Wuyi Mountain Big Red Robe

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Chocolate, Fruity, Guava, Malt, Wood, Butter, Cinnamon, Flowers, Peppercorn, Scotch, Fireplace, Salt, Caramel, Sap, Smoke, Smooth, Sweet, Toast, Char, Citrus, Cream, Dark Chocolate, Dark Wood, Earth, Floral, Grain, Leather, Lemon, Mineral, Moss, Orange, Plum, Popcorn, Roasted Nuts, Sugar, Tobacco, Vanilla, Berries, Red Wine, Roasted, Black Currant, Nutty, Tart, Astringent, Autumn Leaf Pile, Berry, Blackberry, Blueberry, Cherry, Cotton Candy, Grapes, Honey, Raisins, Raspberry, Musty, Apricot, Bread, Molasses, Stonefruit, Honeysuckle, Melon, Bitter, Grass, Roasted Barley, Brown Sugar, Smoked, Toffee, Winter Honey, Toasted Rice, Vegetal, Creamy, Camphor, Dried Fruit, Spices, Cocoa, Metallic, Soybean, Burnt Sugar, Oak, Rum, Cherry Wood, Nuts, Walnut, Rose, Pine, Powdered Sugar, Apple, Chestnut, Wet Earth, Spinach, Tangy, Espresso
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Patrick G
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 15 sec 4 g 10 oz / 291 ml

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140 Tasting Notes View all

From Verdant Tea

It took Verdant Tea 4 months of sampling to find a Big Red Robe unique and delicious enough to really justify importing. This incredible tea from the rocky cliffs of Wuyi mountain offers a side of Big Red Robe that most people have never seen. Usually all you get is caramel, chocolate and floral notes. This goes far beyond. In early steepings, there is an intriguing sensation on the tongue, almost like the metallic vibrations of a bronze cast bell, or the idea of fast moving water flowing over slate. As the tea opens up, there is a perfectly synthesized note of orange and elderberry that dominates, and lingers in the back of the throat. In middle steepings, the elderberry orange flavor splits into fruity wine grape notes, hibiscus-infused dark chocolate, and molasses cookies with crystalized Thai ginger. In late steepings, the thick beany and malty flavor of Laoshan green comes through, combined with the lilac sweetness of Tieguanyin. One of our favorite aspects of this tea is that it was expertly roasted in a way that lets so much complexity come through the caramel notes of any darker oolong. If you are interested in oolongs, or seek a very comforting yet engaging tea, give this a try for a new perspective.

About Verdant Tea View company

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140 Tasting Notes

98
806 tasting notes

Made a cup of this to take to work and just sipping it now :D such a great oolong :D

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93
294 tasting notes

After reading Geoffreys response to Amy about the amount of tea one should use in a Gaiwan I figured I would take his advice. So I used more leaf than I normally do and the result was intoxicating. So intoxicating that I only got through 2 steepings. I fell asleep quickly. The flavor was so much more pronounced. So rich and full. I always appreciate when someone gives me advice or someone else so we can all further our experiences with our beloved tea….

TeaBrat

yeah I surely need to try it

ScottTeaMan

sO, HOW MUCH TEA SHOULD YOU USE IN A GAIWAN??

Charles Thomas Draper

Read Geoffreys comment to Amy regarding the Huang Zhi Xiang Phoenix MT. Dangcong.

Geoffrey

Hi Charles. Happy to hear this worked well for you! Just a quick additional note, the suggestion I made on Amy’s post for leaf quantity in a gaiwan is what I typically do for strip-style oolongs in particular (such as Wuyi oolongs and Fenghuang oolongs, because they are so bulky and lightweight). I certainly would not use the same quantity of leaf for a ball-rolled oolong like Teiguanyin, or say a tightly curled tea like the ones from Laoshan. The weight to volume ratio for each style of tea can be dramatically different. Like for budset teas (Silver Needle, Golden Buds, or Yabao), which are also bulky and lightweight, I would use the same suggestion I made for strip-oolongs. But for Tieguanyin, or Laoshan teas I put in less, like around 2 heaping teaspoons max. These are really just my preferences though. Hope your enjoyment continues, Charles!

Best wishes with the job prospect!

Off to finish my lunch break now.

Jim Marks

It is hysterical what happens if you put too much Tieguanyin into a gaiwan after about 3 steepings.

Charles Thomas Draper

It was not Tieguanyin….

Jim Marks

nod I got that. I was responding to Geoffery’s clarification about not using large amounts with teas like a Tieguanyin — the reason being there will soon be no room in the vessel left for water. =)

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90
2816 tasting notes

As you can see I got my package from Verdant so you can expect some more reviews from me in the next few days as I am babbling away due to caffeine overload. :)

I fear this tea may have spoiled me for life. It is lovely, lovely, LOVELY! I do not have a gaiwan and have been admonished many times for this whenever I go tea tasting. I did brew the leaves in a mug for about 60 seconds and then transferred to another mug. I believe it is practically the same experience but I could be wrong.

In any case, this is an exceptionally fine oolong tea (at least to my novice palate), amber color, smells of cherrywood and has caramel and stone fruit smooth richness which is practically melting in my mouth. Vaguely reminds me of bourbon but I think this is actually an insult to the tea. :) It is hard to find words to describe this!

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 1 min, 0 sec
LiberTEAS

I am planning on putting together another Oolong sampler plus gaiwan soon, if you are interested.

LiberTEAS

PS: really glad you enjoyed this one. I enjoyed it too.

TeaBrat

I might be interested, depending on what they are. And yes, this one was fab…

LiberTEAS

I will be using any of the Oolongs that I have in my stash … if you have any suggestions … please feel free to PM me with a list, and I’d be happy to customize it for you.

TeaBrat

Right now I have a lot of my own I need to drink….. :)

Jenn

Amy oh This oolong sounds fantastic!
LiberTeas I may be very interested in that package you’re putting togther if the lovely Amy isn’t :)

TeaBrat

Jenn – I can send you a sample of my sample… ;-)

Jenn

\o/ YAY!!!!!!!!

Charles Thomas Draper

Truly a great tea….

ScottTeaMan

Lots of people use Yixing teapots for Oolongs, and not Gaiwans. I’ve been using my Bonjour tea press alot lately, only because I like to watch the tea brew. Your method of brewing is fine, if that is how you enjoy doing it. :))

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87
91 tasting notes

I enjoyed this quite a lot! I actually just did my first side-by-side(-by-side) tasting of the same tea from different vendors with some Red Robes I have in my cupboard. So I’m going to try and keep this review to this tea alone, as I’ll be writing a post this weekend comparing them more directly.

In any case, I really love a Red Robe oolong. It’s a fun tea that packs a wallop and has some seriously awesome flavor every time.

Of all the Red Robes I’ve had, this one from Verdant Tea is probably the most mild. This is not a negative thing, however. It’s just a thing. The wet leaves after the first infusion were mild and nutty in scent.

The liquor had a smooth aroma and there was something familiar about the flavor that I still can’t quite manage to place. As if it tasted of something I’ve eaten before and really enjoyed, but I’ve only actually eaten it once or twice. But it has a lovely flavor that I enjoyed very much.

The second infusion was mellower and added a touch of sweetness. Interesting enough, even though the water was still quite hot, it left a coolness in my mouth. Like a mild version of the feeling you get when drinking a mint infusion. But it didn’t taste minty, just mimicked that sensation.

I’m glad I got this tea and will be happy to finish off what I have in time!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 45 sec
Azzrian

You have had a busy morning!! :)

Dinah Saur

I sure did, Azzrian! Now that I’m finally not sick, I was able to wake up earlier than usual without much trouble and decided to enjoy myself before coming into the office!

SimpliciTEA

Glad to hear you are feeling better. And what a great idea to do side-by-side steepings! I am considering doing this with a green tea I have, one from a batch that is fresh and one that is a year old.

Dinah Saur

That would be really interesting to see a side-by-side comparison on, SimpliciTEA! I’m guessing in your case, your green is from the same vendor, just different years? I’d love to read that comparison for sure!

SimpliciTEA

Yes, I happen to still have a sample of Life in Teacup’s Frosty Spring Yunnan Roast Green from 2011 that I haven’t yet brewed up. And I recently received the same named tea from the 2012 harvest. The thing is, I think in the description of the tea she mentioned it is a slightly different tea than the last two years, so that makes the comparison a little problematic. But I still plan to try them both, possibly simply trying one on one day, and the other on the next day, but a side-by-side comparison would be even better. We’ll see. I’m glad you to hear you have an interest in the comparison though, as that will certainly spur me on!

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85
187 tasting notes

Every once in a while I come back to this Oolong just to see if I get new hints of flavor, smell or just to plain enjoy it. It is a heavier yet soothing Oolong, I love it has malty and smoky taste to it without opaquing the chocolate, fruity and sweet notes of it.

It is a VERY forgiving tea that will allow you to enjoy multiple back to back steeps or multiples through out the day and even the next one. I never do this but I happened, after being interrupted several times I went to bed and the next day I remembered the tea still in the gaiwan… upon lifting the lid the amazing smell made me crave the brew.. and it was great.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec
Spoonvonstup

Wow! I’ve never done a long steep so long. very nice

JC

Well it wasting the steeping itself that was that long. Rather the used leaves were still good the next day and the brew in the morning was still delicious. I don’t know if you were referring to the same thing. I love this tea.

Spoonvonstup

Aha! I /did/ read that wrong. I thought you’d left the tea steeping all night!

JC

It has happened before with other teas including oolong… seems like a slow and painful death to a great tea. Unless its cold brewing I guess.

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171 tasting notes

Backlogging and based almost entirely on my notes

Small update (6/14/2012): Today I did a complete second steeping session with this tea (five steepings), which finishes the sample, and I got the same results.

Experience buying from Verdant Tea http://steepster.com/places/2886-verdant-tea-online-minneapolis-minnesota

Date of Purchase/Date of Steeping/Frequency Drank: David graciously included this sample with my last order at the end of 2011; brewed up March, 2012; presently, have done only one steeping session so far.

Appearance and Aroma of dry leaf: aroma reminded me of roasted, salted-in-the-shell peanuts! It was fresher than what I remember the Cha Dao Wuyi oolongs to smell like; these leaves had the appearance of what I believe most Wuyi oolongs look like: large leaves, twisted—some bent—with a uniform dark-brown color.

Brewing guidelines: what I am guessing was three very generous TBSP dry tea (I used my hand to measure it, as its hard to get the leaves on a spoon) for three cups H2O; < my notes don’t state it but I believe I used my six-cup glass Bodum, leaf free to roam >; stevia added;
……….1st: 200F; 45"……………….mild, roasted
……….2nd: near boiling; 1.5’………a little fruitier, less roasted
……….3rd: Nearer boiling; 2.25’…what I judged to be the best steeping (less roast, more fruit)
……….4th: boiling; 3’………………..mellow, smooth, mildly-toasted, good!
……….5th: spot-on boiling; 5’…….very mild flavor, but good (“Reminds me of a roasted chili pepper”)

Color and Aroma of tea liquor: light caramel color (with a few bubbles on top); mildly roasted aroma.

Appearance and Aroma of wet leaf: Quality leaf: mostly large, whole dark-green leaves with roasted edges; aroma was rich and malty.

Value: Currently $32 / 4 OZ; although to me this seems like a lot to pay for this tea, I don’t know the standard price of Wuyi oolongs, so it may be commensurate with the quality.

Overall: I’m not certain what that note of the 5th steeping means exactly (I know, a BIG downside to backlogging : } ), but I roasted some chili peppers years ago—having brought them back fresh from a trip to New Mexico—and they were simply delicious; evidently something about this tea reminded me of them. I’ve decided not to assign a numerical rating to my review because it seems as though, on the whole—having had a number of Wuyi oolongs—I don’t care for the heavily roasted flavor that seems to be indicative of the first two steepings. Although I liked some things about the last three steepings, the taste is not something I am looking for in a tea. I have faith that David carries only the best-of-the-best (or close enough to it), so I am guessing my not liking this tea is more about my personal preferences than the tea not being ‘good’. Who knows? Maybe somewhere down the road I will develop a liking for the more darkly roasted Wuyi Oolongs.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 45 sec
Tea_is_wisdom

I think you did an awesome job on this review. My personal feelings is if your going to review a tea and score it you have to do it according to what is the quality of the tea and does it hold true to it’s tea characteristic profile. I am glad your not grading a tea on well I didn’t like it because it’s not my taste in a tea. I think more reviewers need to understand quality of a tea and the tea’s profile that your drinking and knowing is it acting like it’s suppose to even if I don’t care for this type tea or is it just a low quality tea that is not holding true to it’s tea type and character. I am sorry for being long winded but hope you got what I was saying. I just think you did an amazing job and did it in the right way.

SimpliciTEA

I appreciate your kind words. : )

I think I got what you were saying; and you NEVER have to apologize to ME for being long-winded; I am almost continually ‘blowing wind’ all over the place. : }

“… if I don’t care for this type tea or is it just a low quality tea that is not holding true to it’s tea type and character.” Determining the difference between 1) I don’t care for this type tea, and 2) it’s a low quality tea that is not holding true to it’s tea type and character, is not necessarily easy. Just this afternoon I was talking to my wife about a veggie burger she had from Trader Joe’s; she didn’t like it; I though it was interesting, leaning toward good. I tried to get her to tell me why she didn’t like it, and I didn’t get a straight answer out of her.

Anyway, how do you know if you really ‘know’ (that’s looks strange, but it’s worded properly; I guess you could substitute the word ‘understand’ for the second ‘know’) what the teas true character is? Even that—being, the teas true character—is subjective.

I am toying with the idea of doing away with giving numerical ratings to any tea. But at least for now I plan to be more leery of assigning a numerical rating to a tea if I feel I don’t really know what to expect from. It’s a tricking business any way you look at it. What’s most important (as I see it) is that I am at least aware of the complications involved.

See, there I go again, blowin’ wind …..

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85
125 tasting notes

Sipdown!

There was just about 3 grams left in the sample packet and I wish I had more to try it gongfu style. I steeped what I had left for 1 minute in 6 ounces of water.

It was yummy and not quite how I remembered it from the last time I had it. It was roasted, with caramel, a hint of fruit and sweet notes of honey. Chocolate didn’t really come to mind this time.

I’m intrigued…. can’t wait to steep it again.

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92
516 tasting notes

This tea was an amazing experience.

I have to say thank you David of Verdant Tea, as I received this as a sample! Sadly, it was a sample for the art contest (which ended a few months ago), which must have got held up by customs for no reason. But thank you! The tea is fueling my mug decoration for homemade gifts :) I’ll post pictures!

I had numerous steeps with this tea, but didn’t take notes the first time. I will the second time, as the sample was extremely generous!

The flavour notes I remember are that it was a baritone tea, but not a bass. (I’m with you on the music scale, Dinosara). Notes of caramel, super sweetness but in an earthy, grounded way. So complex! My favorite steeps were the ones with a currant/prune note to them, lately I’ve been loving to find hints of raisin in my tea.

Anyways, let the Christmas rush continue around me, I’m driving home in 45 minutes and I still have a heck of a lot to do!

Happy Holidays lovelies, I will have many notes when I return! O:

ashmanra

This sounds lovely! Verdant Tea has been getting some rave reviews on here. I should look them up.

Daisy Chubb

I feel the same! This is my first experience, but I think I might have to save up some funds and make a real order after Christmas :)

Uniquity

Free shipping to us Canadians, YAY! I ordered two ounces (one each of their blacks) and got two samples (nearly an ounce each as well) with! I want to order more from them, but need to drink some tea first!

Daisy Chubb

I hear that Uni :D Better get on it n_-

Plunkybug

How do you pick out all these notes? I think I need a tea tasting class to help connect the taste buds to the brain a bit more.

Daisy Chubb

For complex teas like this one (aka not flavoured DavidsTeas :D ), I read the tasting notes first to see what others found. Then as I sip, I try to find those notes as well! if I find them, I post them, and lately I’m finding as I drink other teas, I can pick out notes I’ve found in previous teas!

So that’s my advice to you, learning by imitation in my case :)

Plunkybug

Ahhh, ok! Thanks!

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81
6105 tasting notes

First attempt with this one. I’m using my new glass “gung-fu” teapot from DavidsTea! The only downside I’ve noticed is that it took about 8 seconds to pour the tea out, so my attempt at a 15-second infusion turned into more like 25 seconds. Hopefully that won’t be a problem. I used 3g of leaf for the pot (however many ounces it is – I will find this out later.)

First infusion (~208F/~25s):
Omg omg. I took a sip of the still super-hot tea and I think it tastes sweet and fabulous! Thrilling! Have to wait until it cools to really talk about it though. I kind of burnt my tongue…

Argh, obligatory Mother’s Day phone conversation means my tea is extra-cool now. Well, I can say that it’s sweet and tasty with a toasty aroma and flavour. A bit like a genmaicha, strangely??

Second infusion (~205F/~25s):
This one’s even sweeter :) But also completely cold. Sigh. I do have a few infusions to get to yet. Thankfully however, I didn’t screw this one up like I did the other oolong from Verdant. There’s a lingering aftertaste of… juiciness? I’m not sure. It’s good.

Third infusion (~208F/45s):
Just a bit of a toasty aroma. Again, sweet and delicious. I’m not catching any flavour nuances to be honest, but I’m definitely enjoying this cup/this tea. Although I’ve gotta admit that after cheese panel, one can get rather tired of analyzing things. (I must say, there’s a lovely aftertaste here though!)

Fourth infusion (~205F/53s):
This is too weak. I thought that as I poured it out and it was considerably lighter in colour. I’m pretty sure a longer infusion for a fifth steep would revive it though. Might try.

Overall, this is good, but I’m just not catching subtleties in the infusions. Also, I’m pretty sure that for the duration of this cheese panel (mid-late June), my palate just isn’t going to be up to figuring out differences due to palate (and mental) fatigue! So I don’t think I’ll properly be reviewing any straight teas for a while, although that doesn’t mean I’ll be drinking them.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec
Scott B

I got this as a free sample from Verdant. I’ve not tried many oolongs, but I’ve tried a couple quality Big Red Robes and for whatever reason they just don’t work for me.

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3294 tasting notes

Call me a cynic, because I am.
The Wuyi Mountain Big Red Robe I’m drinking is not the one described on this page. That one was from 2 years ago. David searched to find that one. I don’t think I ever got to try it by itself, although it was in the first sample of Imperial Breakfast Summer Blend, which Bonnie was generous enough to share with me when I first joined Steepster.

I am also not drinking the current one that is offered on Verdant’s website. That one was grown by the Li Family, who’s daughter went to school with David. I don’t think he had to search very far to find it, but I’m glad he is friends with them, because they grow some wonderful teas!

So THIS one is from last year. I think the Li family also grew this, & I have plenty of it, so I should start drinking it more often. I haven’t had a chance to compare it to any of my other Big Red Robes, and I can’t even write a decent review about it today, because just as I was starting to drink it & breath in it’s rich aroma, my last student showed up, reeking of perfume. She is a new student, & last week she reeked so heavily that the money she gave me still reeks ;p.
But she is a nice older lady, so at the end of her lesson I explained to her that I have allergies & breathing issues, & am especially sensitive to perfumes, so would she please not wear any on the days she is coming to see me. She was very nice about it.
It will take hours to clear the air in my house, & I really can’t taste much of the tea.
damn…

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