Da Hong Pao

This was the final Red Robe oolong I tasted in my side-by-side(-by-side) comparison this morning.

The wet leaves had a nice spiciness to them, but with a touch of sweetness. The sweetness sort of had that characteristic of something that wasn’t initially sweet being broken down to create the sweetness (like how when you eat a saltine cracker and chew it a while, your saliva breaks it down into sugars and it becomes sweet in your mouth.) I’m not sure how else to describe it, unfortunately.

The first infusion had a very light scent, but the aroma I could pick up was clearly spicy and peppery. The flavor of the tea was nice and strong with a somewhat peppery flavor on the outside.

The second infusion elicited a more directly spicy aroma, but the tea itself was much milder compared to the first infusion. It was lovely and roasty, like a roast pumpkin that was lightly spiced.

Totally a fan of this tea!

I love the fact that certain cultures use various teas to signify the coming of seasons. For example, Da Hong Pao is often used in tandem with the coming of Fal—just as the weather is starting to turn chilly. This tea will definitely warm you up on a cool Autumn morning.

We heated the water to just below the boiling point and allowed the tea to steep for 10 seconds, adding five seconds for each re-brew. The aroma was very potent and reminded me of flowers or wood. I didn’t actually care for the initial taste, I think because of the woodiness. The aftertaste, however, I found to be quite pleasant. The tea left a subtle salty-sweetness on the back of the throat that stayed for several minutes after drinking.

This tea has a full taste that is bright and barky with a hint of citrus. Longer steep times result in the taste being fiery, spicy and meat-like.