This week will be something of a continuation of the Wuyi theme, but focused on Da Hong Pao. Of the three I’ll be tasting, two seem rather entry-level thus far, but the world needs ditch-diggers, too, to borrow a snobby quote from Caddyshack.
At $11.70/100g, Jing Tea Shop’s 2007 Spring Da Hong Pao isn’t trying to be anything it’s not. And for the price, it’s pretty drinkable, but there were times when I found myself searching for flavor. When it showed itself, it was lightly chocolatey in the same vein as these two roasted Dong Dings. Most times it simply had a vague roasted tea taste.
Filling my gaiwan to the top with leaf solved the problem of vagueness to some degree. The first flash infusion was almost twice chocolatey, sort of like a dark chocolate truffle rolled in cocoa powder. The next two flashes were darkly earthy, with a brightly acidic sweet-sour flavor, reminding me of Kenyan coffee. A nutty aroma flowed out of my cup; perhaps it was macadamia.
A fourth flash infusion showed more earthiness and dark florals, and subsequent infusions had the same roasty floral afterglow. At two and four minutes, the tea smoothed out a bit, but by then the vagueness had returned. The photograph above shows a lighter session; this one was much darker.
This Da Hong Pao would make a decent first-time Wuyi-yancha experience, but I found it a little boring, even for an everyday tea.
