First, you have to understand what appeals to me about this tea in order to understand why I would go through all this. Da Hong Pao was one of the first oolongs I’ve tried in my life. In those days especially, I belonged to a privileged circle of acquaintances due to my employment, I was able to enjoy several very rare, very high-quality teas early on in my tea career and thus, my experience with DHP started out in quite an interesting place. I didn’t drink any teas brewed strong in those days, nothing gong-fu, or even considered to be ‘hybrid’. All teas were very much brewed in a Western style, I was very strict about preparing every tea the exact same way to judge the merits of the leaf on an equal playing field.
A Ratio of 1g tea: 75g water, starting from water at rolling boil, and steeping for 2 minutes; and I did enjoy that.
I recall the flavor of grapefruit not being very common in tea, and once I finally discovered it in DHP, it was a mental anchor for me. Since then I have observed that it’s almost exclusively in DHP, and when it’s brewed weak, the grapefruit notes can stand out easier.
Once I became exposed to more and more yancha (Wuyi rock teas), especially when others were brewing them, I noticed that this grapefruit element presented itself less and less, sometimes not at all. There was another dimension to these rock oolongs, one that I wasn’t the fondest of initially, the concept of gan, which after my recent tests, I must conclude that I don’t enjoy the tea without it anymore and that this article is my admission that perhaps gan is more important to me than grapefruit is now.
I suppose ‘bitterness’ can be categorized by what happens at the end in one of 3 ways. It starts bitter and ends bitter, starts bitter and ends sweet, or starts bitter and ends acidic. Chewing on a pill like ibuprofen or Tylenol is bitter without redeeming features. Drinking Kuding tea is bitter that changes to sweet. Drinking DHP shows the bitterness which changes to acidic brightness. My mission was: find out how to brew DHP so that I get good concentration + grapefruit. In the end, my mission failed. What I was able to salvage from the experience though could only be referred to as a great success from an alternative point of view.
This DHP when brewed well can give the sensation that your tongue becomes the smoldering embers beneath a pile of burning Sri Lankan cinnamon bark. As you exhale from your mouth, the breath is fragrant, carrying something like the spiciness of dried ginger, and this breath ‘fans the coals’ and stimulates a very deep, glowing hot flavor. When the tea liquor initially hits the tongue the buzzing sensation of Sichuan peppers dances along the taste buds leaving footprints of gan and dried dark fruits such as red dates.
How did I get here?
Teas brewed with water boiled in the iron kettle:
1) 1:50, 2m, boiling, brewed in Shigaraki clay houhin, drank from clay Bizen cup. Aromatically it was pleasantly strong, I would like more potency in the flavor though. The fruitiness of the tea is at a good level. I am drinking this from a clay cup which I realize is unfair because the cup makes a huge difference in DHP.
2) 1:50, 2m30s, boiling, brewed in Shigaraki clay houhin, drank from glass cup Redid the test steeping it a little longer to coax out more richness, and drank from a glass cup. It was good.
3) 1:40, 2m, boiling, brewed in glass, drank from glass cup Aromatically great, I think the flavor is initially too bitter now with no redeeming qualities to offset it though.
4) 1:60, 2m, boiling, brewed in glass, drank from glass cup Too weak…
5) 1:45, 2m, boiling, brewed in glass, drank from glass cup Dead zone? There is nothing appealing about this
6) 1:50, 3m, boiling, brewed in Shigaraki clay houhin, drank from glass cup Very good, I still want more flavor though.
7) 1:50, 3m, boiling, brewed in PREHEATED Shigaraki clay houhin which was submerged in hot water while brewing, drank from glass cup I’d say the flavor is more or less the same as 6) but perhaps slightly sharper
8) 1:50, 2m, boiling, brewed in PREHEATED Shigaraki clay houhin which was submerged in hot water while brewing, drank from glass cup This was probably better than 7) honestly, but I’m not convinced it is a much different result than 1) or 2)
9) 1:75, 2m, boiling, brewed in glass, drank from glass cup *shrugs* It’s ok. Nothing special. I think at this point I should be completely blind to delicate flavors of the same tea brewed weaker. This result shouldn’t be surprising.
10) 1:20, 2m, boiling, brewed in PREHEATED yixing purple clay pot submerged in hot water while brewing, drank from glass cup It kind of has gan? I guess it still needs to be stronger. Each pot is starting to require a significant amount of leaves… The tea is good like this, but it is not fruity at all.
11) 1:47, 2m, boiling, brewed in PREHEATED Yixing purple clay pot, drank from glass cup Woody, bitter, slightly gan, slightly grapefruity, this is very close to ideal brew in terms of the flavors present. The problem is the word ‘slightly’ – you have to look too much, its too open to interpretation, it needs to be better.
12) 1:10 Gongfu style, 15s rinse, 30s infusions. Pot 1. Simple, subdued. Pot 2. A little better. Pot 3. Eh… Frankly I wonder if I am not wasting my time here? Gongfu tea is fine and all, but for a pairing this is unreliable. Is iron rich water no good for this? I’ll try switching kettles to continue.
Tea prepared with water boiled in a silver kettle
13) 1:75, 2m, boiling, brewed in glass, drank from a glass cup Clean tasting flavorless tea that smells good
14) 1:40, 2m, boiling, brewed in glass, drank from a glass cup Eh.. It’s better than 13), but maybe all I can say is that it has a clearer flavor than iron, and that I don’t find it as bitter as 1:40 from memory, though the comparable pot was drank yesterday. I say that because I wouldn’t comment on its bitterness now, but that might not be fair considering just an hour ago I was drinking the tea at 1:10
15) 1:33, 2m, boiling, brewed in Yixing purple clay pot, drank from a glass cup Good potency, good harmony, just the beginnings of extracting bitterness it seems. It could be a touch richer, I will try to steep it longer
16) 1:33, 3m, boiling, brewed in Yixing purple clay pot, drank from a glass cup It got a little fruitier and fuller tasting than 15) next I will try a stronger ratio
17) 1:20, 3m, boiling, brewed in Yixing purple clay pot, drank from a glass cup Aroma and flavor is dominated by roasted notes, though the potency of flavor is quite good, the flavor itself is undesirable. Perhaps rinsing the leaves will get rid of the roasted notes.
18) 1:20, 3m, boiling, initially steeped 15s before brewing as a rinse which was thrown away, brewed in Yixing purple clay pot, drank from a glass cup. As expected the roasted notes are dialed back. It does taste better this way
19) 1:16.75, 3m30s, boiling, initially steeped 20s before brewing, brewed in Yixing purple clay pot, drank from a glass cup. This is great, the core flavor radiates in the mouth. Regrettably I admit that it is not fruity in the grapefruit manner that I wished, but otherwise I see zero negatives. There is a strong presence in the mouth with the impeccable balance of astringency, tartness, and bitterness. The harmony between them creates that very special ‘gan’ feeling.
As a side note, the 2nd infusion of this pot (also done at 3m30s) tasted weak, smelled weak, and was without gan. It was slightly spicy like cinnamon, and slightly fruity like red date.
This DHP when brewed well can give the sensation that your tongue becomes the smoldering embers beneath a pile of burning Sri Lankan cinnamon bark. As you exhale from your mouth, the breath is fragrant, carrying something like the spiciness of dried ginger, and this breath ‘fans the coals’ and stimulates a very deep, glowing hot flavor. When the tea liquor initially hits the tongue the buzzing sensation of Sichuan peppers dances along the taste buds leaving footprints of gan and dried dark fruits such as red dates.
Want to try it yourself? This is the one:
https://www.sommerier.com/?product=zheng-yan-da-hong-pao-big-red-robe-30g
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