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“2023 harvest Wonderful hongcha. Pronounced floral rose and cocoa aroma, tannins balanced with taste. Floods the body with warmth. High in caffeine. Like Qimen, I think. Overleafs pretty well...” Read full tasting note
We have been looking for an affordable Lichuanhong from a reputable cooperative since the Summer of 2019. After finally visiting the Huaxing Cooperative in January 2022, we are now at last ready to share their “Grade One” Lichuanhong with the world.
Brewed conventionally, this tea produces a beautiful dark amber liquor accompanied by a subdued rose fragrance. When cooled to below 6℃, this tea is able to produce a cream down effect, i.e. the tea liquor clouds when exposed to lower temperatures. Although not as hard hitting as many Qimens, the oxidation level and caffeine content of this tea also surpass many new generation red teas. It is a solid Chinese red perfect for colder Winter months.
Lichuanhong is most famous for its pronounced cream down effect. While the effect is indeed present, it does not in any way change the flavor and should not be seen as indicative of superior quality. It is just a fun little gimmick. Enjoy it as such.
Huaxing Cooperative makes this Lichuanhong especially interesting, as it they have made it from the Qilan varietal and have done it with fully organic methods. Click here to learn more.
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2023 harvest
Wonderful hongcha. Pronounced floral rose and cocoa aroma, tannins balanced with taste. Floods the body with warmth. High in caffeine. Like Qimen, I think. Overleafs pretty well if you’re wanting something real viscous. Does just fine with a tiny pinch of leaves. I prefer this tea grandpa style over any other preparation.
Flavors: Cacao, Clean, Cocoa, Coconut Husk, Floral, Geranium, Juicy, Leather, Malt, Malty, Oak, Olives, Osmanthus, Peppercorn, Persimmon, Rose, Smoke, Spicy, Tangy, Tannin, Viscous
Have my first order from ORT arriving soon! Just some sheng and dancong samples tho. Are you a pretty big fan of their teas?
It’s funny, I spent almost 4 weeks deep in the mountains outside Enshi city with a few people who run ORT but I only drank a few of their teas while there!
Alex is a part of the Loushuiyan tea collective (where I was staying), so he sells the teas from that collective. They specialize in greens but also make red tea. Those are generally pretty good teas if you like Chinese greens from that region.
The teas from outside the collective, I believe, are mostly sourced by another guy from ORT (I forget his name, never met him – Dylan?). I’ve only had two dancong and one zhengshan xioashang from ORT that were gifted to me by leafhopper. All were mediocre teas to poor quality.
This tea in particular, which is not from the collective, Alex gifted me to take home. Apparently it’s not the highest quality lichuanhong (which is considered a novelty tea in China due to the milkdown effect), but I would never know the difference! It’s a great tea.
Their pressed red tea from Laos was also very good!