belongs to is but one of the many puzzles. Even some wholesalers ( or claimed farmers ) have not tasted a genuine one themselves and believe, or want to believe, what they are selling is the real one.
Such is the condition for Phoenix oolong. Similar things applies to most other teas. Manipulation of the concept and muddling of the truth works for those who control the larger share of the market and have the resources to propagate myths to their commercial advantage.
BTW, for all the time I have been working with people in the Fenghuang area, I have not heard of a Hudi Laocong. A laocong basically means an old bush. How it is best processed has nothing to do with whether it is old or not, but the cultivar.
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Thank you Leo for the full explanation. The more I read about and taste tea, the complex it gets!
I tasted the Hu Wei Laocong produced by the author of this book (sorry, I misspelled it “Hu Di” in my previous post):
In spring I tasted several of his teas in his tea atelier in Chaozhou and brought a few samples back home, like the Hu Wei Laocong:
It was one if his most expensive Fenghuang Dancong. Did he make fun of me?
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I am sorry to have to tell you this: Huwei is within the city boundary of Chaozhou on the south. The Phoenix region (Fenghuang Shan) is one hour and some north of Chaozhou, way outside the city. Better production areas are much deeper into the mountains.
The kind of books you have in the picture abounds in China. They are all basically advertisements in the disguise of the book form. One of the four characters of the book title is a typo.
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Fortunately I didn’t buy any tea from him, although I knew he is quite popular.
I heard an experienced tea hunter praising him, so I though it’s worth a try. Tasted tea all afternoon long and at the end left without any purchase. To me the tea was too pricy and I had no good feeling speaking to him.Then I went to Fenghuangzhen. I spent some days there and in Wudong, until I find what I hope is real Fenghuang Dancong. But, well, you never know.
I should follow the farmers on the field, pick the leaves with them and follow the processing. Only this way I can be sure of the origin. Next time.
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I realize this is a very old post, yet I would like to ask a question in regard the book discussed above. One of the authors of it is said to be Huang Bozi. I guess that would be the ‘grand Phoenix oolong specialist’ Mr. Kwan mentioned. I also saw the very same book in photo by Akira Hojo from HOJO tea. So are we sure the book is not legit?
Also, the typo in the book title, is it supposed the be 丛 (欉) instead of 枞 (樅) ? I thought they are both routinely used variants. Even your teahong.com uses them interchangeably in names of different dancongs.
Thought I’ve encountered an opinion that the dancong should use character 丛 (欉) whereas the ‘cong’ in laocong is supposed the be 枞 (樅).
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Hello Henry,
丛 is the simplified version of the character 叢, which means a lot of something existing together. The original character for dancong can be either 單欉 or 單樅. 欉 and 樅 are old variations of the same word. There are a number of old Chinese characters like this. Both of these two variations are 枞 when written in the simplified form.
In the current condition in China, old famous people are often asked to lend their names for various applications for a fee, or a favour. In some situation it is hard to refuse because the request can be from someone with other influence. It is a sad social reality there. I shall photograph the real book that Mr Huang himself wrote and post it on Facebook in a day or two, such that you know what the real stuff looks like.
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Hi, thx for the response even in case of such a old post.
I actually made a mistake when I wrote the question because I was copying characters of teahong.com and missed the fact that the other character your site uses has a ‘mu’ component in the 欉. I intended to write 丛 (叢). 欉 is actually a variant I see for a first time.
So my point I was trying to make is that I encounter 单丛 on regular basis.
Later I found that even Wikipedia entry on Dancongs in Chinese, addresses this issue of different character usage:
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%87%A4%E5%87%B0%E5%8D%95%E4%B8%9BMy Chinese is so entry level I can’t really satisfyingly translate it. But they quote this article as a source:
https://www.chunshechayi.com/?p=83But I assume you don’t agree with their position. As for me, I don’t have a horse in this. I am just glad, I got a chance to learn some more, thanks to your articles and willingness to answer my questions. 🙂
Also, I would love the see the book Mr. Huang wrote. Thank you for that as well.
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