What Duck Shit Tea Taught Me About Curiosity

It was a bar of chocolate that caught my eye.

Fosso Chocolate. Duck Shit Dancong. Tea Chocolate.

I found it on the shelf at Mixed Pantry in Seattle, a shop celebrating AAPI-founded CPG brands that curates stories as much as it does ingredients. The name made me pause—not because it was odd, but because it was bold. Intriguing. Unforgettable.

So I leaned in.

Duck Shit Tea, or Ya Shi Xiang, is a prized oolong from the Phoenix Mountains in Guangdong, China. The story goes that a farmer gave it the unassuming name to protect the tea bushes from being stolen. What grew from that name is now one of the most celebrated varietals in the region.

The chocolate itself was layered and transportive—floral, grounding, quietly complex. But what stayed with me most was that moment of curiosity. The instinct to look closer. To ask, what’s behind this?

That instinct is what guides so much of my work at Topi Ventures and what I curate for Topi Topics. The best ideas often come from asking better questions. From honoring the unfamiliar. From following the breadcrumbs of culture, memory, and craft.

Curiosity is a way of being.

And sometimes, it starts with a name like Duck Shit Tea.

Duck Shit Dancong

Ya Shi Xiang (literally translated to Duck Shit) is a dancong tea cultivated in the Phoenix Mountain of Guangdong Province. The story goes that the farmer, in an attempt to hide the secret to his delicious tea, gave it an unpleasant name and it stuck. Fortunately, the flavour is nothing like its name. This 2020 Spring lot has notes of longan and malt with a long floral finish.