Da Hong Pao

What a wonderful tea! I built my first successful snowman today and I needed something toasty to warm me up. I recently just received this and was waiting for the right moment to try it. The leaves are long curled roasted fingers. They smell beautiful and of a floral charcoal. I put these tasty branches into my gaiwan and brewed gong fu. I washed once to arise the aroma. The aroma begun as a smoky floral enticement. It reminded me of a deep dark TGY. I could smell honey, nectar, and a sweet undertone. I steeped in increments of 5 seconds to avoid astringency and bitterness. Once I reached 90 seconds I began increasing by 15 and 30 increments. The initial flavor was bold and smoked. It tasted as a smooth coal. I love a good roasted flavor that isn’t too “dusty.” The amazing thing about this particular tea is that the smokiness slowly changed. I noticed undertones of sugar cane and honey suckle. These undertones began to become more dominant as the brew went on. Upon reaching the last steep, the brew was mostly a light and fruity taste. The liquor begun as a deep dark crimson and finished as an amber light. I was able to get 14 steepings out my gaiwan. I could have possible been granted more, but I didn’t want to heat anymore water. This tea is a perfect oolong for winding down. I am also very happy about it since I got it at a great price. As a note for anyone, watch your water temperture. I noticed if the water was just off the stove boiling, it would cause for a bitter roast flavor. I let mine cool for a few seconds before pouring over.

Oooh! This brewed up so very rich. It smelled almost charcoal smoky, which is a very nice thing.
The taste is solid, woody, very robust, with, yes, a hint of roasted smoke to it.
I really enjoyed this. Thanks be to Ost who was the giver of the sample!

Thank you Tea at Sea for this sample. In the bag it had a strong charcoal smell. Brewed up really rich and dark. Malty, charcoal. I’m not picking up the floral that others got. Maybe it will come through more in a second infusion. I’m not used to such roasty teas either so the dark roasted flavour could be overwhelming my taste buds. It’s a good tea but I think I prefer the light oolongs.

Mmm a nice cup of dark oolong. My sister in law gave me a tiny one cup teapot that I had to try. I did multiple brewings of this tea in it.
I used approx 2 tbsp leaves to approx 7 oz water. I did a quick rinse of the leaves and discarded the rinse water.
My first brewing was for 30 secs I tasted a hint of roasty flavour that I have come to expect from these dark oolongs but mostly got floral notes with a very slight bitter taste.
My second infusion was for approx a minute and I definitely smell and taste more of the roasted notes, still with a floral and a very slight “bitter” undertone. The colour of the tea is a nice and dark.
My third infusion was for approx a minute and 15 sec I am not getting quite a much roasted flavour as the last infusion but the floral is still there.
I can probably get more infusions out of these leave but that will have to wait until later, as will trying this for an extended brew in my tea glass at work.

Sipdown (117)! I only had about two teaspoons of this left, and I realized that I’ve never tried cold brewing a Da Hong Pao before. Given that I love roasty cold brews, I thought this would be perfect! So I took the last of my sample and stuck it in the fridge for 16 hours. In hindsight, I should’ve taken it out sooner because it was a bit strong, but I never remember to take my cold brews out on time.

Anyway, I’m so glad that I tried this one out as a cold brew because now I love da hong paos both hot and iced. There was that signature sweet oolong flavor with the roastiness of a dark oolong. I think that between this one and the hot version, the cold brew is more naturally sweet.

So, this is good news and bad news. Good news because I love it! Bad news because I’m rapidly running out of da hong pao, and cold brews use up more leaf. Oh well, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the rest of this one for now!

I steeped this Western Style, 1 tsp in 8 oz of near boiling water. I might try this gongfu style in the future, but I don’t want to use this tea too quickly, so less tea lets me have more pots.
Steep 1: 3 min. The taste profile was roasted and oolong-y. Maybe a little floral. Definitely rich and smooth with a pleasant astringent bitterness. Yum! This is definitely a high quality tea with a depth of flavor. It required attention, too. I did not want to just sip it and ignore it, it kept catching my attention!
Steep 2: 3 min. Flavors still strong – unchanged, except a touch less better and less malty. But, the flavors were still smooth and it still had a rich quality to it.
Steep 3: 3 min, 30 sec. Significantly lighter in both color and flavor. There is a touch more of a floral taste to this steeping, but overall, the flavor is a bit washed out. I left part of it in the pot to steep longer, and it came out better, but just a little astringent.
Steep 4: 5+ min. Light in color, a pleasant pale gold. Very light in flavor – pretty much just a whisper. I think I need to use more tea leaves to get more steepings. Still pleasant, though, and not bitter.
I really love this tea. It is my first experience with a Da Hong Pao, and I look forward to trying more.