Ban Yan Wuyi Rock Oolong Tea Da Hong Pao "Big Red Robe" 2014 Spring Medium-Roasted tea is exceptional.
Da Hong Pao oolong tea is famous for its unique floral fragrance and special Wuyi rock tea taste and fragrance. All Wuyi rock Oolong teas have this unique rock tea taste and fragrance; other Oolong teas do not possess these unique characteristics. The rock tea taste and fragrance can be described by four characteristics: aroma, cleanness, sweetness and animation. Unlike Tie Guan Yin teas, which focus on the high fragrance, Wuyi rock teas concentrate on the taste. The taste is a deep and heavy one which you can feel after drinking the tea soup while the fragrance provides a background highlight. Though this tea is from the Ban Yan growing region, its rock fragrance and taste is still quite strong; it presents wonderful highlights of fresh, soft tea soup with clean flower aroma and strong sweetness.
All of our Wuyi rock tea is baked extremely slowly using charcoal and only arrives in the market in August of every year. So the new Wuyi rock tea may still has a little bit charcoal taste during early infusions. As the tea breathes, the charcoal aroma will disappear slowly and the tea's original taste and aroma will come out. So, if you would like to forego the charcoal taste, let your tea air out for at least 24 hours.
Harvest time: 2014
Picking standard: one bud with two leaves
Shape: tight bar shaped tea leaves
Dried tea color: dark brown color
Aroma: natural and fresh unique fragrance
Tea soup color: bright golden yellow
Taste: freshness, softness, mellow, thickness, unique flower taste
Steeping vessel: Gaiwan (120cc) or Yixing tea pot( 120cc)
Steeping guidelines: Gaiwan or Yixing pot (120cc): 5-7grams per time (based on personal taste); the water temperature should be approximately 98°C (209°F).
1) Warm up: First, warm up the vessels, pour out the hot water;
2) Smell dried tea fragrance: Then, put the teas in the vessels. Cover the Gaiwan or Yixing pot, and shake the vessels for about 3 seconds. Then smell the dried tea leaves aroma.
3) Wash the tea: Pour the hot water into the vessel and pour out the water within 8 seconds;
4) First infusion: Pour the hot water into the vessel again and steep for about 10-25 seconds (based on personal taste)
5) Additional infusions: the time for the successive infusions can be 5 seconds longer than the previous infusion.
Infusion numbers: at least 9 times
For more information, see Wuyi Rock Oolongs
Learn more about tea on our site here and on our blog.