Ya shi xiang (鸭屎香), or “duck shit fragrance” is likely the dancong oolong with the best name. There are several theories regarding the origin of this tea’s name, but one tale in particular prevails.

A commonly held origin tale is that there was a farmer who had this tea bush with an especially unique fragrance. It was quite popular, and thus many outsiders wanted to steal the bush in order to grow their own. To throw the scent off, so to speak, the farmer started claiming that his ducks would spend a lot of time around this bush, doing duck things – like pooping. He then claimed the tea and soil it grows in was ruined and tainted. This clearly deterred no one, and has only since become a part of this tea’s identity.

There are other simpler theories and tales, but in the end, they’re just that – stories. The important take-away is that this varietal has a very distinct, floral fragrance. In recent years, tea associations in China have tried to clean up the image of this tea by assigning a more sanitized name: “silver flower”, albeit with little to no real success.

Our Spring 2016 Ducktale ya shi xiang dancong comes from old bushes (50+ years old) on Wudong Shan in the Fenghuang tea mountains and is grown at high altitude (1000+ meters). These environmental factors play an enormous role in producing one of the best dancongs we’ve tasted.

This light roasted tea carries its signature fragrance, without being overly perfumed. The other most noticeable feature is an exceptional mouthfeel. The liquor is very smooth and rolls in the mouth, coating down through the throat. In the end there is a milky aftertaste, which is also very noticeable when smelling your empty cup or gaiwan lid after brewing.

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