How do you brew your phoenix Dan Cong?

Owes its flavors to oxidation levels between green & black tea.


User avatar
Jan 8th, '09, 12:53
Posts: 2044
Joined: Jan 11th, '07, 20:47
Location: Los Angeles, CA

by wyardley » Jan 8th, '09, 12:53

gingko wrote: I've seen this name on other pots. On this kind of shui ping, some other names are seen more. I always think these names on older pots are lovely. There isn't even biography info. for most of them. They were just workers (mostly women), not regarded as "artists", yet they made pots very carefully and seriously. Their mentors (elder workers) at that time, held high professional standards. 70s was the time when China was not a capitalism society yet and generally people at that time had very serious work ethics. Some commentators say, even though many of these pots are just made by factory workers, not as polished in craftsmanship as some artistically made pots, they just look lovely. Because at that time, when someone made a pot, she didn't label herself as an artist, didn't always think about market, price, customer preferences... They just made standard pots and were paid by the state-owned factory.
Some of these names are pretty famous now (and widely faked), and certainly authentic 'qing yin' pots by any of the makers who made that first batch in the early 70s should be worth quite a bit. I imagine at least some of them went on to greater fame later on.

In case it's interesting to anyone, the 4 lid seals (along with the family name of the potter in parenthesis) on that first batch should be (in traditional characters, and in hanyu pinyin below):
銀鳳(金).巧英(陸).梅雲(張).志琴(趙)
yín fèng (jīn), qiǎo yīng (liù), méi yún (zhāng), zhì qín (zhào)
There are also some with no lid seal.

What's worse, I think, is when they switched to just numbers, though I'm sure there's someone who knows who was what number.

User avatar
Jan 10th, '09, 18:23
Posts: 1777
Joined: Jun 4th, '08, 19:41
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Stockport, England
Contact: Herb_Master

by Herb_Master » Jan 10th, '09, 18:23

TIM wrote:
thanks wrote:Tim, you said most of the commercial grade DC is scented? Could you elaborate on this please?
When you go to Tea Plantations in Taiwan or China (Fujian or Guang Dong), you will find a lot of flowering plants or fruit trees surrounding the plantations. These flowers are purposely cultivated to provide a unique scents for that area. Most of the lower grade, young bushes DC are planted in lowland near the rivers, which the intensities will be washed out due to the amount of water content in the soil. Many commercial grade 5th and up are scented by these flowers during drying process, eg: Ginger flower, Magnolia flower, almond flower, etc.... These are consider the better ways, because is still natural. Even lower grade will use aromatic/artificial to enhance the fragrant.

You can taste it if you had enough bad tea imo. The first steeping will usually overpowering fragrant and will turn to immediate bitterness after the 3rd, leaving your mouth dry and uncomfortable.
I am glad you added these words! I think :x
Now I am getting a touch more proficient with my brewing skills, I may just be starting to question the credentials of my latest Dan Cong rather than my brewing.

User avatar
Jan 11th, '09, 07:52
Posts: 342
Joined: Jul 30th, '08, 02:24
Location: Cambridge, MA
Contact: xuancheng

by xuancheng » Jan 11th, '09, 07:52

Herb_master

have you had any of Imen's Dancongs? You should try her songzhong#6 for a really nice one, or ask Wyardley for some requests. She has some nice stuff.
茶也醉人何必酒?

User avatar
Jan 11th, '09, 14:09
Posts: 1777
Joined: Jun 4th, '08, 19:41
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Stockport, England
Contact: Herb_Master

by Herb_Master » Jan 11th, '09, 14:09

xuancheng wrote:Herb_master

have you had any of Imen's Dancongs? You should try her songzhong#6 for a really nice one, or ask Wyardley for some requests. She has some nice stuff.
I had just sent an EMail to Imen enquiring about placing an overseas order for some. I had come to the conclusion that this was the best way that I would be sharing like for like comparison notes with so many of the more experienced DanCong drinkers on the forum.

The ones I enquired about ordering did not include a 'Song' I did not notice any in her 'current stocks' on TeaObession. Nor, now that I look do I see one in the TeaHabitat list!

Thanks for the encouragement.

User avatar
Jan 12th, '09, 12:13
Vendor Member
Posts: 1990
Joined: Apr 4th, '06, 15:07
Location: NYC
Contact: TIM

by TIM » Jan 12th, '09, 12:13

xuancheng wrote:Herb_master

have you had any of Imen's Dancongs? You should try her songzhong#6 for a really nice one, or ask Wyardley for some requests. She has some nice stuff.
Xuancheng-Have you had this #6 before? Could you tell me more about it, taste, smell...etc? Thanks in advance. T

+ Post Reply