Rasseru said

Anyone know a good Da Hong Pao or Bei Dou Yi Hao?

Ive tried about 5 different ones, cheaper end of the scale. some were nice, tasted like a roasted Oolong, the one ive got at the moment i really dont like. watery and all i get is charcoal, too much leaf or overbrew and it adds bitter chocolate.

From the same source I purchased other Wu Li and they are delicious, the Dan Congs were more or less exactly the same as others I have tried, whereas this is just off. I dont know whats up with it, or is this how the Big Red Robe actually is?

I keep reading that a good one is really nice, and have yet to experience this.

Anyone chime in with an example of a lovely one or at least some knowledge of what it should taste like?

24 Replies
MzPriss said

I LOVE the Wldcrafted DHP from Whispering Pines, it’s my favorite at the moment and I love the Bei Dou from Tao Tea Leaf

Rasseru said

I think your review has just been read on the tao tea leaf one :)

Rasseru said

Yeah it is yours. Now, the dhp ive got has zero cream at all.. And they should be similar, both clones of the same plant, right? No cream or oil at all. Wonder what’s up with it.

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I second MzPriss on Whispering Pines WCDHP and TTL bei dou. They are both fantastic. You should know though that wildcrafted is “greener” than your typical DHP, not as roasted. Much fruitier IMO. Whispering Pines has also a regular DHP that I love very much.

Good quality yancha can have a certain bite or astringency but should never have an overly burnt taste. They are usually sweet, fruity and nutty. They require very short steeps, cause they can turn bitter. But when done right, they are so rewarding!

Rasseru said

I’ve tried over 50g of this and i cant get it right. Less leaf, more leaf, 10 sec 1st steep
Gongfu, up to 3 minutes western style.

The steeped leaves smell nice though lol

MzPriss said

Wow that was a way much better answer than mine! S0 – what she said.

@rasseru, When you say you’ve tried 50g, which one are you referring to?

@mzPriss, we both forgot to mention…cannabis!! ;-)

Rasseru said

my DHP :)

You mentioned “cheaper end of the scale”…I suspect your bad experience has to do more with quality than brewing parameters.. Really good DHP isn’t cheap unfortunately. But it’s also possible you’re just not a fan of it :-)

nycoma said

the wcdhp from wp is the first and only dhp ive tried so far and i agree, it brews nicely. i didnt know that the wildcrafted is fruitier though, now im interested in the higher roasted one..

Rasseru said

$20/100g..i’ll get some samples of the ones you mentioned and then see if they are nice or not.

My previous eBay dhp were nice and got finished pretty quickly!

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Rasseru said

Might ask if they can send me samples in a letter. P&p to the uk is usually annoying

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I was told by someone I (and many others) trust that the best can be found here : http://www.cliffthreetea.com/product-category/zheng-yan-wu-yi-cliff-tea/

I’m going to trust it as I am unable to justify $32 for 8g of Bei Bou currently; eventually I will though :)

Rasseru said

Haha yeah, have seen $5/g. Crazy price!

Thanks for the tip on cliffthreetea

Ive ordered 10g dhp from a UK seller so it might arrive tomorrow just to check im not crazy.

Rasseru said

Aha! I think master huang is the same master that essence of tea use, with the same big red price tag that I also saw, albeit on a different website.

When the government gave back the land to the farmers, he was appointed guardian of the da Hong pao trees.

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Rasseru, we usually brew DHP with a small teapot or a Chinese gaiwan. Thus, its unique “rock rhyme” can be more concentrated and be kept. We put about 1 gram of tea leaves for 25 ml of water. Thus, for a small teapot / gaiwan of 100ml, you can put 1 teaspoon of tea leaves (adjust according to your preference). Steep for 45sec to 1 min for the first time. Add 30 sec for an additional infusion. Don’t miss to smell the tea leaves right after you pour out the water from the teapot. It makes you more enjoying the toasted and rocky flavors of the DHP.

If you like wuyi rock tea, you may also try another one called – Narcissus (Shui Hsien / Water Sprite). It gives an aroma of the cassia bark. I especially love it among the wuyi rock teas.
:)

Rasseru said

I think mine must not be to my taste. Having tried this exact method it still isn’t very good. the leaves smell nice but the taste isn’t as good.

I like shui hsien very much.

From my experience, not everyone like DHP though it is one of the most famous Chinese tea types. In Hong Kong, we serve special guests with DHP or taste it in special occasions.

My relative from the US tasted my DHP last time. She commented that the dry tea leaves smelt like dark chocolate and she loved the the rocky smell of the brewed tea leaves. However, she don’t like the taste of the DHP at all. I then let her tried other rock teas and she loved the Shui Jin Gui and Shui Hsien. Thus, it is much more on one’s preference.

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Grill said

Dhp tends to be on the heavier side of roasting when it comes to yancha. If your getting nothing but charcoal it could be a couple of things. First the roast could still be too fresh. High roast teas in general need resting, sometimes as much as 5 years or more before they truly shine. The other is how it’s roasted. Lots of cheaper yanchas are full blast roasted under high heat. This covers up lots of flaws in lower quality yancha. Sea dyke is a good example of this style. These will be more drinkable fresh then the other style of high roast. The other style is a long low heat roast that may take place over days and multiple session. This style needs resting in my experience to truly shine but is far superior when done right on quality leaf.

Having tried EoT’s yancha, It’s excellent and I’ve had my best yancha session ever with theirs. As someone that doesn’t drink yancha often, buying semi bulk premium leaf appeals to me since when I do decide to drink that style of tea, I want it to be as good as possible.

One other thing on dhp, for the most part it’s blended from other yancha, rou gui and shuixian are the most common blends. Bei duo and qidan are your best bets when it comes to getting close to what dhp is really supposed to be. Honestly with yancha being so similar just go by a individual tea by tea basis.

One more thing I forgot. Brewing yancha should be done with a heavy hand. I never weigh it I go by how full the pot is. Half full would be the minimum, less than that and it comes out watery and without the “yun” aka rock flavor. I’ll go 3/4 to full and sometimes add more after the first steep. Another method is chaozhou which consists of crushing leaves for an extremely potent cup. This requires some knowledge and practice to get right. This is something I haven’t even attempted yet

Rasseru said

Ah right. This is maybe making more sense now, after reading more on the subject, about high roast teas needing resting. This is a 2014.

When i added more leaf the to my gaiwan the roast was too much.so making me think wrongly that less leaf was needed, rather than thinking storage is needed. And the result bring a watery cup.

So perhaps this is one to be left for a few years

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A DHP I can recommend is Teasenz’s it is probably the sweetest and creamiest of DHP I have had, granted I have not had the much lauded Whispering Pines one yet…I need to rectify that :P

I really like mine heavily charcoal roasted, and super strong, basically loading my yixing up and flash steeping it, so the Teasenz’s one being soooo sweet was a really surprising treat!

Rasseru said

i will try the loaded gaiwan when im brave enough, if that doesnt work im burying it in the garden for a few years :)

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Rasseru said

well ive just loaded the gaiwan up. like all the way to the top. first flash and its better. There is body to fill up that big red robe now.

Its still a bit too charcoal tasting for me. i think it just needs to age a bit judging by the responses. theres a bit too much bite to it

Rasseru said

2nd steep, and wow, its REALLY roasty. its leaving a layer of ash on my tongue while making it go a bit numb. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

edit* 3rd is a lot more chocolatey.. its a lot nicer. thanks for the help people. but yeah the roast needs to mellow a bit :)

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

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