Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) Wuyi Rock Oolong Tea Fujian

This was the worst tea I’ve had. I don’t know if I got a bad sample (I tried both bags though), or if I just don’t like this type of tea, but I did not experience most of the positive flavors listed for this DHP. If you like smoking a cigarette while huffing gasoline, this is the tea for you.

Dry leaf: charcoal, ash.
Wet leaf: tobacco, petroleum.
Palate: tobacco, petroleum.

Sono un novice.
E’ la prima volta che lo bevo. Gusto delicato floreale, toni bassi e caldi di affumicato. Spicy notes, piacevolmente tannico sulla lingua. Anche dopo la sesta infusione le foglie profumano.

6 steeps: (rinse 5s), 15s, 25s, 35s, 60s, 100s, 160s Gaiwan 100 ml

Really love the smell of this tea after the first few infusions. It has an outstanding rich roasted aroma along with the smell of dark chocolate, lightly roasted nuts, a touch of floral. I always thought that I enjoy the smell of tea more than the taste, this is one of those teas. I have no complaints about the taste either. It is very smooth, mellow and has a mild sweetness, no bitterness, light minerality.

I’ve had a few samples of this and I’m always pleased as it’s a well-balanced tea, in that the roasted and floral notes complement each other instead of compete against each other. I was surprised when I first sipped it in that it’s not quite full-bodied as I thought.. Because the liquor is an intense dark color and although flavorful, I’d still call it more a medium-bodied tea. Less astringent as well compared to many of the other Da Hong Pao that I’ve tried, it’s very pleasant for an after dinner tea. I can see why some prefer this as their daily tea and is very popular on TeaVivre’s site. The first few times I tried this was at about 195-200℉. It’s much better (to me) at 212℉, hence the rating change.

Yixing, 212℉, 110 ml, 8g, 6 steeps: rinse, 15s, 25s, 35s, 60s, 100s, 160s

I’m used to an affordable da hong pao that gives off tons of flavor and color and aroma. This is not one of those teas. I prefer music city tea’s very affordable offering.

I think this will deliver a fine experience for DHP enthusiasts. Personally, though, I found the first infusion nice – caramel-y thick body and powerful flavors – but then it sort of died off. But, that is a complaint that I have with most DHP and quite a few Wu Yi oolongs in general.

The roast is present but not overpowering. Good lasting minerality. Nice fresh flavors in aftertaste of tart red fruit and coriander seed.

There you have it. I have other Wu Yi oolongs that I prefer, but this does deliver a good hit of mineral flavors with some nice fruit flavors in the aftertaste.
*
Dry leaf – roasted peanut shell, wet rocks, hints of baking spices, freeze-dried strawberries and raspberries. In preheated vessel – charcoal roast prevalent.

Smell – charcoal roast, wet rocks, hint of raspberry

Taste – arrival of charcoal roast, dark caramel, peanut shell, then wet rock minerality. Develops with some hints of cinnamon and baking spice, but overall dry wood and mineral flavors. Finish of coriander seed. Aftertaste of lemongrass, coriander seed, red currant and raspberry.

The dry leaves are visually pleasing: they are large and gnarly. The smell is sweet -reminiscent of the field of wild flowers in the spring – and spicy.

The liquor is very fragrant: fall leaves, burned leaves, spices, sandal wood, honey. The smell is quite distinct and uplifting.

It was a sampler and I will certainly order it again and in larger quantity. A keeper.

I started this review by entering all of the scents that I could notice whilst I was waiting for it to cool down. Considering that I entered “chestnut”, “ash”, “roasted”, and “musty” I was intrigued (and a little concerned) about how this would taste. My only other experience with oolong is Brandy 18 from Tealyra, which was so smooth, caramelly, and complex that it quickly became one of my all-time favourite teas… although I’m not sure that it is representative of the style.

Once it has cooled down I’m getting a slight chocolate scent. This is quite pleasing. As far as taste goes, it tastes pretty much like it smells.

This is an interesting tea. I think that I could grow to really enjoy oolongs of this sort; right now, however, I mostly just find it interesting. Not un-enjoyable, and I will be getting a second steep out of it, but it hasn’t blown me away. Perhaps I’m just not ready for oolongs yet.

I think that I’ll be sweetening things up after I’m done with these leaves by brewing something with a golden tip :)

Rich and smooth, with some lingering scratchiness in the throat. I leafed heavy at about 9g to 100ml, just off boiling water. This is pleasant, with a mellow earthiness to the roast that is reminiscent of the decadence and bitterness of fairly dark chocolate. The aroma is roast laced with additional vibes of burnt caramel, although it never gets quite so sweet in the actual cup. It has slow moving energy which leads me to believe it’s not got the greatest caffeine content, but it does the job. Might be good Western to add more flavors to the mix.

Thanks to Angela at TeaVivre for another sample from their line of teas. The leaves for this oolong are quite dark and brewed up the tea has reddish-amber colour. The aroma has a definite toasted smell to it and the flavour is a roasted earthiness. Not as vegetal or grassy as I’d expect from an oolong. I found the first steep a bit harsh and bitter, but additional steeps were more pleasant.

This is my first time tasting a Wuyi and it was fairly obvious even to me how different it was from the other oolongs I’ve tasted.

I did 7 steeps. The first was 15 seconds, the second was 10, the third was 15 and after that they got longer. The 6th and 7th steep were 30 and 60 seconds and neither was especially satisfying but they weren’t horrible. I ended up heating fresh water after then 4th steep.

The first steep was a bit astringent though not bitter. It dried my mouth out a bit. The second was also a bit astringent but the 3rd and 4th were quite smooth without any astringency.

The dry leaf smelled somewhat chocolatey, I guess from the way the tea was roasted but this was almost undetectable in the tea. Even in the wet leaf it was not strong. The wet leaf mostly had the spinachy vegetal smell but not as strong as other oolongs I’ve tried.

That “rock” taste was definitely present. It wasn’t unpleasant but it was an unusual flavor to my palate.

Overall, perhaps because I’ve been tasting many new teas over the last few weeks, this was the tea from which I got the most complexity in taste and aroma. I can’t say if it was the tea or me just starting to become more familiar with the scent and taste vocabulary of tea. Whatever the cause, it was fun to experience.

I’m not sure I’d want to drink this every day but I definitely enjoyed it and could see myself ordering more of it after the samples run out.