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

I tend to forget I have this in the cupboard…well I just drank the last 7g of it so now it’s gone…

This is the roasted type, bolder in flavour with so many different notes and nuances, it’s not possible to identify them all in one session.

I don’t drink it often enough, too bad cause it is worth the attention. It smells like roasted chestnut and coffee, but strangely, the first thing I get in the first steep is a strong floral mouthfeel.

Then, it’s a party in the mouth. I mean fourth of july with fireworks kind of party. Baked goods, spicy nutmeg, peach, apricot, charcoal. It’s complex but so easy to drink.

Someone else suggested coconut to me from another Big Red Robe tea. As much as I want to get coconut, it’s just missing in action in this one. Too bad, I do love me some coconut!

On the fifth steep I just let it cool.

It’s juicy and very refreshing on this very hot summer night. It gets winey, like a bright citrusy and oaky white wine.

I really like this and would definitely consider replenish my cupboard with some Da Hong Pao soon.

Another great tea from Teavivre!

Hooray! Celebration! Happy Dance! Ok, not so much of the happy dance, it might cause my headache to come back. Yes, I am celebrating the headache I have had…for weeks…taking a break for a bit. I can still feel it poking around, it will be back in a few hours, but a break is always a reason to celebrate. It is a thing that I have dealt with all my life, stupid week to month long splitting headaches that at times make thinking rather hard, I was so worried I was not going to be able to write this evening. So, I am glad, my pain is eased and I can do the thing I look forward to most each day…rambling about tea!

First I have to admit that I made a derp. Remember my epic road trip with my mom where we had tea in a hotel room, right about a month ago? Well, that night Teavivre contacted me to do an Oolong series on my blog, perhaps answering them after hours on the road was not the best idea…since I readily agreed…to review one of the teas I have already reviewed. So what does one do when they need to review a tea they have already reviewed (and recently so it is not even reviewing a new harvest) the review it with a different brewing style! Previously I reviewed Teavivre’s Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) Wuyi Rock Oolong Tea Fujian the Chinese Gong Fu Method using my Gaiwan, and I will be honest, it has been over a year I think since I brewed an Oolong Western Style, as soon as I got my Gaiwans and Yixing teapots, I never went back. So, let’s have a little fun and break out the bone china teacup, shall we? The aroma of the leaves is pretty much the same as last time, a blend of sweetness, char, and richness. It starts with cocoa, tobacco, woodiness, and sweet molasses, this fades into baking bread, honey, char, and a finish of distant flowers.

Since the leaves are so big and I did not want to crush them, I tossed them into my funky thrift store find, yeah, it is part of a glass double boiler, but works really well as a small teapot, cha hai, and steeping vessel, I like using non-tea intended things as tea things. The aroma of the brewed leaves is pretty intense after that long (ok 2 minutes is not that long) of a steep, there are notes of charcoal, molasses, tobacco, wet autumn leaves, cocoa, and honey. It is thick and heavy, reminding me of a wet autumn day where the smoke hangs low in the valley. The liquid, wow, that is also pretty intense, blending the tobacco and char with the molasses and cocoa, with a tiny finish of honey.

So, this tea might have been what killed my headache, kinda like smelling salts on a fainting Victorian lady, it could not survive the potency that is Western Brewed Da Hong Pao. The taste starts off rich and stays rich till the end, with a beginning of molasses, cocoa, and spicebush. This transitions to sharp charcoal and tobacco, and oak wood with the tobacco taste lingering, giving the finish a bit of a bitter bite. Not an unpleasant bitterness, mind you, well if you are a fan of bitter things (yes, I eat kale and like my chocolate super duper dark, I love the bitter side of things) you will find this very pleasant. It is not a dry, tannic, mouth-puckering bitterness, the mouth feel is actually quite smooth.

Round two, I doubled my time and even with the longer steep noticed the aroma is milder. Not so much sweetness and richness, more woodsy with a touch of cocoa and wet leaf pile. The taste is super mild, like the aroma it is very woodsy. All the bitterness, tobacco notes, and cocoa notes are gone from this steep, I am left with oak wood, peanuts, and a touch of sweet baking bread. So the first steep was intense, I really enjoyed it, the second steep left me bored, I still prefer the journey of Gong Fu for Oolong teas, but might go Western with a Yancha next time my headache starts to rear its stupid…um…head.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/11/teavivire-da-hong-pao-big-red-robe-wuyi.html

I’ve been trying to use weekends as an opportunity to try more teas gong fu style. I made this one in my favorite new teapot/gaiwan. I picked it up for the equivalent of $5 US in a cheap home goods shop in Taipei. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s shaped like a gaiwan, but it has a handle and a small spout with built-in filter. I can’t decide if it’s a gaiwan-shaped teapot or a modernized gaiwan. Either way, it’s pretty and convenient and I love it.

I used approx. 3 tsp in 4 oz of water. All steeps used boiling water. I gave the leaves a 5-second initial rinse.

first steep – 1 minute
The scent here is roasty honey goodness. The flavor is toast with a hint of sweetness. There’s a dry mouthfeel after the sip, which works well with the toastiness.

second steep – 1 minute 30 seconds
This came out weaker than the first steep. Other than being weaker, it smells and tastes exactly the same.

third steep – 2 minutes
This straight up tastes like toast with honey. Mmmm.

fourth steep – 2 minutes, 30 seconds
Now it tastes like honey with toast! I love how the notes stay basically the same but their prominence changes.

This tea is great for a chilly night or rainy day. There’s a warmth here that goes beyond the temperature of the brew. It’s comforting without feeling decadent. Just don’t forget to eat actual food at some point!

I anticipate many infusions will be able to happen with this one, which is my favorite thing about oolongs and pu erhs. Even if they are a bit pricier at first, the quality can’t be beat, you get a bajillion cups out of a teaspoon, and each cup is a different flavor.

I smelled a lot of mineral and nutty scents when this was just done steeping the first time, but tasted a mostly mineral flavor. The second infusion is a lot nuttier, and is starting to have a floral/slight fruit taste to me. I love that, and am looking forward to those flavors coming out more in later infusions.

The Leaf: Dark brown to black throughout the pile. medium curl, leaving most of the leaves long and straight with only slight bends; a few are curled almost into balls. The scent is nice and strong, having a roasted, sweet, creamy smell.

The Brew: The liquor is a nice golden brown; bronze. The aroma is bright with the same roasted sweet smell of the leaf. It almost is metallic smelling; it has a certain clip in the aroma, if that makes any sense. The taste is definitely creamy, partially from the mouthfeel and partially from the flavor. It’s very soft on the tongue and has a roasted character, making it seem like a caramelized cream-based drink; the flavor and sweetness are much lighter of course.

I drink all of my teas cold.

This is another from my Teavivire sampler. It’s very dark and roasty—just how I like my oolongs. There’s a nice fruity aftertaste; after reading through some of the other reviews, I’m thinking it’s mostly peach. This is quite a smooth tea, and there’s a bit more sweetness than I’d expected too. There are some woodsy notes, and, although I’m never entirely sure what people mean when they talk about oolongs having mineral qualities, I’m guessing those are present as well. I’m really enjoying this; it’s definitely my favorite of the Teavivre oolongs I’ve tried so far. Thanks for letting me try this one, Angel!

Backlog. After having this in my cupboard for a while, I finally tried it out a few days ago and haven’t been able to keep it out of my head ever since. So as a motivation to tackle STATA (stats software) for class, I steeped this beauty. So roasty in flavor but creamy in texture. Plus, it resteeps so darn well! This is definitely in my top 2 dark oolongs, the other being Wuyi Mountain Big Red Robe from Verdant.

Very unusual oolong, it’s hard to describe, the flavour develops itself in the aftertaste

This is my happy oolong…it’s nicely malted, kinda woodsy and nuanced without asking a lot of your tastebuds. Each mouthful sits gently on the palate and lingers in a very gentle, comforting sort of way.

I wish I had the right sort of words to accurately describe this mellow, wonderful tea…but all I can say is that you should definitely try a cup. It’s quite delightful.

I really enjoyed this tea. It was such a pleasant surprise, as I was unaware what to expect. I could not stop thinking about crystals as I was drinking the oolong because the taste was somehow reminding me of a crystal. I believe the correct description of the taste is something along the lines of a mineral flavor. Whatever it was, I thoroughly appreciated it and am definitely going to buy more than the sample next time! Thank you TeaVivre!