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TeaEarleGreyHot drank Da Hong Pao Superfine Big Red Robe by Tealyra (formerly Tealux)

194 tasting notes

Da Hong Pao Superfine | Big Red Robe. Tealyra.
Lotsa names for this tea, but a rose by any name… or a turd by any name… smells the same. I brewed as directed, Western. I brewed gongfu. I went for multiple steepings. Yes, I could taste the “mineral” essence, and I definitely got the astringency. I did not get the promised sweetness. I did not get the floral notes in the finish. I did not get fruitiness as it cooled. I did not get the promised “mouthwatering” flavors. I really wanted to, and I’ve returned to this tea repeatedly across seven years, always wanting… hoping… praying… that it would finally pay off. It is said to improve with age. But in the end, I just feel duped. Minerality is another name for rocks (and one name for the tea is rock oolong); the effort of charcoal-roasting the leaves is another way of saying you tried to smoke-off the defects; aging the tea also ages the drinker, whose sense of taste eventually declines; multiple steeps extract out astringency, and the mouth feels faux-sweetness at the relief of not being puckered up by another cup of this swill. Ultimately I became tired of trying to find goodness in a mouthful of wet rocks tasting of carbonized wood. THE KINGS NEW CLOTHES ARE REVEALED! It is as if they took the discarded, spent leaf from an RTD black tea factory and baked it dry, then repackaging it for sale with a hundred promises and a fast getaway car on standby. This tea is a waste of time, money, and spring water. Do not buy this tea, which I rate as 15. Do not waste your money, time, cupboard-space, or friendships with this farm byproduct. I am not only disappointed, I’m angry.

RTD = Ready To Drink

Flavors: Astringent, Charcoal, Mineral

Preparation

205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 30 sec 3 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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Life is too short to drink bad tea!
Pan-American: Left-coast reared (on Bigelow’s Constant Comment and Twinings’ Earl Grey) and right-coast educated, I’ve used this moniker & Email since the glory days of AOL in the 90’s, reflecting two of my lifelong loves— tea and ‘Trek.

Now a midwestern molecular biologist (right down to the stereotypical Hawaiian shirts), I’m finally broadening the scope of my sippage and getting into all sorts of Assamicas, from mainstream Assam CTCs to Taiwan blacks & TRES varietals, to varied Pu’erhs. With some other stuff tossed in for fun. I enjoy reading other folks’ tasting notes (thank you). I’ve lurked here from time to time and am now adding a few notes of my own to better appreciate the experience. Note that my sense of taste varies from the typical, for example I find stevia to be unsweet and bitter. My dislike of rooibos may be similarly rooted in genetics, which impacts perceptions of many flavors, from asparagus to stevia to cilantro.

I don’t work for a tea vendor, and I’m not a professional tea sommelier. And I don’t taste every nuance, hint of flavor or note of aroma, nor am I trained to describe those that I do detect. But I taste enough to have opinions, and do my best to be descriptive. Sensory preferences can shift from day to day and person to person, so numerical ratings are kinda bogus, especially between and among various people. But there are individual trends, and I try to reflect that. As reference points for my ratings, I give Lipton Black Tea bags “orange pekoe and pekoe, cut black” a score of 65 because it is widely available and profoundly consistent. I view it as just okay. I would give plain, hot, quality spring water a rating of 25, and I buy Crystal Geyser brand for brewing because my local well water is stinky and discolored, and my filtration & softening system leaves it salty and unpleasant. Tea should make the commercial Spring Water better, not worse, so a rating below 25 speaks for itself.

I am conversationally friendly but absolutely not here looking for dates or money, nor to sell anything. If I’ve started to follow you, I don’t mean to be creepy, it only means you recently posted something I liked reading, or it was about an interesting tea or event. And I’ve recently discovered that the Steepster system only notifies me of new posts written by people I follow. If you follow me, I won’t assume anything. If I do not follow you, it isn’t a snub—you’re still a good human being!
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Avatar:. Arrival in Athens, Greece, on vacation.

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Chicagoland-USA

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