where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

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Feb 28th, '10, 04:10
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where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by mr. Less » Feb 28th, '10, 04:10

Hey everyone,

since i am enjoying wuyi teas alot lately, i would like to try out a da hong pao, because i never tried one before.
I am aware of the fact that its hard to find a genuine da hong pao, and alot of them are mixes or beidou nr 1, or xiao hong pao
But nevertheless, a lot of people on teachat are still enjoying these teas
So i would like to know where i can buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

thanxs

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Feb 28th, '10, 04:51
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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by wyardley » Feb 28th, '10, 04:51

How are you defining "genuine". Obviously you are not going to get Da Hong Pao from the 3 original (or "original") bushes. Even second generation clones from within the protected / scenic area is going to be difficult / impossible to get reliably.

Depending on who you believe, I think Bei Dou #1 is about as "genuine" as anything else out there, maybe more so - most "Da Hong Pao" is primarily either this varietal or one other (奇丹; jī dān); I have also heard claims that Rou Gui is often blended in. Not a lot of good information on this, so maybe some of my facts are mixed up. For further reference, you could check out some of these posts:
http://houdeblog.com/?p=111
http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/matsu-tea/ar ... -1&next=31 [in Chinese only]
http://amateursdethechinois.blogspot.co ... oct-2.html

Xiao Hong Pao, as I understand it, is just a name for 2nd (or, more recently, 3rd) generation clones, and is pretty much an irrelevant term at this point. I don't think it refers to a specific (or different) varietal from Da Hong Pao.

Personally, I would assume that any "Da Hong Pao" is not likely to be "genuine" in any of the ways people usually mean it. If it tastes good, I'll buy it. This rule is somewhat true for all yancha, but I think especially so with Da Hong Pao.

Feb 28th, '10, 06:26
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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by mr. Less » Feb 28th, '10, 06:26

hey wyardley,

i think i didnt express me well enough.
I read about the fact that alot of the da hong pao people buy is blended, or an other varietal, and i misused the word genuine here.
but some people still order da hong pao , even knowing it probably is a blend or an other varietal.
Like you said , if it tastes good , its good .
But i would like to know for instance, have you bought some da hong pao lately, and which vendor would you recommend, only judging by your taste buds.
i know taste is a personal thing, but i would like to know where teachatters like to buy their da hong pao.
or maybe i should buy a beidou instead
thanxs for the quick reply!

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Feb 28th, '10, 11:23
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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by debunix » Feb 28th, '10, 11:23

I've drunk & really enjoyed this one from Wing Hop Fung:
<http://www.birdpick.com/110137.html>

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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by AdamMY » Feb 28th, '10, 11:51

I've enjoyed just about every Yancha I got from Jing Tea Shop ( The Chinese One). I am trying to remember though if I got one of their Da Hong Pao's though. But I think I talked with you before and I am trying to remember if you tried them or not.

I wish you luck in your search.

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Feb 28th, '10, 15:35
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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by brandon » Feb 28th, '10, 15:35

Jing's Imperial Da Hong Pao - if it isn't Rou Gui, it might as well be.

An interesting thing about yancha is the number of variables that go into the final cup - we expect Rou Gui to be a certain way but it is a result of varietal, region, oxidation, roasting and surely more. Da Hong Pao we expect to be some other way, but sometimes it isn't at all. MarshalN went as far as to challenge me that with a different preparation, I would never be able to tell one true varietal from another.

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Feb 28th, '10, 16:33
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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by wyardley » Feb 28th, '10, 16:33

brandon wrote: An interesting thing about yancha is the number of variables that go into the final cup - we expect Rou Gui to be a certain way but it is a result of varietal, region, oxidation, roasting and surely more. Da Hong Pao we expect to be some other way, but sometimes it isn't at all. MarshalN went as far as to challenge me that with a different preparation, I would never be able to tell one true varietal from another.
I agree with that for the most part. I think some of the varietals do seem to have some characteristic tastes which you may be able to recognize after trying a lot of particular teas of a particular varietal. But overall, I think the processing has a lot more to do with the taste of the tea. Finding good yan cha is difficult enough, so I don't usually worry as much about what specific varietal a tea is as whether it's crafted the way I like, and whether the tea itself seems to be good.

To the OPs question, I don't know an easily purchasable Da Hong Pao or Bei Dou that I'd truly recommend, but I do think the Hou De one is not bad when they have it in stock. Are you looking for a light / medium roast one, or a higher-fired one?

I have not tried this specific one, but you could also try Tea Gallery's:
http://www.theteagallery.com/Big_Red_Robe_p/ow-brr.htm

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Mar 1st, '10, 14:04
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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by entropyembrace » Mar 1st, '10, 14:04

I´d recomend trying jing tea shop´s da hong pao...it´s as authentic as you´re likely to be able to find without very good connections and dropping a LOT of money. It´s from plantation bushes but they´re cloned from the original bushes (I don´t know how many generations down) so it´s actually the same varietal not a blend of other varietals discovered later in Wu Yi or brought from neighbouring regions.

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Mar 1st, '10, 16:53
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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by Bubba_tea » Mar 1st, '10, 16:53

I'd also throw my hat in with the Jing recommendations here. I just received my order with Rou Gui and Da Hong Pao etc. Both are very good. In fact, I'm drinking the rou gui right now. I find they are more mellow and balanced (sweet to spicy) than most other shops I've tried, so they will be somewhat in the same family of flavor. Jing's dhp is much better than the YSLLC dhp 250g bag (which isn't bad at all). I also prefer it to the tea gallery selection as well. If you do order from Jing, check out the everyday selections and also try the Mi Lan wu long.

The rou gui is way ahead of the teasource RG I had a couple years ago (hard to really compare scientifically).

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Mar 1st, '10, 18:29
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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by entropyembrace » Mar 1st, '10, 18:29

yes the everyday Milan dancong oolong from Jing is an excellent value...very delicious whole leaf tea at a great price :) One of my favourites...I don´t feel like I´m depriving myself at all so save money like I usually do when drinking inexpensive oolongs.

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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by mr. Less » Mar 2nd, '10, 08:31

thanxs everyone for your replies,

i think i will order some wuyi samples from jing tea shop(thanxs for the tip adammy)
i had their rougui and qi lan, which i liked a lot.
i see they have samples of da hong pao too,but the da hong pao that most people here like, is it their seasonal or imperial, because there is quite a difference in price(so probably also in flavor)
then again i really like their qi lan, and its quite cheap (14 ,50 for 100 grams)
thanxs also for showing me that processing is atleast as important as the varietal, something which i vaguely noticed by ordering from teacuppa vs sevencups
(teacuppa is high roast, sevencups lightly roast)
and yes wyardley i would like to order from teagallery aswell, heard nothing but good from them, but sadly they dont ship to europe

so the jing wuyi samples it will be for now, and when my budget is in healthier shape, maybe some of their milan dc aswell,(great tea!)

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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by shaneho » Sep 10th, '10, 02:41

I want to talk something about Da Hong Pao.
In China, Da Hong Pao is classified three types.

First One is called original Da Hong Pao(from the 6 original bushes). The price of original Da Hong Pao may be the most expensive tea all over the world(10000yuan(1477usd) per grams) and now you never can but it, because government have protect the bushes and never product tea form the original bushes.

Second one is ChunZhong Da Hong Pao(means the variety from 6 original bushes, the 6 original bushes may have four types(people in China had discuss this a long time but nobody know which one is true): Bei Dou #1, Bei Dou #2, Qi Dan(most of people in China say this one is the real Da Hong Pao, this name is Da Hong Pao's former name), and Que She. This one Da Hong Pao's price is really high in China and hard to find good ones even in China.

Third one is called commercial Da Hong Pao (Mix up serval types of yancha(often 5 tpes, some are 8 types), but mix this type of Da Hong Pao must choose one or two types of ChunZhong Da Hong Pao ). This kind of Da Hong Pao first mixed by ChengDeHua(father of Da Hong Pao), he tyied to make commercial Da Hong Pao's taste the same as original Da Hong Pao at a lower price. The taste of this Da Hong Pao is diversity among different company, but the price of top commercial Da Hong Pao is also expensive in China and in hard to buy top commercial Da Hong Pao out of China.

There some mistaken i want to point out.
1. There is no generation conecpt of Da Hong Pao. Father of Da Hong pao said:"Da Hong Pao were reproduced true to type by vegetative propagation."
2. DNA tests show that Bei Dou is not the descent of original Da Hong Pao.
3. In China, never have a tea called Xiao Hong Pao, may be is maded by some tea company.

In China, the tea mark by "武夷山大红袍"(Wu Yi Shan Da Hong Pao) should meet:
1. Have get allowed to use Product of geographical indication―Wuyi rock-essence tea
2. Products of natural raw materials must come from within Wuyi Mountain protected area.
3. Products quality characteristics meet the "Wuyi tea" mandatory national standards.

There are some top brand wuyi tea in China, like WU YI STAR TEA INDUSTRIAL, Zheng Pao National Tea. Also Eight Horses Tea is the best tie guan yin brand in China.

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Sep 10th, '10, 13:26
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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by Tead Off » Sep 10th, '10, 13:26

good info. Thanks.

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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by David R. » Sep 10th, '10, 14:07

There is some good info on Da Hong Pao on this TV show. This is actually the fifth episode of a programme on Wuyi Yan Cha which can be found on the same site. All of them are worth seeing.

Thanks for the info shaneho.

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Re: where can i buy some good da hong pao at the moment?

by Herb_Master » Sep 30th, '10, 00:56

shaneho wrote:I want to talk something about Da Hong Pao.
In China, Da Hong Pao is classified three types.

Second one is ChunZhong Da Hong Pao(means the variety from 6 original bushes, the 6 original bushes may have four types(people in China had discuss this a long time but nobody know which one is true): Bei Dou #1, Bei Dou #2, Qi Dan(most of people in China say this one is the real Da Hong Pao, this name is Da Hong Pao's former name), and Que She. This one Da Hong Pao's price is really high in China and hard to find good ones even in China.
Wish I had read this before I went to Malaysia.

Most of my tea drinking friends in Wisdom Arts (Kuala Lumpur) are heavily into Pu Erh, but a couple of them really like Wuyi Yan Cha. Their all time favourites are Bei Dou, Qi Dan and Que Shi - so off I trotted to the shop where they usually buy them.

I have purchased and drunk half a dozen DHP's so was looking especially for these 3. I did buy some Tie Luo Han and Bei Dou but mistakenly scorned the chance to buy some of her DHP.

I say scorned because the aged female owner is recognised as the only female Tea Master in South East Asia who is certified to make her own tea [from leaf selection through to final roasting] when she visits Wuyi.

Thank you for these notes, I shall certainly pay a visit next february when I return and try to find more goodies. On this visit I tried to meet up with fellow teachatter Chua [auhckw] but our diaries clashed, I would like to visit with him because they speak almost no English.

p.s. Jing UK sell Que Shi, I have an unopened packet which I waiting for the right moment to try.

p.p.s Maybe we could get Chua to try them out for us :D

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