Tasting Da Hong Pao

[Herb_Master]

This last week I have been drinking Da Hong Pao from 3 different sources.

At least I think the 3rd one is Da Hong Pao

The first was to finish off a canister that I bought in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.



warm, friendly style, no astringency, mellow, woody and earthy





the second was to open a packet from Teance



the leaves were rather more whole and less small broken bits than the canister
with more reddish edges evident



I had recently seasoned a new teapot from Necessiteas
.

"The King of Birds" by Mrs. Zhu Rui Qing

I notice it is still being advertised for sale 3 weeks after I bought it - does this mean it is not unique
http://www.necessiteas.com/storename/ne ... 71536.aspx

The smell was good



the colour good but not deep



the aroma cup held the same familiar warm DHP signature


after being emptied into the Tasting cup


All in all a very very similar experience to the first tea, warm, friendly, body and flavour, a general -
woody,earthy,fruity feel but no special grab the attention detail.
Easy to drink but easy to forget about after 4 brews but very good accompaniment to spicy food
so only when I was eating did I mange to brew 7 or more brews
and (increasing the brew time) no fall off in flavour.

The 3rd Packet I opened yesterday



My first impression was that it was just like the first 2 but hang on



is that because I WAS EXPECTING IT TO



because what I took at first to be a more mellow variation of the first 2



now shouts loudly of finesse
a gently subdued but everpresent through 9 infusions (last one 8 minutes)
floral aroma, peaches and honeysuckle - with some minerally touches on that same old background of wood, earth and fruit





I think I will revisit the Teance offering with a new perception, maybe I missed something!

This 3rd one is a revelation, I have been unable to overinfuse it and it stays friendly and talkative even when underbrewed.
Definitely one to contemplate whilst enjoying.

The only trouble is I bought it from a Chinese Tea Shop in ChinaTown Kuala Lumpur and the sales girl spoke very little English - I chose a mid priced tea that she volubly kept telling me was "rock Tea"

I have noticed some of the characters on the Package look identical to the characters alongside "Da Hong Pao" on other vendor's sites - can any who read chinese confirm or deny what I have bought and give me any other info from the package!

[Herb_Master]

Halfway through a new pot of the Teance and flabbergasted

I do not recognise the notes that I previously took as being from the same tea.

This is not as delicate as the KL Chinatown one but far more expressive than the three previous sessions.

Note - the first session I had was hard on the back of the one from the canister
Note - the 2nd session was bolstered by the remnants of the canister (now empty) and because i thought they tasted practically identical merged them in one brew with the remnants being largely small leaf pieces
Note - the 3rd session was late one night, I was tired and finished the last 3 infusions whilst eating supper

This time I did something odd - I held my nose an inch or so away from the fairpot while I was disposing of the rinse -
and I am sure I detected the Honeysuckle and Peach Blossom that I found in the KL packet.

Whilst drinking however I cannot detect any floral elements.
What I can detect far more than the previous brews
A more interesting balance of complex flavours
Minerals
Green fruit or maybe green twigs
and something that may be minutely like the camphor referred to in the last posting

The same friendly warmth of wood and fruit is there as before but overlaid with this new imagery and a slight (very slight) atsringency of green fruit or green twigs

But even swilling around in the mouth there is no Floral element going up the nasal passage, just a slight catch on the tongue and a lingering reminder of greenery down the back of the throat!

[gingkoseto]

The third one, showed by the address on package, is from the central production area of da hong pao. Too bad where you got it is not an accessible source for most of us! Thanks for the review! Your review got me so tempted on the third one, and I googled them. So far all I've got is, they are a famous local tea factory. But no further information.

I even found an internet vendor selling the tea and package looks the same as yours. But didn't find any information about buying directly from the factory. Maybe adagio staff can call the number on your package and talk with them about importing da hong pao from them

[Herb_Master]

The third one, showed by the address on package, is from the central production area of da hong pao. Too bad where you got it is not an accessible source for most of us! Thanks for the review! Your review got me so tempted on the third one, and I googled them. So far all I've got is, they are a famous local tea factory. But no further information.

I even found an internet vendor selling the tea and package looks the same as yours. But didn't find any information about buying directly from the factory. Maybe adagio staff can call the number on your package and talk with them about importing da hong pao from them

Maybe I should show it more respect from now on! My enjpyment may not have been just down to the mood I was in!

[gingkoseto]

Ok. I've been so tempted by the third da hong pao in Herb_Master's review, because it sounds good and because it's not even the expensive kind. I haven't decided to order it from China, but I feel I am not far from dong it, especially if I keep reading about it

First, I didn't find any online selling info. about the factory, but found a few retailers carrying the tea. Then I thought, if I were going to order it from China, and postage costs as much as the tea (if not more), I really want to talk to the factory instead of unknown vendors. Then I called the number in Herb_Master's photo and asked them where they retail their tea. The info. they gave me include:
1. They have a factory store in Ma Lian Dao in Beijing, named Xi Qiu (meaning "playing ball" haha) Tea. Yeah, "playing ball" is the brand. On the package, I think it's 2 kids (or 2 lions?) playing ball as trademark. Well Ma Lian Dao is too far from most of us. Maybe chl42 goes there frequently

2. They have on online store on taobao (the Chinese kind of ebay). But the store is so new that it doesn't have any sales record yet. By studying their price I found that as a factory store, their price is like 35% higher than their products carried by other vendors. I don't know what that means!

That's what I've got so far. Chl42, if you see this and if you go to Maliandao, take a bite of the "playing ball" da hong pao there!

[ABx]

I would be interested in the third one as well. If you find a source for it, gingko, let me know

[Herb_Master]

And I hope to be back in Kulala Lumpur in March so I will have to sit down at the Gong Fu table and see if whoever is doing the demonstrating that day will let us try the more expensive package in this range!

Depending who is in, I visited 3 times in 4 days and the owner was away in China on a buying trip, his Lady Manager did not do the extrovert sampling, but twice a local Tea Guru was in and he was allowed to test brew (it seemed) anything for customers.

Otherwise I will just pick up a few packets of their Rock Tea range.

[chrl42]

Xi Qiu, ok I will check it out cos I will be at MLD this week. However, over hundreds of vendor sell Wuyi from various sections, so don't get your hopes up

There seem to be too many vendors but information we get is too small, Puerh and Yixing is encyclopedia comparing to Wuyi. It's important cos quality and price differ a lot depending on what area of rock, what factory it is from.

So in hopes of gathering further info, some basic 101.

Grading Wuyi first needs to understand 3 categories. Zheng Yan Cha, Ban Yan Cha and Zhou Cha.

First, Zheng Yan Cha. The finest grade, grown on rock-surrounding area, 70km2 around the center of Wuyi Shan. Best of all is called Ming Yan Cha. Environment of this area belongs to tropical climate, 700m above sea level, averate temp 18C, rains over 200mm, average humidity 80%.

Areas of Zheng Yan Cha : 天心岩, 慧苑坑, 牛欄坑, 大坑口, 流香澗, 悟源澗

Second, Ban Yan Cha. Also called Dan Yan Cha. Grown on lower altitude than Zheng Yan Cha as larger farms mostly of soil than rock.

Areas of Ban Yan Cha : 靑獅岩, 碧石岩, 馬頭岩, 獅子口, 九曲溪

Third, Zhou Cha, farm tea. Even larger area 200m above sea level. North-west Zhou Cha is famous.

Areas of Zhou Cha : 崇溪, 九曲溪, 黃柏溪


I am sure more data and opinion are needed, and also heard Chinese goverment will be forwarding of grading (like Taiwan?), kinda doubtful without thinking about bribery or Guanxi

[ABx]

Thanks Charles Any chance you could convert the Chinese names to pinyin?

[wyardley]

Thanks Charles Any chance you could convert the Chinese names to pinyin?

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3349

[tenuki]

Like your posts Herb Master.

On variance in taste and aroma from session to session I would challenge you to start tracking the temp, relative humidity and barometric pressure for each session as well as an internal bio check, ie, how vivid are aromas and tastes in general for me today.

The drinker of the tea is a huge variable, as are the weather conditions.

[disillusioned]

I feel as if I am not as sophisticated as the rest on here. I just had my first Da Hong Pao experience from Harney and Sons. How does their Da Hong Pao stack up to the rest?

[Herb_Master]

I feel as if I am not as sophisticated as the rest on here. I just had my first Da Hong Pao experience from Harney and Sons. How does their Da Hong Pao stack up to the rest?

I am sorry, I have not tried anything from Harney, maybe Abx (he is on a DHP mission these days) or someone else has.

[Salsero]

I feel as if I am not as sophisticated as the rest on here. I just had my first Da Hong Pao experience from Harney and Sons. How does their Da Hong Pao stack up to the rest?

I had some Harney DHP a couple years ago -- it was my first -- and I was very favorably impressed. But like I say, it was my first DHP, and I don't think I can do a backwards comparison. For sure it is a serious DHP and not some cheap knock off.

Remember also, the trick to DHP is lots of leaf and short steeps to get those dark rich flavor.

[tenuki]

I feel as if I am not as sophisticated as the rest on here. I just had my first Da Hong Pao experience from Harney and Sons. How does their Da Hong Pao stack up to the rest?

I'm not a big fan of anything from Harney and Sons.