16 January, 2012

2011 Canton Tea "Dancong Black"

It must be said that I seldom drink dancong ["dan tsong"].  As with most Westerners, my primary introduction to this genre of Guangdong tea is via blogger-cum-teamerchant, Imen, at Tea Habitat.  If you like light, fruity wulong, then I find them to good for a pleasant session.


2011 Canton Tea Dancong Black


This sample, generously provided by Canton Tea Co. is a little different: it is a hongcha made from dancong. I completely adore hongcha, and so my senses are already tingling at the name of this intriguing experiment.

It must also be said that I am entirely against innovation simply for the sake of sales.  In so many modern restaurants, vineyards, and fromageries, it seems that people constantly make new products simply to appeal to the desire in the customer for "something new".  I'm all in favour of progress, but I frequently get the impression that much innovation occurs simply for its own sake, to drive sales.  Therefore, I approached the teatable with a healthy skepticism, ready to be proven wrong if this tea did indeed turn out to be an innovation in the name of progress.


2011 Canton Tea Dancong Black


The leaves are certainly dancong, as may be seen above.  Little information is available concerning their provenance, but we can probably assume that they come from the Fenghuangshan [phoenix mountain] range in Guangdong province, in order to be properly called dancong.

This is a fairly mighty tea.  Its dancong character lends it the unmistakeable fruitiness of lychee, while the chunky hongcha malt provides a strength and huskiness that is entirely complementary to the delicate femininity of the wulong.  It is a lovely little production.  

"This is a beautiful tea", comments Lei, as she pays it the ultimate, and uncommon, compliment of having a second cup.


2011 Canton Tea Dancong Black


Is there a sting in the tail for this charming blend of hongcha and dancong?  Perhaps only the price, which is currently £11/25g - equivalently, it is £165/375g (i.e., $263 for a bing-equivalent).  For that price, you could buy some seriously serious pu'ercha, probably at least 15 years old.  Would you prefer the latter, or a little hongcha-dancong hybrid (admittedly delicious, as it is)?  

I thoroughly enjoyed this tea session, and am grateful to Canton Tea for the sample, which I would otherwise never have encountered.  I can't imagine this flying off the shelves, but as I have observed before, perhaps Canton Tea are not selling to the likes of you and me, but to the great British public, who are perhaps more accustomed to paying high prices for small amounts of seemingly rarified goods.  Judging from the "comments" page for this product at the company's web-site, it seems to be well-received, despite the price.  As always, the choice is a personal one.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Black tea made from wulong varietal leaves tends to have the love-hate-WTH reactions that oxidised wild-leaf puer does.

I love the black oolongs that Houde offers, but see plenty of people who hated them. I bet plenty would see the dancong honcha as being an offense against black tea/oolong as well.

At the end of the day, the money spent on something like that, is probably better spent on a first flush darj (if you know what you're doing). $68-75/100g gets pretty close to out-of-this-world darj. It also gets a passable baihao as well.

--shah8

Hobbes said...

Now there's something I've not had in any serious measure lately: Darjeeling. Do you have any recommendations? Otherwise, I'll be googling my usual "Margaret's Hope"... :)

Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Jakub Tomek said...

Hi!
blogger-cum-teamerchant? 8-) Chum, maybe?

The photos are as beautiful as always and the tea seems quite interesting...hope to try it in future.
Good day to you!
Jakub

Anonymous said...

That price seems high. I know that in the spring of 2010, after an ice storm hit Mt Wu Dong, some tea farmers salvaged what was left of their crop by turning the otherwise damaged leaves into Hong Cha. This wasn't considered a good thing for the tea necessarily-- just a way to keep from totally losing it.

Ben

Elliot Knapp said...

Canton's got a business relationship going with Jing Tea Shop--though the shipping will probably take considerably longer, you might find this price more appealing!

Dinah said...

Beautiful photos to enhance the review! I have been thoroughly enjoying reading your reviews and eagerly anticipate more. I'm taking a few tips from the way you describe the teas to encourage my own reviewing capabilities (still in a fledgeling state).

Anonymous said...

If you want to pay too much for darj, http://www.mariagefreres.com/boutique/UK/welcome.html

is the place, as I'm not sure you can do better quality at any public place, so I gather...

More standard and good stuff can be had at
http://www.teaemporium.net/

http://www.thunderbolttea.com/

--shah8

Jakub Tomek said...

Hi Hobbes,
ad Darjeelings - we have a very nice store here which does not do chinese tea, but it does many others, Darjeeling is one of those, for which it is famous: http://www.teamountain.cz/cl/4/8/darjeeling

Google translate should help, or if you'd be interested in anything, just tell me and I'll translate it for you. The prices - $1 is about 20Kc.
Jakub

Hobbes said...

Good day, all, and thanks for the comments.

Jakub - thanks for the pointer to the Czech shop! I have never bought from a .cz before. :)

Shah - Thunderbolt Tea is somewhere I've bought from many years ago, and may do so again; thanks for the other links, too. (I'm always a little wary of paying for tea in Parisian teashops, mind you.)

Ben - I imagine that hongcha would be a good format in which to store a potentially vulnerable tea. Hongcha can age quite nicely, perhaps up to 10-15 years, given a good, strong leaf.

Elliot - I had forgotten the Jing Teashop link, with Seb and Jing. The latter used to be one of the few places to buy good pu'ercha, some years ago. It seems that they have been focussing on other things since then.


Toodlepip all,

Hobbes

Hobbes said...

Thanks for the kind words, Dinah - there's a dearth of active tea-writers out there, so do please point us to your writing!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Brett said...

I'm lucky enough to also have a small sample of this tea. I usually like any type of good, true tea regardless of where it was made but oolongs and blacks are what I drink the most of... so this tea is right up my alley. Yum!