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‘Song Varietal’ Dan Cong Oolong Tea

Sitting at the table on this lazy Friday afternoon wondering which tea to drink. Some thing interesting perhaps? Reaching into my over spewing sample box I take a rummage from somewhere near to the bottom. ‘Song Varietal autumn 2018’ why haven’t I tried this one yet?? It must have escaped me! This Dan Cong is a super interesting tea with a great backstory. In the Phoenix Mountains of Guangdong is Phoenix Village which is home to 4 original tea bushes of this varietal from the ‘Song Dynasty’ (have you heard this kind of story before?). Well, usually in the tea world a great story comes at a great price! I’m not even going to contemplate on how much 10g of genuine Song leafs will cost 😬 even if one could manage to acquire some. This Oolong comes from a bush that has its ancestral-trail directly back to those very bushes! The taste is roasty, similar to an Wuyi oolong and for good reason, the Song varietal is actually a naturally occurring hybrid of ‘Shui Xian’ a Wu Yi Oolong. Classic Perfume like Dan Cong notes with long aftertaste, smooth texture and highly aromatic . Early steeps really do remind you of a laid back version of Da Hong Pao…with a  DC twist!   I’d say on the whole it’s a great version of Dan Cong and worth a spin from anyone wanting to explore this genre of tea. ‘Price wise’ a Song Varietal Dan Cong is still on the expensive side but no way near the wallet walloping cost that the original bushes will hit you for. Expect around £22.50 / £27.50 per 100g from us for something like this from us. I’m a bit late for the bus on this particular batch 😔 and other Spring versions of Song we have tried haven’t been hard hitting enough for us. When we come across a worthy enough candidate for the store we will be grabbing some! Watch this space 👀 

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