Premium AA Da Hong Pao Wu Yi Shan Rock Oolong tea

(Spring 2023 harvest) Dark amber. Wow. Smells like a botanical garden. Nice roasted note, but such a floral bouquet. Brisk palate. Second steep loses florals, but still satisfying. One of my favorite yancha so far.

Am running a little tea demo course and ordered teas from YS due to a very limited budget and bc I didn’t want to gamble with Verdant again lol. Anyway, have 6 teas, which I ran through today with a friend (more beginner to tea) over the course of 4 hours, and so these are quick impressions and transcribed from notes, and are somewhat haphazardly done.

Spring 2021. 2.1g, 60ml gaiwan (practical volume is less), 212f brita filtered water. Dry had the same smell as the YS Huang Mei Gui. Wet leaf was more mild in smell. Taste has stronger roast hint compared to HMG, but not strong comparatively to other oolongs I usually drink. Less floral, slight sweet, some spice, slight drying at end. Cinnamon aspect to gaiwan lid, leaves are slightly floral. Roast is more upfront, aftertaste is still slight minty & slightly sweet, with some sharp undertones. Not a ton of complexity here and didn’t last terribly long, but I expected much worse for the price. Last two steeps were a sharp honeyed taste, slightly floral.

0.26c/g. Quite impressed with this one, given the price. Friend enjoyed it as well. I’m unlikely to order more since I’m used to drinking “better” oolong I guess, but this one really made me question those experiences for how expensive they are vs. how much better they are. One of those things that for a newer drinker, might be harder to reason through. Subjective value is hard to quantify, I suppose, but paying for the increased complexity and everything that goes into the increased quality, and the nuances that are easier to distinguish with additional experience.

I got my YS package today. :)

The dry leaves are dark, long, twisted, whole leaves. It has a roasted nuts aroma, along with a floral aroma, some sweet tobacco. The taste of the early infusions had hints of sweet tobacco, earthiness, floral, borderline perfumey. As it progressed the earthiness toned down, roasted nuts emerged more, peanuts especially. I really liked it in the later infusions, less earthy, more minerals, more roasted nuts, less perfumey, some raisins, sugarcane, fruits, peanuts. There was very little smoke, it was more a toasted, roasted taste with a lot of honey sweetness, fruity sweetness, and lots of flavor. Bold, but balanced, clean. Overall, it’s sweet, roasty, and minerally has a super soft mouthfeel, and a long sweet minerally finish. No bitterness, a little dryness but it adds to it.

Do I like this better than the Wild Da Hong Pao Spring 2018? Nope… It’s less nutty, fewer cocoa notes and more floral. Is it a good Da Hong Pao? Yes, no question.

7g, 212°F, 130ml, rinse, 11 steeps: 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 1m5s, 1m15s, 1m30s, 2m.

Great Da Hong Pao
YS Paos are really worth every penny

Wow! Right off the bat, this is a great tea. The rinse smells very good, with a sort of roasty/stonefruit aroma, which also comes in the flavor of the first steep. The strongest flavors I notice are similar to slightly overripe grapes or white wine. Probably thanks to the dryness, those flavors last in the mouth long after sipping. It brews strong for many steeps and doesn’t change a lot, which is fine because it’s very good. The dry cup aroma is dominated by a honey/honeysuckle or sugarcane aroma, which also sometimes creeps into the flavor. There is a slight cooling effect in the mouth. A very good tea at a great value, so I highly recommend it.

Premium AA Da Hong Pao Wu Yi Shan Rock Oolong Tea by yunnan sourcing.

Review:

Gongfucha; clay teapot.

Dry leaf: sweet, Spices, toasty, roasted nuts, chocolate.

Wet leaf: sweet, seaweed, chocolate, raisins, grapes. Roasted nuts, peanuts, vegetal.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZjhLc2AS-3/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZjhNxEAUFE/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

Light steep; I smell/taste:
(smell) slight —> peanuts, grapes, wine (?).
(Taste) slight -→ vegetal, peanuts, roasted nuts, metallic(?), sweet, chocolate, sweet, seaweed.

Medium steep; I smell/taste:
(Smell) light —> vegetal, floral, grapes, wine(?), peanuts.
(Taste) light -→ grapes, floral, vegetal, wine(red?), peanuts, roasted, roasted nuts(?), cashews(?).
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZjhIwhAddC/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

Heavy steep; I smell/taste:
(Smell) slight —> grapes, wine(white), peanuts.
(Taste) medium -→ peanuts, seaweed, roasted, cashews(?), roasted nuts, grapes. Wine(white), champaign(?).

All in all a yummy tea! Nice flavour, aroma, and cha qi. I rate a 95/100.

this tea is hard to over-brew and very clean!

where to buy: https://yunnansourcing.com/products/premium-aa-da-hong-pao-wu-yi-shan-rock-oolong-tea

light amber colour with aromas of celery, wood, peaches, raspberries, coffee and wet rock.
mostly follows through with similar taste profile. took a little coaxing to get out, but perhaps my leaf:water ratio wasn’t very high. i didn’t weigh
anyway, i’m enjoying this this evening, and one of these days shall compare to the non-premium da hong pao from yunnansourcing

This one helped me calm down and recover the lao ban zhang puer. It has a warm, calming nature that seems to be typical of da hong pao.
Nice clear broth with good flavor. Well rounded with no smoke, dry mouth, or roughness of any kind. Again very pleasant on the body and mind. I could drink this often. There is a bright crystalline quality to the brew.
Flavor is hard to describe…almost peachy.
I used a gaiwan. Will try yi xing pot next time it seems to add depth and texture for roasted oolongs.