Visiting Phoenix Village for Spring Oolong 2017 | HOJO Online Speciality Tea Shop

We were staying in Phoenix village in Chaozhou for sometime and sourcing the Phoenix Dan Cong. We would like to share some progresses we have made in this trip.

Generally Stronger After Taste

This year, the weather in Phoenix village was generally colder and less rain fall compared to previous years. We observed the similar trend in every production areaa in both China and Taiwan. Due to the cold weather, tea was growing slowly and the timing of plucking was delayed for about two to three weeks
The slow growing usually produces tea with longer lasting aftertaste. We noticed that tea is giving stronger after taste than regular year.
In making quality Phoenix Dan Cong, the continuous sunny days is one of the critical criteria before the production starts. Once rain, the manufacturer is forced to wait for another few continuous sunny days before they can start plucking. The sunny weather is very important in order to produce Phoenix Dan Cong with multi-layers of up-lifting flavors. Thanks to the less rain this year during plucking season, the flavor intensity was very satisfactory. In particular, I was very happy with Mi Lan Xiang. It was impressive quality. We managed to purchase both Nong Xiang (more firing and thicker flavor) and Qing Xiang (light and refreshing flavor) Mi Lan Xiang.

We bought a few types of Dan Zhu Phoenix Oolong

Dan Zhu means “the single bush tea”. Dan Zhu Phoenix oolong is collected from single tea tree. It is the most exclusive category out of Phoenix oolong.
We have booked a few old tea trees and managed to buy the tea accordingly. The quality was very impressive. It gives extremely long lasting flavor and taste. The taste of tea is soft and smooth.

We managed to buy Wen Zhong Dan Zhu again

One of the Dan Zhu teas we managed to purchase this year was “Wen Zhong”. This tea is produced from a famous tea tree and it’s one of the oldest tea trees been recorded in the Phoenix Dan Cong tea book. I suppose every villagers of Wu Dong Mountain knows this tree.
Initially my tea producer told us that he would not be able to buy Wen Zhong again this year. However, the miracle happened. In the very last minutes, Mr. Wen, the owner of Wen Zhong agreed to release it to my manufacturer.
In fact, the Wen Zhong tea tree was on the verge of death a few years ago. It was my manufacturer who helps Mr. Wen to salvage his tea tree. Thanks to his efforts, Mr. Wen’s tea tree revived and finally been saved. That was the reason Mr. Wen agreed to sell his fresh tea leaf to my manufacturer as a token of his gratitude. Initially Mr. Wen was reluctant to sell his tea again this year since the market price is increasing. But after long negotiation, he agreed to sell at last. However, Mr. Wen said he would release his tea in auction from next year onwards. I guess his tea will be more than 3 times as expensive as the current price. I suppose this would be the last year we could introduce Wen Zhong.

The old tea tree.

Ya Shi Xiang collected from two specific tea trees

Besides Dan Zhu oolong tea, we bought various kinds of interesting teas. For example, we have special Lao Cong Ya Shi Xiang produced from specifically selected two old tea trees.
We have Lao Cong Song Zhong produced from specifically selected three old tea trees. These teas are not from the single bush. But their quality is of extremely good since tea is from the specific old tree. We strongly recommend these teas as the price is not as high as Dan Zhu oolong,
In addition, we have also bought some of the lineup of entry teas. There are a several kinds of new Phoenix we are introducing this year. After the pesticide inspection is completed, the teas should be ready in about one month time.