Tea: Mother Bush Apricot Fragrance Dancong
Type: Xingren Xiang Mushu Dancong Oolong (杏仁香母树单丛乌龙)
Style: Classic
Roast: Heavy
Harvest: Spring 2026
Region: Wudong Village, Phoenix Mountains, Chaozhou
Producers: Wen Zitong
Tasting Notes: Agarwood, Pine Sap, Stewed Berries, Rock Sugar, Cedar
The fragrance off the dry leaves is rich and complex, we get almost incense like fragrance similar to high-quality agar wood, in Chinese this is often referred to as 木香 Muxiang, or wood fragrance, which this tea has in abundance. When infused we get notes of pine sap and cedar but there also begins to emerge notes of stewed berries in the leaves.
This tea has a higher roast than the Osmanthus Mother Bush, with a slightly amber gold brew. The fragrant wood aroma blends into the brew itself lending a mellow sweetness to the infusions. On the tongue we get a lot of mineral sweetness and a satisfying heaviness that evenly coats the mouth. Like most mother bush teas, the focus of this tea is largely how it affects the body, this sensation is often called 茶气 Chaqi, and we tend to notice it only in teas that is made from very old trees, for us it manifests in a calming wave of grounding energy that almost makes us sleepy.
When we imagine what a traditional dancong oolong tastes like, this tea has to be it. The rich roast, the mineral body, the strength and longevity of it, it is the dancong for dancong drinkers. When drinking it on the mountain with Wen Zitong, his dad immediately came over and sat through the whole session with us, commenting on how well the tea turned out.
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The mother bush teas from Wen Zitong are teas not commonly available. Only thought strong connections and deep relationships with the growers as well as makers can we source these teas. We are honored that Wen Zitong agreed to reserve a pound of this tea for us from the very limited amount of leaves picked this spring (each year there are only a few kilograms of final tea from this tree). This is Danzhu, Single Tree, Mother Bush, true Dan Cong, aka Single Bush. Teas like this are a rare treat and indeed the nuances tend to be subtle and profound for those learned in the leaf.
While these teas usually don't have the rollercoaster of flavors and aromas, their true magic comes in their incredible vitality, the sweetness in the later infusions, and of course the Cha Qi. Wen Zitong knew how much we loved his Ba Xian last year, so this year he saved just 500 grams of this Mother-Bush production for us to try and offer here.
