Ya Shi Xiang, literally “Duck Shit Fragrance”, is one of the most famous and misunderstood teas in the world of Chinese oolong. Produced in the Phoenix Mountains of Guangdong, it belongs to the Dancong tradition: highly aromatic single-bush oolongs celebrated for their ability to express distinct fragrances resembling flowers, fruit, honey, herbs, or spice.
Despite the crude name, Duck Shit Tea is prized for extraordinary elegance and complexity. The tea became famous precisely because its aroma seemed impossibly refined compared to its bizarre title.
The origin of the name is surrounded by competing stories and local folklore. One widely repeated account claims the tea farmer deliberately gave the tea an ugly, off-putting name to discourage theft after neighbours became obsessed with its fragrance and quality. Another explanation suggests the tea bushes grew in yellow-brown mountain soil locals compared to “duck shit.” Over time the strange nickname stuck, even as the tea itself became one of the most sought-after Phoenix oolongs in China.
Whatever the true origin, the contrast between name and flavour became part of the tea’s mythology.
Ya Shi Xiang belongs to the broader category of Phoenix Dancong teas, which evolved from centuries of selective cultivation in the Fenghuang Mountains. Unlike heavily blended tea traditions, Dancong production often focuses on preserving the personality of individual bushes or closely related cultivars, with processing designed to highlight aroma above all else.
This expression sits within the traditional medium-oxidised Phoenix oolong style, balancing floral intensity with roasted structure and mineral depth.
In the cup, it opens with piercing orchid and honeysuckle aromatics before unfolding into notes of peach, cream, citrus blossom, honey, almond, and tropical fruit. Underneath the intense perfume sits the unmistakable mineral structure of Phoenix Mountain tea, giving the liquor both richness and lift. The finish is long, cooling, and deeply fragrant, often lingering in the throat long after drinking.
