LIN'S DUCK | dancong oolong

LIN'S DUCK is a dancong oolong from the Lin family in Chaozhou, Guangdong, China. This is our second production of ya shi xiang (colloquially known as "duck shit") after our first was so warmly received. This year we decided to up the ante—older trees, higher elevation, lighter bake—by sourcing from our new friend Song Lin, a 3rd generation dancong producer in the heart of the Fenghuang (read: Phoenix) mountains, where warm, humid, and daily misty high mountain conditions nurture deep-rooted tea trees. Ya shi xiang, one of the most storied and valued productions among the dancong standards, is a serious art form among Chaozhou producers, requiring a precise hand through its semi-qing xiang ("light fragrance") oxidation process. Not unlike this year's da wu ye, light oxidation oolongs are fundamentally easier to get wrong, as the bruise must be tightly controlled and halted precisely (a job made more difficult by constant variations in post-wither moisture content)—and imperfect batches