A Happy New Year!
I am Akira Hojo from HOJO TEA SHOP. You are receiving this email because you have registered on our email list when you visited my shop at The Gardens Mall in Mid Valley City, Kuala Lumpur or you have registered on our mailing list on the website.
In year 2010, we visited Phoenix Town in Chao Zhou City, Guang Dong province of China in quest of Phoenix Oolong teas.
In China, Phoenix oolong is one of the 3 major oolong teas. Another two is Wu Yi Rock Tea in Wuyi Mountain and Anxi Tie Guan Yin; both from Fujian Province. In particular, Wu Yi Rock tea is very popular and generally recognized as the king of Chinese oolong. On the other hand, Phoenix Oolong keeps relatively a low profile. There are very few people who know much about Phoenix oolong.
Although Phoenix Oolong is not as famous as Wuyi tea, I absolutely believe that its quality is outstanding. In addition, the price for phoenix oolong is much lower than Wuyi tea thanks to the fact that this tea is less famous in tea market. I feel it is my obligation to introduce such a great tea to my customer through this newsletter.
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Oldest Oolong in the Asian History
Phoenix Oolong has far longer history than Wuyi oolong. The oldest tea tree found in the Phoenix Mountain is as old as 900 years old. Wuyi oolong was developed at much later stage than Phoenix Oolong, about 400 years ago.
In addition, tea cultivar of phoenix oolong is very similar to the type that produces Wuyi Rock Tea in Wuyi Mountain. Considering that both mountains are situated not very far in distance, some people assume that Wuyi tea tree was originally brought to Fujian from Phoenix Mountain about 400 years ago.
If you have ever visited Phoenix Mountain, you will notice that Phoenix Mountain is as rocky as Wuyi Mountain. After all, Phoenix Oolong is supposed to be very closely related to Wuyi tea.
Learn More About Phoenix Oolong Tea>>
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Tea bush planted on the slope of Phoenix Mountain.
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I noticed that a lot of my customers often call Phoenix Oolong as "Dan Cong Tea". In fact, the name "Dan Cong" refers to semi-wild bush that grows independently in the mountain. The meaning of Dan Cong is opposite to Garden Tea. In ordinary tea garden, tea trees are planted in a column and the trees are trimmed regularly in order to maintain the desired height, shape and size. As for Dan Cong, these trees are unattended and not to mention that trimming is not conducted at all. The similar terms in English for "Cong" should be "Bush", while "Dan" means single or specific. In fact, the high end Wuyi tea is also supposed to be made from Dan Cong (single bush).
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As a matter of fact, majority of Phoenix Oolong teas available in market, including even most of phoenix oolong tea being sold in Phoenix town, are made of garden teas. It is produced from very young tree and usually blending is carried out in a large scale in order to even out the quality of the whole lot. The characteristics of those garden teas are completely different from Dan Cong Tea. It gives a strong aroma, yet it does not have a thick and long lasting taste or rich flavor. The aroma travels up through the upper part of nostril and it is lack of lasting flavor and very weak in after taste. On the other hand, Authentic Dan Cong tea gives a long lasting after taste that travels deep down the throat, its flavor lingers for more than half an hour and sweetness stays for a whole day. If you ever tasted a genuine Phoenix Dan Cong Tea, you can definitely tell the difference.
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Due to no trimming is conducted at all, the branches grow into different directions. The outlook of tea bush is just like some kind of native plants found in the mountain.
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Wu Dong Shan is surrounded by plenty of rocks. Tea bushes grow in between the rocks. |
Despite Phoenix Dan Cong tea is of outstanding quality, it is not a well known tea among tea drinkers. On the contrary, Wuyi oolong is so famous. I assume it would be due to the cultural difference between Min-Nan (闽南)people and Chao Zhou people. The Min-Nan people of Fujian decent are traditionally very good at trading. In addition, their offspring sailed and migrated to many countries around the world, as we know in history. Today, a lot of Chinese residents in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia are descendants of Min-Nan people. On the other hand, Chao Zhou people are more conservative and homebound people. This could have been a reason why fewer people outside Chao Zhou city have the chance to know such excellent tea. We would like to put more effort and time on this tea and wish to increase the lineup from time to time. That means we will have to travel to Phoenix town more often in years to come.
Learn More About Phoenix Oolong Tea>>
We are looking for retail staffs who can work at HOJO outlet.
Work location: Kuala Lumpur, Mid Valley, The Gardens Mall or Office at Desa Sri Hartamas
http://www.hojotea.com/info_e/profilee.htm
1. Working Experience: Not required in particular. Fresh graduate are encouraged to apply.
2. Malaysia residence
3. Language: Able to write and speak both in English and Chinese
4. Able to work 2-4 days on week day
5. Salary RM1800 and above upon confirmation.
If you are interested, please send us a resume at following email address:
New Product Introduction
We are introducing a few
limited selections of "Phoenix Dan Cong".
Learn More About Phoenix Oolong Tea>>
Phoenix Oolong Mi Lan Xiang
Phoenix Oolong Mi Lan Xiang is the most popular and well-known Phoenix Oolong among tea drinkers. The reason why it is so popular is that this tea gives an unimaginably pleasant flavor identical to fruits. Because of its fruitiness, many customers who had tried this tea for the first time usually mistaken Mi Lan Xiang as a flavored tea.
>>Read More
Phoenix Song Zhong
Phoenix Oolong Song Zhong (Song Zhong in short) was planted since Song dynasty. The tea tree was crossbreed from Shui Xian cultivar as the mother tree. Because of that, Song Zhong has very similar character to Shui Xian.
This tea is produced without excessive firing process and no additional maturation is carried out. Thus it gives an overwhelming fruity flavor that reminds us of fresh peach, apricot or mango. Because of its very appealing fresh fruity flavor, there are many fans of Song Zhong in China. This tea is also the most popular Phoenix Oolong in my tea shop in KL as well.
>>Read More
Phoenix Oolong Shui Xian
This tea is produced from the tea tree aged 500 years old. Shui Xian is a very common tea and most of the Shui Xian available in tea market is heavily roasted. This Shui Xian may completely change your perception of Shui Xian tea. Tea is not deeply roasted and thus it gives a fruity after taste.
Thanks to the premium material used, it gives an extremely deep after taste. It goes far deep down the throat and sweetness stays for a very long time. Try to have a cup of water after drinking Shui Xian, you will be surprised that water now tastes very sweet too. Phoenix Shui Xian is my favorite oolong.
Phoenix Oolong Mi Hua Xiang
For the tea connoisseurs, we bring you this very exquisite competition prize awarded tea.
This tea won the first prize in China's national tea competition. This tea is not available for commercial market even in China. The manufacturer produced this tea and it is kept as a gift tea for VIPs or dignitaries. We only managed to get a very limited quantity after spending long time with the manufacturer for a better understanding of their qualities.
We have more number of Phoenix Dan Cong Tea available in our outlet. Considering its exceptional quality, we should not miss this tea during up-coming festive season.
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Phoenix Song Zhong |
