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I remember Leo did a special on Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong, which is itself not a common or inexpensive tea.
Evidently, there is one rarer made from the same leaves: http://hojotea.com/en/posts-45/
It’s a hongcha made from the same stock, evidently as an experiment.
M.
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Three years ago when it happened it was due to an extreme fluctuation of weather, when it was warm in late March and early April so the leaves were growing faster than normal. Before they were ready for plucking a frost suddenly came to kill almost all shoots and young leaves. After the weather normalised young leaves on the whole mountains sprouted and opened almost simultaneously. Production through put speed could never have catch up for such an influx. Those leaves that were plucked but could not be processed in time simply got laid there to wither. The only tea processing these poor leaves could go through was that of the black, although none of the production masters there were proficient in it. Nor were they properly set up for it. That is why the black tea coming out that year were not properly rolled like other black teas and the fermentation depths were not even. I had a few samples of those even now. They are a constant reminder of how fragile agriculture is, and what miracles those fine quality teas actually are. When I witness the power of Nature over whatever human intelligence, experience or mastery, I can’t help but feel humble and grateful of whatever I am able to enjoy.
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Yeah, I’d taken “Dancong” to be a buzzword. I haven’t seen those pictures yet, though, I need to take a look tonight.
I wonder if it would be worth any of the region’s time to have backups in place if particular circumstances dictate that the regular crop isn’t going to pan out in a certain year. For all we know, had the processors been able to perform a more regular hongcha style processing, it could have been the next best thing.
Do stocks of this still find their way around? It sounds like something I’d be interested in.
M.
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A vast majority of what is called dan cong in the market, particularly in the west, is produced outside of the Phoenix region, if that is the back up you talk about. As for Phoenix hong cha, it would be unwise for farmers in the authentic region to turn their produce into hong cha rather than their traditional oolong, in production management consideration, as well as cost effectiveness terms. A few other neighbouring regions have been traditional hong cha producers.
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