Pre-Chingming Da Hong Pao 2012 (ZO77)

I did long steepings with this for the first time, yesterday.

I freely admit that at this point I am extremely spoiled by my semi-gongfu double gaiwan style of steeping most tea most of the time. Working from home, and so having access to the kettle, all the hardware, towels, etc. means I can make great cups of tea all day every day.

So, on those occasions I make larger batches and do longer steepings, I have to remind myself that of course the results aren’t going to be as dramatic.

The balance in this tea just amazes me. Whether steeped long or short, the roasted notes one expects in da hong pao are always playing this complex game of tag with the more lady orchid type notes.

I was pleased to discover that while a Western steep doesn’t sparkle the way a gongfu steep does, the result is still a well balanced, excellent cup of extremely refreshing oolong tea.

I’ve had this tea for about a month but decided to get around to trying it today. I should have been doing my copyediting homework, but instead I was goofing off all day and then took a nap so I’ll probably be up kinda late trying to get it done.

I followed Upton’s steeping instructions and decided to steep this for 4 minutes at 190F in my For Life teapot. Someday I will need to gongfu this, but right now I’m running a bit short on time. This really does seem like a baby dong ha pao, it has the traditional wuyi rock tea sort of flavor but much softer and gentler. I’m getting some peachy notes as well as a gentle cocoa element that is really quite a surprise. And loads of caramel – yum! This is really quite delicious and has a soft mouthfeel that lingers.

Definitely enjoyable for an evening/afternoon tea – now off I go to be productive!

Someone mentioned I should try this tea, I’m pretty certain is was Jim Marks. I was drinking some oolong and mentioned how I like the lighter roasted ones and he mentioned this one. Out of the lighter roasted oolongs, I prefer dan congs. I’m glad I did try this one.

The dry leaves are a nice dark brown with the mineral-stone notes that I find in all da hong paos. But this one also seemed to have a slight floral note. When steeped, the leaves are actually green with the edges being brown. There was the obvious roasty mineral-stone notes. There was also a hint of a stone fruit.

The taste of this tea is very nice. It’s, again, lightly roasty with mineral-stone notes. There is a juicy quality and some pastry note. I’m also getting a slight floral note that I had smelled earlier. This is a light tea, it’s not in your face with it’s flavors or roasty notes. It’s soft, like a classy lady who wears a dress tight enough to let you know she’s a woman, but loose enough to let you have some imagination. She’s not throwing it all in our face or letting it all hang out. She’s quiet, but not without a mind. This is a very lovely tea that yielded many steeps, and I tried it western style. I’ll have to brew it gaiwan style to see how the flavor profile changes over many steeps with less water. Thank Jim Marks for recommending me this tea!