Wuyi Mountain Big Red Robe

Having oolong seems to make me want more oolong. So, now I’m drinking this while watching Stargate Atlantis. It smells nicely, a bit maltly and a bit roasty. The flavour is very sweet and creamy. Makes a nice smooth and mellow cup.

My Sunday afternoon pick me up. Not sure why this is called big red robe….. Better look that up…
I’m not tasting any flavors at all. I used the recommended amounts of tea and water…
Will reevaluate later

This was a sample Verdant sent along with my recent order of LB. This one is tasty, but it doesn’t seem extraordinarily different from other oolongs. This is one of my friend’s favourites, but it’s just another tasty tea to me.

This is a sample sipdown.

Super. This tea is just excellent!

I like finding finer teas that do well with a Western-style brewing. I admit that I tend toward laziness, and there’s just no time in the AM to pull out the gong fu set. While I expect that this tea would potentially be even more amazing brewed with short steeps, it was also wonderful with one longer steep in the french press.

The aroma was nutty and roasty. It had a very smooth taste, and I was a little sad when the cup was finished, since I didn’t bring any of this particular loose tea to work. I will get around to trying this gong fu style, but I think I’ll also bring some to work and try it grandpa style tomorrow. It had zero bitterness and I think it would be a good, non fussy tea for work.

This was one of the teas set out for samples today at Verdant. I guess I don’t have a sensitive palate (also I don’t have a ton of experience) because I didn’t get a lot of complexity from this tea. It tasted mainly roasted to me and was pretty good, but not my favorite oolong.

This review is from the Autumn 2013 crop.

I’ve steeped this Western style and it was good but did not blow me away. So I broke out the gaiwan and used the parameters on Verdant’s web page. ZOMG! It’s like a completely different tea :)

My palate is too uneducated to do complete justice to this tea. To mangle an old phrase, I don’t know much about oolongs, but I know what I like. And I really liked this!

Intense in the early steeps. I perceived the initial flavors as a super-intense loquat, but Verdant calls it “tart cherry and juicy nectarines”. OK, I guess I could also call it that. Also got a hint of cloves in the first steep and distinct cinnamon in the aftertaste throughout the middle ones. Stone fruits in the retro-nasal and sweetness in the cooling cup. Citrus notes emerged at the end.

I took this through 16 steeps over three and a half hours, and it was an incredible ride. I remembered seeing an email a week or so ago from Verdant that it was back in stock, so I headed over there to order some more. Oh noes! They’re out :(

Well I have enough for a few more sessions so I will sip it sparingly until the new harvest arrives.

The dry leaves have a nice roast & sweet burnt sugar aroma. Nice big dark brown twisted and uniform leaves.
Brewed, the liquor is clear and golden. It has a roasted flavor but lightly roasted. Flavors of cream as well. Then there is a floral note as you breathe out. There is a tiny touch of sweet too.
Very nice and balanced Big Red Robe tea!!!
Thank u Terri Harplady for this sample!!!

Got this as a sample today with my first VerdantTea order. My very first oolong love this tea very fragrant so nice am on my first steep.Complex flavor.

Nice

Dry leaves smell of musty apricot. The liquor hits with a smokey bitterness upfront, followed by a gentle fruitiness. The fruit, unlike the aroma of the dry leaves, is plum and raspberry. The texture is flat, maybe slightly mineral, and light amber in color. Successive steeps grow more bitter and smokey, loosing its distinctive fruitiness. This teas bitterness was not overwhelming, but it was on the edge. Would have gotten a higher rating if it was just slightly less bitter. All-in-all a very interesting tea, and enjoyable. Different from other Da Hong Pao I’ve had.