I am trying to not let myself get sucked in to the world of expensive, gourmet tea. Seeking out cheaper alternatives is a must have. I am very impressed with this. I’m not gonna lie to you and tell you I heard angels singing or the earth moved but this is an excellent value for the price ($4.00/oz as of today’s writing).
I steeped it for 2 minutes and used near boiling water with about 2 tsb of leaf and 10 oz of water. The website said to use fairly hot water in order to bring out the flavors. Very pleasant nectarine and peach flavors are coming through here. Not a trace of bitterness at all which can sometimes be a problem with these darker oolongs. Perfect for daily drinking…
Preparation
People who liked this
Comments
Lately I have heard angels. LOL
I’m trying to save my angels for special occasions… :)
Every second is a special occasion
The great thing with oolongs, is that even if they cost a bit more, you can get multiple steeps, and the flavour can change the more you steep it, so it does balance out a little, cost-wise.
Toasty oolongs are a great variety for finding reasonably priced stand bys for day to day cups that won’t break the bank.
Ahhh…….Da Hong Pao, avery enjoyable tea.
As I understand it they aren’t “clones” but are grown from clippings, the same way grape varietals for wine are taken. This is where the idea of “generations” comes in. A tree made from a clipping from the originals is first generation. A tree made from a clipping from those trees is second generation, etc. Supposedly, generational distance impacts quality, mostly because it usually means that where the new tree is planted is probably (probably, not necessarily) less and less like the original location in terms of soil, sun, elevation etc.
Mostly I’m just curious if the truly early generation stuff is so rare and expensive that it is still the sort of thing given to presidents as gifts or kept by the PRC for governmental use or whether we could actually get our hands on such things. I have no idea how many first generation trees exist to know whether that’s a rare thing or a not so rare thing.
@ Jim – according to the show Charles was referring to there are something like 5 of the original Da Hong Pao trees and the tea made from those trees is kept in a vault. It is very rare and expensive & the DHP tea we get now is all from the 2nd generation
Well, there are second gen, third gen, fourth gen… DHP has become extremely popular, and to keep up with demand, more and more generations of bushes are being produced — to the point that anything fourth generation or later is referred to as Xiao Hong Pao (small red robe) or simply Hong Pao.
So I guess the most pointed way to ask the question (which I actually asked on a different tasting note) is whether Verdant’s leaves are 2nd gen or 3rd. Supposedly it makes a big difference.
Jim, That’s a question for David Duckler….
We’ve already made way more out of it than I intended. :-)
Hot debate going down….
ahh. why is this coming up here, it isn’t even one of Verdant’s teas? And yes, I agree just ask David if you need to know.
I don’t know, either. Like I said, it was a passing question, I think there was a misunderstanding about the information I wanted, it’s gotten completely over blown at this point, and I’m moving on.
iTea – no one’s debating anything.
Lately I have heard angels. LOL
I’m trying to save my angels for special occasions… :)
Every second is a special occasion
The great thing with oolongs, is that even if they cost a bit more, you can get multiple steeps, and the flavour can change the more you steep it, so it does balance out a little, cost-wise.
Toasty oolongs are a great variety for finding reasonably priced stand bys for day to day cups that won’t break the bank.
Ahhh…….Da Hong Pao, avery enjoyable tea.
As I understand it they aren’t “clones” but are grown from clippings, the same way grape varietals for wine are taken. This is where the idea of “generations” comes in. A tree made from a clipping from the originals is first generation. A tree made from a clipping from those trees is second generation, etc. Supposedly, generational distance impacts quality, mostly because it usually means that where the new tree is planted is probably (probably, not necessarily) less and less like the original location in terms of soil, sun, elevation etc.
Mostly I’m just curious if the truly early generation stuff is so rare and expensive that it is still the sort of thing given to presidents as gifts or kept by the PRC for governmental use or whether we could actually get our hands on such things. I have no idea how many first generation trees exist to know whether that’s a rare thing or a not so rare thing.
@ Jim – according to the show Charles was referring to there are something like 5 of the original Da Hong Pao trees and the tea made from those trees is kept in a vault. It is very rare and expensive & the DHP tea we get now is all from the 2nd generation
Well, there are second gen, third gen, fourth gen… DHP has become extremely popular, and to keep up with demand, more and more generations of bushes are being produced — to the point that anything fourth generation or later is referred to as Xiao Hong Pao (small red robe) or simply Hong Pao.
So I guess the most pointed way to ask the question (which I actually asked on a different tasting note) is whether Verdant’s leaves are 2nd gen or 3rd. Supposedly it makes a big difference.
Jim, That’s a question for David Duckler….
We’ve already made way more out of it than I intended. :-)
Hot debate going down….
ahh. why is this coming up here, it isn’t even one of Verdant’s teas? And yes, I agree just ask David if you need to know.
I don’t know, either. Like I said, it was a passing question, I think there was a misunderstanding about the information I wanted, it’s gotten completely over blown at this point, and I’m moving on.
iTea – no one’s debating anything.