2011 Da Hong Paolo Wuyi Mount Chinese Oolong Tea

I haven’t had an oolong in awhile, but not because I don’t enjoy them. It is just unusual for me to commit to such an extended tea session with the same tea. I usually switch it up and drink several different teas over the course of a day or evening. However, I woke up craving an oolong session today! I picked out this Da Hong Pao from my generous sample box that I received because I was in the mood for a truly roasty, toasty experience. I remembered to do a quick 5-10 second rinse before settling down into my first 3 minute infusion with this tea.

The liquid from the first infusion is very light in color, but holds a sweet aroma that reminds me of good BBQ sauce for some reason. The flavor has a bit of a toasty/woody thing going on but there is a good amount of a natural sweetness hanging out. This infusion is pretty enjoyable, but I’m looking forward to the consecutive ones more. The first infusion from an oolong is never my favorite. I’m leaving this unrated until I progress more through this brewing series.

I never really enjoyed Wuyi, partially since they were one of the first oolongs I trked to explore and hadn’t quite mastered time and temp variations. I’m determined to find one I love.
A quick 20 second rinse.
The first steep is has a moderate iron taste and oak notes. It’s not heavy though, a quality I dislike about strong roasted teas.
The second and third are much more woodsy and barely mineral at all. It might work for someone looking for a weaker classic Wuyi to space out stronger, more nuanced ones. This is a very promising start to the sampler but not quite cravable for me.

We’ll I just got home from five days in the backcountry and after having the obligatory greasy burger and cold beer, I decided to treat my self to a cup of tea, like I really need a reason to do that though.

I have to admit this is the first da hong pao I’ve had, I’ve had many other wuyi’s but this one is quite fantastic and unique in its wonderful qualities.

I think this is the darkest tea I’ve brewed out of the wuyi region, and while being bold it still retains its delicate subtleties. This tea definitely would not cut it when I’m craving on of the lighter roasted wuyi’s yet when I want something a bit more robust this is the ticket. Sweet, bold, somewhat malty, layered and complex. Yeah I’ll drink this again. looking forward to trying the other da hong pao I got from jerry ma. Thanks again for the samples.

Last dark oolong sample from China Cha Dao! I really appreciate the opportunity to sample all of these teas, it’s been very educational. While I’m not head over heels for Wuyi dark oolongs, I have definitely come to appreciate them through this little experience. Thanks again to Jerry Ma for the samples!

Anyway, this one brewed up dark! One of the darker ones from the sample, it’s a deep slightly reddish brown. It smells, not shockingly, very roasted… this is definitely one of the more toasty varieties. Definite erring on the side of burnt/charcoal. There’s also a distinct sweet smell behind the roastiness, but it’s kind of shy and fleeting. There’s another kind of odd aroma that I can’t quite place, and it’s only getting stronger as the tea cools. It shows up in the taste as well, and it’s almost coffeeish, actually. Yup, definitely getting coffee flavors from this one, along with a smokiness.

I’d have to say that I’m not really taken with this one, primarily because of those coffee/smoky notes, but I can see how they would appeal to others with different sensabilities!

I received this tea from Jerry Ma’s six sampler pack and Da Hong Pao was amongst the lot received.

I have been drinking this all day. It makes for a very malty cup of tea. Those favoring coffee would surely appreciate the smokiness in the leaves and the brewed cup of tea.

Images conjured: roasted and smoky aroma. I am not sure about the sweetness in the cup since I am too absorbed in the aroma.

Envisioning: a hot cup of Da Hong Poa with either milk or cream and sweetened with some pure sugar. Unfortunately, I drink mine plain always.

This is the third and final Da Hong Pao that I have, and I’m a bit sad to say that it doesn’t really match up well against the other two. The color of the first infusion in a nice deep red color, and the aroma is the nice roasted smell that is practically the signature of a Wuyi Oolong, but the taste seems to be missing something. The tea is very bold, but it doesn’t have the same kick to it. It’s like it’s missing something essential. The other problem is that I don’t taste the mineral aftertaste, which makes me question whether this tea is actually from the Wuyi mountains.

The second infusion was milder, but it just wasn’t good. I just keep comparing it to higher quality teas, and it just doesn’t measure up. The taste changed for this infusion, but it is now merely a milder bland flavor. The aftertaste is nearly nonexistent, without even a hint of mineral in it. I’ve decided to stop now, and I’m probably going to put this tea in the very back of my small collection.

This one doesn’t have a strong scent at all.

The taste has a slight honey sweetness in the front and middleof the throat, with a roasted flavor in the back. It has only the mildest hint of “standard oolong flavor”.

This is a very sippable tea and I think my favorite of China Cha Dao’s so far.

While these arrived at my house a few weeks ago, I have finally gotten them here at school. I love oolongs and so far my only other experience with Wuyi is the one I get from the bulk teas at Wegmans. The smell is a nice roasted nuttiness that just errs on being burnt. The taste is much like the smell but smoother and mellows during further steeps. It has a few sweetish notes coming out to play in later steeps as well.

This is my first review in a series of six samples from China Cha Dao

Experience buying from China Cha Dao: I responded to an offer on Steepster for free samples. Received exactly what was stated in the offer: fresh tea and very generous sample sizes. On their website on eBay they have a good variety of tea for reasonable prices.

Age of leaf: Stated as 2011. Received in mid-summer, brewed in late summer 2011.

Packaging: small, clear bags with small label printed with the full name of the tea.

Dry leaf: long, slender, dark brown leaves. Slight scent, something burnt, like paper, gunpowder, or something (reminds me of the smell from my cap gun when I was a kid; wild!). I am guessing this is due to the roasting it goes through?

Brewing guidelines: loose in glass Bodum pot. Stevia added. (I wanted to start with shorter steeping times than the other reviewers to get a wider perspective—-range of flavor—-for this tea.)
…………….1st: 195, 2’
…………….2nd: 200, 3’
…………….3rd: 212, 5’
…………….4th: 195, 6’

Aroma: rich, almost like coffee.

Color of liquor: medium brown, like a lightly roasted coffee.

Wet leaf: slightly different smell than the dry leaf, more pleasant, perhaps sweeter? Lots of large, very dark leaves, a fair amount of smallish pieces (chopped?), and a few stems. Some of the leaves are so dark they look almost burnt (due to the roasting?). Leaves on the top of the water with some hanging vertically during the 1st steeping, some hanging vertically, and some on bottom, during the 2nd, and all sitting on the bottom during the 3rd and 4th steepings.

Flavor: (I struggled with how to describe the flavor, and I finally settled on this description) The taste is similar to the smell of the leaves, with a rich, roasted, robust flavor (the three R’s?!) reminding me of coffee. The third steeping tasted somewhat burnt (which I did not taste in the first or second steeping), but that was possibly because I used water that was too hot for it; I chalk that up as a learning experience: don’t steep this oolong in boiling water! Tasting it at room temperature, it tastes almost chocolaty. It held flavor all the way though to the fourth steeping (even at boiling!).

Value: Free 10-gram sample (Thank you Jerry Ma @ China Cha Dao tea on Ebay!). His regular tea is very reasonably priced, I judge ($7/125grams).

Overall: I am a newbie when it comes to oolongs (I’ve only had about three to four), so I invite you to read my review from that point of view. This may be the most challenging review I have written to date, trying to pin down the flavors and aromas.
I like this tea! It gives me somewhat of a sense that I am drinking coffee, as seule771 has mentioned in her review (I like coffee, but my wife does not, and she does not like this tea either). There is something else about it that I like which is hard for me to put my finger on; I think it’s that it tastes fresh. There is nothing stale or off-putting about the flavor in this tea at all. Although it is rich and robust, it is nonetheless somewhat mild tasting, and still enjoyable (I don’t know if you can have rich, robust and mild in the same cup, but that’s the best way I can describe it for now!). There certainly seem to be subtle flavors stealthily swimming around in my cup that I am missing (as a few of the other reviews has eluded to), and that’s all the more reason for me to drink a tea like this: to discover the wonders hidden in this cuppa!