Wu Dong Dan Chong

 

I got my Wu Dong dan chong from Ho Chi Minh Vietnam. The Chinese teashop was operated by Mr Kuek who hailed from Wu Dong China. His family members owned a tea farm in Wudong and he managed to get some Dan Chong shipped to him every year. 

Dan Chong from Wu Dong China are highly regarded by Chinese tea drinkers.  I managed to buy and bring home three grades sold by Mr Kuek. His family had named the 3 grades of dan chong as narcissus, eight fairies and silver bud. 

Readers would know I like my regular Fujuan oolongs strong. I would fill my teapot wth more than of the tea leaves before I commence my tea session. Not so with dan chong,   I have to use less leaves when I brew. Too much tea leaves would result in a strong bitter taste. My Malaysian tea master told me that I should use 1g for every 20ml capacity. (if a teapot is 100ml size, I should use 5g of tea). 

Dan chong oolong tea is so different from my usual fujian oolongs. The taste and aroma is so different.....almost like Taiwan high mountain tea. There is a nice bouquet of flowers and perfume. Long and oily mouthfeel. Aftertaste is very pleasant with a light sensation of nuts (like roasted chestnuts).  Easily good for 6 infusions from a tea session. 

An interesting tea. Worth a purchase.  

Sea Dyke Shui Jin Gui

 

Shui Jin Gui, aka water gold tortoise, oolong is one of the main oolongs produced in China. The 4 main oolongs, otherwise known as xi da ming cong, are Da Hong Pao, Tie Lo Han, Bai Ji Guan and Shui Jin Gui. Other well known oolongs you would be familiar would be Rougui and Shui Hsien. Yes there are many oolong varietal names and tea producing villages in Fujian, China might name their oolong with unique names to differentiate their tea. 

This tea is produced by Sea Dyke brand and came packed in a metal tin. This tin of Shui Jin Gui was produced in 2016.  Already with 10 years of storage, this tea is aromatic and fragrant. The tea is quite high roasted and has a decent mineral taste as well.  A value for money purchase. 

But I digress.  Many oolong tea drinkers had asked me how much  oolong I used for a tea session. There is no correct answer as during my tea travels, I noticed an extremely generous use of tea leaves filling the entire teapot for a tea session (in Ipoh, Malaysia) and while at a Hong Kong teashop, the owner filled half a teapot with tea leaves before he commenced the tea session.  I like my oolong strong and I will fill my teapot with leaves (more than half the teapot) for my tea session.