Was excited for this one, I mean it’s a great name—duck shit! I read about brewing dan cong oolong and there seem to be two ways of doing it based on an article from Verdant Tea: Guangdong-style brewing and Wuyi-style. I opted for the former and steeled myself for the allegedly intense, bitter flavors. I filled the gaiwan to the top with leaves (~10g), quickly washed it with boiling water, then steeped for 30s + 5s for 5-6 infusions. Hmmm. It’s very possible I messed up with this approach because the bitterness was maybe too forward, to the detriment of other flavors. Perhaps a shorter initial brewing time, or perhaps a little less than boiling water would help. I will say, with the amount of bitterness I tasted I expected more astringency to accompany it, but there was only a little, mostly on the second infusion, and it wasn’t unpleasant. The floral notes and natural sweetness came out more after that. I’ll try the other style next time, then maybe come back to this and experiment some more. I would appreciate some guidance with this one!
Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Char, Floral, Honey, Mineral, Peach, Wood
