Wuyi Mountain Big Red Robe

Got a sample of this one with my recent purchase and all I can say is: WOW. I’m really starting to fall for wulongs. It has so many notes that it’s really hard to describe. It has a great smell, kind of spicy (but lovely) taste and wonderful rich aftertaste. Gotta order it ^^

This tasted like a typical high quality dark oolong. That’s not a bad thing since I’m starting to love oolongs, but I was expecting a bit more given the description.

I had this tea the other day at a co-worker’s tea gathering. I’ve had the big red robe several time before. Some of them were costly premium ones brought over by relatives from Singapore. Compared to what I’ve had, this tea not as heavily roasted as my other big red robe. The one is a bit sweeter but is missing the thick texture in premium batches. Overall this is a decent tea.

Brewed western style. 4g of leaf rinsed once with 208F water then steeped in 8oz at 208F for 1 min. The aroma is… Interesting. A little off putting to me. Notes of marijuana and brass mixed with roasted nuts. Quite a thin mouthfeel with some astringency throughout. Very earthy flavor, roasted nuts, some black coffee. I’ll have to revisit this one later.

This was my first experience with Big Red Robe. I’d heard a lot of hype about it, and was skeptical as to whether it could deliver, notwithstanding. It did. Furthermore, this tea has salvaged my interest in oolongs. I recently experienced a few that were underwhelming. This one changed that. I’m usually not given to fanciful descriptions, but this tea seems to warrant it. The scent is earthy and soulful; reminiscent of the smell of hot iron and rain on the horizon (if you can imagine those two). I’ve enjoyed three cups, thus far, and it has held up swimmingly. This is another tea that I’ll be repurchasing. It is absolutely worth trying.

This is my first Big Red Robe. The aroma is rather toasty/nutty.
Reminds me of roasting pine nuts when I was young, only without any of
the sap. The flavor is less toasty, but still nutty, and a bit like
salted butter. As the tea cools, the salt fades somewhat, and a
sweetness makes an appearance.

This is a difficult tea to rate. The flavor isn’t really what I want
in a tea. But there’s something about the taste that keeps calling
for a deeper exploration, as if, should I taste it just once more, I’d
realize that salted butter and toasted pine nuts is exactly what I
should want tea to taste like. It seems you can have good teas, and
interesting teas, and they’re not necessarily the same. This is an
interesting tea.

Great aroma, milder taste than expected. Flavor is vegetal but light enough so it doesn’t become buttery.

Wow. This was my first experience brewing gongfu style, so I’m not sure how much of this experience to attribute to the brewing method vs. the tea itself. I liked it a lot, but I can’t say I would want to drink it regularly .. does that make any sense?

Anyway, here are my summary notes:

Liquor: Deep amber-gold.
Aroma: Leaves have a very strong smell of (polished?) wood.

Tasting summary: Flavor begins light and very weakly floral, followed by (especially on the later steeps) spicy peppercorns and a bit of a numbing feeling — as if I were drinking Sichuan peppercorn oil! The wood which I smelled the aroma then enters the flavor, but is quickly succeeded by a strong, very dry cinnamon, with a somewhat chalky texture. The dryness abates, and we finish with a warm burn in the throat, like a good scotch.

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Complete notes:

Warm+dry smell: Extremely strong smell of polished wood. Very earthy. Dry dirt. Weak summer flowers.

1st steep: Liquor is a dark amber-gold. Very dark wood notes. Coffee. Finish is a bit plastic-y in the mouth, and a very dry cinnamon.

2nd steep: Wood aroma gets stronger. Much stronger finish: cinnamon taste and dryness is now accompanied by a strange chalky texture. Very little brightness in this cup, except perhaps on very first taste.

3rd steep: I smell butter in the aroma now. Not much change otherwise.

4th steep (~45 sec by now): So dry! Makes my tongue stick to the top of my mouth. And a spicy, numb feeling, like a Sichuan peppercorn. Warm, burny, dry finish — like a scotch.

5th steep (~1 min): Not much change — looks like we’re done.

I was sent a sample of this beautiful oolong. This is an exceptional oolong tea that allows several wondrous steeps. It is a beautiful amber color, very smooth… and has caramel smoke fruity smooth richness which is hard to describe. If you can snag the 5 for $5 offer from Verdant they will send you 5 teas to sample…This tea was so dang good. Sip down and savor if you get the opportunity!

I had an opportunity to compare this Big Red Robe back to back with Amazon vendor GOARTEA. Everyone has their own personal preferences, but for me, there is no contest. This Big Red Robe is much smoother and more delicious. Even brewing it gong fu style with 30+ seconds steeps doesn’t introduce any bitterness. I could make this a daily drinker. It’s very good oolong.