$120.00/5oz Mi Xiang Oolong - Anybody know anything?

This tea was/is being sold at Samovar in San Francisco and they say they bought all that was available? Isn't this a Dan Cong? And, if you've had it or know about it - can it be worth the price? Aphid residue is supposedly responsible for the taste.............. Shen

Reply to
Shen
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Judging by what I see on Samovar's web site, this certainly isn't a Dancong. I think the Dancong you're thinking of is Mi *Lan* Xiang. Mi Xiang has other meanings you could look up in Babelcarp, but from what they say, this tea is some kind of outlier, a fisted oolong subjected to the same insect stimulation as Oriental Beauty (Bai Hao.)

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

Aha! Yes! That's what I was considering......still wondering if anyone has tasted this stuff....???? Thanks, Lew. And, again - thanks so much for Babelcarp! Shen

Reply to
Shen

I bought some of this a few months ago when I was in San Francisco. Hadn't tasted it until this week. Very interesting! The first infusion was very sweet. Not Lipton-iced-tea-in-a-bottle sweet, but sweet-for- having-no-sugar-added sweet. Guess we owe that to the aphid poo. Does that make this tea a "poolong"? Anyway, the second infusion was similar, just not quite as sweet. Makes sense. The third infusion suprised me by being very fruity. Black currant mainly, to my tongue. I also didn't drink the third infusion until it had cooled down somewhat, so that might have allowed the fruitiness to be more pronounced. BTW, the sweetness is not a clean white-sugar sweetness, but more of a honey or caramel sweetness.

I was very amused when I bought this. They had very little left, and weren't sure they even had enough to sell to me. Phone calls to mysterious persons were made, and clearance was given. I felt like a secret agent making a pickup. And then when the small black tin was presented to me, I felt like I should hide it in my trench coat. ;-)

Alan

Shen wrote:

Reply to
Alan

No, you owe it to the insect bites and the tea plant. Under attack from those insects, the leaves secrete volatile chemicals that account for the different taste. Presumably you enjoy the taste more than the bugs do, or this response would have no evolutionary advantage.

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

Interesting! I'm sure there are other teas with this same property, but more affordable. Any suggestions?

Alan

Lewis Per>

Reply to
Alan

The only one I know of is Bai Hao, AKA Oriental Beauty. I should confess that I don't actually know that the insects actually attack Mi Xiang the way they do Bai Hao; I was, uh, extrapolating.

/Lew

Reply to
Lewis Perin

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