Indeed, better known Phoenix cultivars are widely planted throughout the Fenghuang area and well beyond, for obvious commercial incentives. In some gardens the harvest can be disciplined and the processing respectfully done. In some others, outputs are maximised for cashflow. The latter ones are quantitatively far more substantial. They are sold in the same name nevertheless. As a result, you can most certainly come across the same label here and there, with whatever origin or master maker your purveyor might tell you, basing on whatever information he/she has been given, or want to give. A recent visit to a few popular teashops in London, however, has given me a new level of understanding of this phenomenon. There is no limits to how low the quality a Ya Shi Xiang — Duck Poo tea ( they call it Duck Sh*t tea, by the way ) can be and still demanding a premium price. I have tasted quite a few quality levels in my 20 years in this trade and have honestly never came upon such lowly ones. They did not even taste like anything from Fenghuang at all. People are still buying there because they do not know any better. On one hand, I am happy that people are interested in exploring the world of finer teas, on the other, however, I think it is dangerous that the spread of such fraudulent quality, will, in the long run, destroy the future of the market for good tea. When people have attempted to find a finer tea and found not much to enjoy even in a premium price product that they do not know is an unauthentic one, they simply will grow disinterested in the category all together. As in the spirit of the traditional literati, it is all the more an obligation that I have to bear to make sure the genuine quality get delivered to the market, for the sake of the future of good tea. That is also why I am grateful for customers like you, N.N., who would take the extra step in sharing the tea experience with more people. It is far more than the feeling of being appreciated, your sharing is even more effective than our efforts in involving the market for the interest in the real thing. Hopefully someday good tea will drive out bad.
