Oolong · Wuyi Mountains, Fujian
Wuyi Mountains · Big Red Robe
Da Hong Pao Oolong Tea
Da Hong Pao 大红袍 means “Big Red Robe.” It is a yancha 岩茶, a “rock tea,” grown among the cliffs of the Wuyi Mountains in northern Fujian. The leaf is rolled into dark twists, partly oxidised, then roasted. In the cup: peach, molasses and a little roast, with the mineral finish that Wuyi growers call yan yun 岩韵, “rock rhyme.”
Tasting notes
- Roast
- Peach
- Molasses
- Stone
Origin
Wuyi Mountains, Fujian
$15
$15 / oz
Brew in brief
- Mug
- 212°F / 100°C · 3 g per 8 oz · 3 min
- Gongfu
- 212°F / 100°C · 5 g per 100 mlrinse with hot water, 5 s · 10 · 15 · 20 · 30 · 45 · 60 s
The legend: a scholar on his way to the imperial exams fell ill near the Wuyi cliffs. Monks gave him tea from a few bushes on the rock, and he recovered. He passed, came back, and laid his red official robe over the bushes in thanks. It is a legend, and its versions disagree on who and when.
The bushes are real. A few old “mother trees” still grow on the cliff at Jiulongke 九龙窠, Nine Dragon Gorge, and picking from them stopped in 2006. The tea sold today comes from younger bushes elsewhere in the Wuyi range.
Leaf and liquor
