Collection: Guangdong 広東省

One Town, One Tea

Guangdong's tea growing is concentrated in Fenghuang, a town in the city of Chaozhou. The Phoenix Dan Cong oolong made there is counted among China's three great oolongs, and is known for a dense, lingering finish and for aromas that differ sharply from one cultivar to the next.

The Aroma Is the Name

Dan Cong cultivars are named after the aroma they carry. Mi Lan Xiang, Jiang Hua Xiang, Gui Hua Xiang, Zhi Lan Xiang, Xing Ren Xiang — each name describes the shape of that bush's fragrance. Even within Fenghuang, the age of the tree and the altitude change how concentrated the tea tastes. Teas made from lao cong, bushes over a hundred years old, are judged less on aroma than on how long the aftertaste stays.

Village by Village

Fenghuang divides further. Wu Dong Shan, Feng Xi, Ding Dong Jiao, Gui Zhu Hu, Ping Keng Tou and Da An each sit at a different altitude on different soil, and each village gives the tea its own character. Elevations run from roughly 600 m to 1,200 m; the higher the garden, the tighter the aroma and the longer the finish tends to be.

Why We Can Offer Single Tree Tea

We travel to Fenghuang every year and select tea piece by piece at the farmhouse where it was processed. That is the only reason single tree tea — tea made from one bush alone — is possible for us. A 250 or 300 year old tree may yield only a few hundred grams in a season, and tea like that never reaches a wholesaler's list.