Jing tea shop seasonal Da Hong Pao

[teaisme]

Opened this a couple days ago and after 3 sessions must say I enjoy this tea very much , 6 good infusions from 6 grams in 120 ml pot

At $15 for 100g this tea is a great value. I was expecting much less from this tea.

Has anyone tried a DHP of similar quality for a similar price? How do teasprings dhp stack up?

[chittychat]

I greatly enjoy the Traditional Da Hong Pao from Teaspring at $16.70/100 g. I took 10 grams to my tea buddy, a Chinese, and he was just flabbergasted by the quality, aroma and flavor. We had 10 infusions with 1 L of water and my friend still continued and we might have ended with 14 infusions. I just lost count. I was so full of tea that I had to stop when my friend still was going since he said there is still more flavor left. At home with about 5 g in 120 ml pot I get at least 10 infusions split into 6 on first day and another 4 on second day. Keeping the pot just at room temperature which presently is 30 C plus.

The shipping cost of Teaspring is considerably lower then the one of JingTea. So one gets more value for ones money from Teaspring. I had ordered this DHP already 3 times and now readying for a new order.

[Tead Off]

I like Jing Tea Shop and think they try hard to select their teas but when it comes to DHP, this variety they sell as 'seasonal' as well as other vendors that are selling DHP at these low prices, are no match for good DHP which costs a lot more. Here in Bangkok, we are flooded with bad to mediocre tea called DHP. Most are roasted to oblivion and drunk stronger than coffee. For me, this is the equivalent of diner coffee which you can get on Route 66 in Albuquerque.

I say this to wake up the average tea drinker who doesn't really know what they are drinking and the difference between good quality and low quality. Once tasted, it is hard to go back, but your appreciation grows dramatically.

[teaisme]

Once tasted, it is hard to go back, but your appreciation grows dramatically.

Hehe makes me kinda not want to move up because I find this tea enjoyable and wouldn't want to ruin that. But since DHP, and wuyi's in general are very new to me, I am interested to know where you suggest some really good DHP. I wouldn't really want to go over 35-40 for 100g though. But then again it would be nice to have some super stuff for special occasions. I keep eying those small packs of wuyi star 18g at dragonteahouse, is that considered one of the best of the best? I seen a documentary on dhp and that was the brand that seemed very good. What do you suggest as a good source Tead Off and co?

[entropyembrace]

what about Jing Tea Shop´s Imperial Da Hong Pao? It´s more than 4x the price of the Seasonal DHP....and when Jing Tea Shop has two similar teas at such different prices (such as with the Milan dancong) the cheap one is tasty and a good value and the expensive one is amazingly good.

But I haven´t tried either of their DHP to really know in this case.

[brlarson]

These two DHPs of Jing's really aren't comparable IMHO.

I don't know what Jing's seasonal ``DHP'' really is but it is delightful -- I love the cocoa overtones in this year's batch. And it tastes great when brewed English style so it makes an inexpensive brew.

Jing's Imperial DHP is exquisite, the real deal. It requires loads of of leaf and short infusions to get the whole sensory experience. It is pricey leaf and a pricey brew but worth it if you want good DHP.

B

[Tead Off]

Once tasted, it is hard to go back, but your appreciation grows dramatically.

Hehe makes me kinda not want to move up because I find this tea enjoyable and wouldn't want to ruin that. But since DHP, and wuyi's in general are very new to me, I am interested to know where you suggest some really good DHP. I wouldn't really want to go over 35-40 for 100g though. But then again it would be nice to have some super stuff for special occasions. I keep eying those small packs of wuyi star 18g at dragonteahouse, is that considered one of the best of the best? I seen a documentary on dhp and that was the brand that seemed very good. What do you suggest as a good source Tead Off and co?

Churng,

Sometimes I feel the same way. I hate paying so much for a good tea.

My beef with most DHP's is that they are over-roasted and almost always have that charcoal roasted flavor which is not the flavor of tea.When I was in Seoul, a shop owner gave me a packet of their DHP as a gift. 40g/$65. When I got home and brewed the tea, I thought to myself I would never buy this tea if given the choice. Luckily, DHP is not one of my favorite teas. The chance of running across something good, IMO, is slim and I don't know where you can turn to. I'm sure some of the other posters here will have differing opinions but I find DHP too homogenous and boring. For me, I'd much rather have a Shui Xian. More flavor, aroma, complexity. And, when aged, it becomes a super tea.

I haven't had a really good DHP in years. I'm not even sure DHP is really DHP! and not some other variant they call DHP. Maybe Jing's Imperial is worth a try. Maybe Tim's 'The Mandarin's Tea Shop' has located some good stuff. He usually finds the unusual but it won't be cheap.

[TokyoB]

Mr. Xu's DHP and SX at East Teas are probably the best DHP and SX that I've had. This was recommended to me by Nada of Essence of Tea (previously Nada Cha). The DHP has a low roast. It is nothing like most DHP that I've had. I did have a similarly good DHP from Hou De tea, also low roast. Aaron Fisher says that a true DHP should have a low roast. Like Tead Off said, I think that most tea sold as DHP is nothing like the true DHP. It is typically highly roasted and very hit or miss. Genuine zhan yan (zhen yan means inside the Wuyi scenic area) DHP is not cheap.

http://www.eastteas.com/product.php?cat=china

See Aaron's article link and comments here:
http://the-leaf.org/issue7/?p=22

Article:
http://the-leaf.org/issue7/wp-content/u ... uide71.pdf

[Proinsias]

I'd recommend Hou de Asian Art. Unfortunately he doesn't have any dhp at the moment but if you are fairly new to Wuyi tea in general I'd thoroughly recommend them. I can't recall ever getting a bad Wuyi from them. The shui xian is great for the price.

[brad4419]

These two DHPs of Jing's really aren't comparable IMHO.

I don't know what Jing's seasonal ``DHP'' really is but it is delightful -- I love the cocoa overtones in this year's batch. And it tastes great when brewed English style so it makes an inexpensive brew.
B

I agree 100% with you. I never tried it English style but It amazes me that at $15 how much flavor this DHP has. The cocoa is surprisingly strong and stands out as easy to recognize. Jing tea shop is my favorite place to buy tea at the moment and there wuyi's are my current favorites. I would recommend trying there rou gui or shui jin gui(sold out currently). I also love there xiao hong pao. For the price the qi lan is also pretty good but I liked the Seasonal DHP a little better.

[Tead Off]

TokyoB, thanks for the links. I've maintained for awhile now that most Yan chas are overroassted and not to my taste. I've also thought the amount of leaf used by so many 'seasoned' drinkers was crazy and unpalatable to me. It wasn't until I tried a 10 year and a 20 year old Shui Xian sold here in Bangkok at my #1 tea shop. The owner and tea master there explained to me about the roast and how yancha should never be highly roasted and full of the smoky flavor most people have come to associate with these teas. A good one is clean and very flavorful, lots of complexity and mouthfeel. The same thing goes for Dancong. I'm glad to see Aaron agrees with this view and has published something for all to read.

[teaisme]

thanks for the insight people, so where can I find a not too heavily roasted yancha at a decent price?
I've tried all the ones at floating leaves, but the leaves didn't seem to have much endurance. They were pretty good while it lasted though. I liked the buddha hand the most out of the bunch. Now that I think back it probably was the least roasted out of the selection.

[wyardley]

thanks for the insight people, so where can I find a not too heavily roasted yancha at a decent price?

I love Floating Leaves, and Shiuwen stocks some good teas, but last I checked, they don't stock any yancha at all (closest thing is a medium-fired Baozhong which is made with a Wuyi cultivar).

Most of Tea Gallery's yancha are fairly well balanced, and I think are pretty good for the price -- maybe a little on the high side, like most of their offerings. Jing's Shui Jin Gui and Traditional Lao Cong Shui Xian (I prefer it to the slightly more expensive "competition" one) are decent as well, though looks like they're on vacation for a month.

[teaisme]

Maybe Tim's 'The Mandarin's Tea Shop' has located some good stuff.

Nice blog/vendor site Tim. Making me salivate.

[teaisme]

last I checked, they don't stock any yancha at all

I was under the impression that the Taiwan wuyi would be considered a yancha. Is it a baozong instead?

November of last year she had a buddha hand (not the balled one they have now) and a shui xian (still available).

they're on vacation for a month

One month no shipping orders. That says something about their standards in a very good way.