Da Hong Pao

Monday morning tea success!

And much needed too! My office Bigwig will soon be arriving. You know the type, right? The Bigwig lives in a totally different state and has no idea how to do your job, yet is in charge of “suggesting” and then implementing their ideas on how to do your job better. Of course their “suggestions” only add to the number of steps you already take to do the exact same thing…thus causing a major pain in your butt and making you wish you could transport them back to their office…or better yet, some awful frozen tundra of doom? Yeah, I thought so.

So, how about this tea? :)

My first whiff of the liquor resulted in mostly roasty toasty notes, but also a light fruit smell. I’m not quite sure what type of fruit it is, but it’s juicy smelling. That’s right…juicy smelling. That same juicy note comes over in the taste as well, albeit in the aftertaste. The taste progression goes a little something like this: roasty toasty, mineral-y, OOLONG, juicy. The juicy effect actually made my mouth water. Crazyness. I’ve never had a roasted oolong quite like this one. It’s quite delicious. I’m glad I ordered a large tin. Nom nom nom!

More H&S to come!

It has been a while since I logged a new tea. I have been working through my stash, considering a purchase down the road but you know how it is, too much on the shelf to justify more. Well, this will be on my list, when I get the stash dwindled down a bit. I found this to be a lovely tea, somewhat light considering the notes. H&S says it is lighter than usual. Light yet robust? Yes and the deep, dark roasted oolong flavor is there, but veiled like a princess whose beauty is only hinted at through her eyes… Thanks to QuiltGuppy for this excellent experience.

I was kind of nervous about this tea, because, if you’ve read my bio you’d know that I don’t really care much for red robe Oolong teas, but I decided to break out of my comfort zone in a big way when I ordered this tea.

And I’m glad I ordered it! The flavor IS smoky, but, I found that a quick rinse to awaken the tea leaves did much to soften the smoky taste of this tea. Now it is pleasantly roasty with a mild smoky note. It has a nice sweetness and a distant floral note.

Now… I guess I should change my bio!

This was so good! Roasted oolongs are hit or miss with me. Some I love, others just don’t seem to taste all that great, or the smoky flavor overpowers the oolong taste.

This tea smelled wonderful in the pouch — a bit charcoal-y. It brewed to a medium yellow liquor. When I took my first sip, it started off with a strong roasted flavor, but the finish was sweet and clean, not astringent or bitter at all. This was a surprise, the way the flavors morphed as I drank it. There was no aftertaste.

Such an interesting flavor profile, and yet smooth and easy to drink. I’m looking forward to repeat infusions.

So this wasn’t my cuppa. Solid but nevertheless.

A quick video review for your viewing pleasure…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQf-N7aTQt4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

After several weeks of lots and lots of black teas and herbals I realized that my poor oolong yixing teapot was so very lonely. And I missed my oolongs! So I decided to open up a new tin this evening.

This is definitely the nicest Wuyi oolong that I’ve tried so far. It had quite a kick on the first steep — quite nutty with a hint of Play Dough (yes, that’s one of many things I associate with Wuyis. Yes, I know that I’m weird). As it cooled it seemed more and more like I was drinking the essence of plant with just a bit-o-butter. Nom! The second steep seemed like the poor tea gave up. I almost gave up on the tea, but I gave it one more go. The third steep is still nothing like the first steep, but it suddenly has a nice floral note to it. But it’s definitely the last steep for this tea.

Next time I shall try this tea in my gaiwan (sorry yixing!). NE

When teas are fired over three hundred degrees, the Maillard reaction occurs… and what that simply means is that there will be nutty and sweet undertones which will make your life that much better.

This is an interesting oolong. I’m not great with matching the names, so I didn’t realize this was also called the Red Robe, which I do like. It’s nice. The liquor is a beautiful reddish brown and the tea is robust. It’s definitely a roasted tea, nutty tasting, quite strong for an oolong. It has a sweetness to it that’s hard to pinpoint. 195/3 min.

Finally digging into the Oolong that I got from my Select membership. I warmed up my tea cup and also did a quick brew before dumping it. I left my tea at the bottom of my cup cause I wanted to watch it grow and I’m super happy with the tea. I didn’t add too many tea leaves to my cup so it’s pretty subtle but I like the soft roasted hints and the slight sweet tones. I think I need to add more tea leaves to get that smoky flavor.

So on Sunday I went to the Harney & Sons store, and they had this in their tasting room and I just had to get it.

First steep, 8oz, little less than a minute. Ah this tea is so good. The smell is very similiar to a barley tea , and the taste is just so subtle but still has so body and doesn’t taste very watery at all. There is a definite nutty flavor to it, but it’s not overpowering or anything. I didn’t even steep this with rock sugar and it doesn’t need sweetening at all.

Second Steep. Lower temp water, longer steep, 8oz. The nutty-ness comes out a lot more in this steep, and the color is a tad more dark as well. Still, same flavor but a little more intense. And I’m loving every sip of it. I hope I can get a lot of steeps out of this !

Sweet, slightly peachy taste. Golden liquor. Although I’m not a normal fan of oolongs, I quite like this one.

Being new to oolongs, I don’t know if I can adequately review this tea, but I will give it a try! My apologies up front to all those who know and love oolongs!

The first steep surprised me. I am learning to like oolongs but I can’t honestly say that I love them. Wild Forest oolong was shocking in the way it behaved and I liked that, but I haven’t found that in any other tea.

Now for this one….the aroma did not appeal to me, but remember a person who loves BLACK tea is saying that. I sipped, and was pleasantly surprised. The tea had a LOT of body. There was a hint of sweet, fruity flavor – raisins? And definitely some nutty flavor. The second steep is much nuttier with a hint of butter, and a darker color than the first which may have more to do with my steep times.

This was far nuttier than Wenshan Baozhong, which had a very strong and lovely floral aroma.

This was made in a gaiwan, 1 1/2 tsps leaves to 4 oz. of 190 degree water for 2 min. 15 sec. first steep, 2 min. 45 sec. second steep. I would enjoy this when I want to sit and think, but this isn’t something I would serve at a tea party with a cookie plate! But that isn’t what it is for, anyway!

This must be why people like oolongs! My initial affair with Kwan Yin left me really surprised when it seemed like every other oolong just tasted like wood, nothing, or nothing with a clean aftertaste of wood, but Da Hong Pao is quite tasty. It’s definitely got the clean, woodsy taste characteristic of oolong, but with more…I don’t know, flavor to it? It’s fuller and fruitier than, say, formosa oolong, and I like it infinitely better. There’s also a sort of sweetness to it that I didn’t really get from other non-flavored oolongs. I am a fan.

*It has been a little hard to give proper reviews to the teas I’ve been tasting lately, so temporarily I’ll give quick notes instead of my fully detailed ones. In a month or so I’ll go back to my previous format and revisit all of these quick notes.

Anyways, this tea is delicious. Previous Da Hong Pao’s I’ve tasted tend to go on the overly toasty flavor, but not this one. This one is lightly smoky, with hints of dried fruit, and a really subtle mineral tingling sensation in the mouth. My go to Da Hong Pao, especially for the price.

LOVE this tea! Rich, unique taste! Today’s gonna be a good day at work, if I keep resteeping this =)

I enjoyed this almost as much as the Wuyi Cassia. And half the price. Truly a top flight Oolong from Harney….

I can taste this through my cold, so I’d say that qualifies as robust. A little smokey, which I like in a tea.

Big Red Robe… Amazing way to start the morning and help getting my tea order started! The sweet, roasted flavors are sensational! Also have been drinking it in my new glass tumbler, which we sold out of in 1 day!!!

I have been putting off trying this and instead have been trying all the flavored teas LiberTEAS sent me along with my Neccessiteas samples. I felt I should take a break from the over-the-top flavors like Strawberry Cheesecake and have some teas that are awesome as-is, no dessert mimicking required. I get the nuttiness that others describe, but I’m not getting fruity. As the tea cools I get a floral finish that seems to get stronger with each sip. I brewed it in my clear tea mug and it’s a beautiful amber color. What a wonderful tea!

The first thing I noticed about this tea was the deeply nutty aroma. The aroma continues upon sipping, but it just noticeably toastier. I also taste a bit of lychee and peach flavors—both weak, but contributing sweetness. It was a very round taste that builds in your mouth with a lasting finish. I definitely like it, but think that it would suit a cool fall or winter day better than a hot summer day like today. Even so I’l going to have another cup!