TEA REVIEW: Grey’s Teas – Da Hong Pao (Royal Red Robe)

Tea and origin: Roasted oolong tea from Fujian Province, China
Twitter: @greysteas
Facebook: Grey’s Tea
Link to Da Hong Pao (Red Robe)

Red Robe, which is one of the most well-known Chinese teas, has recently received much media coverage for being sold at auction or in restaurants for mind-blowing sums of money. Originally the tea was produced from six mother trees in the Wuyishan National Park that are over 300 years old. These trees produced approximately a kilo of tea each year and were reserved for emperors. Cuttings were eventually taken from these original mother trees and planted. Tea from these cuttings can also fetch astronomical sums, depending how similar they are to the tea of one of the mother trees.

Many teashops now carry a Red Robe tea. How they relate to the mother trees, however, is usually a mystery to me. Prices vary widely depending on quality, but I usually find them to be all very drinkable. Today I’m trying Grey’s Teas’ Red Robe. It is priced well and the leaves are nice and full. Let’s see how it cups out.

Tasting notes

Dry leaf: Full and medium-sized twisted leaves that have a light toasted aroma

Wet leaf: Roasted and peachy notes

Liquor colour: Golden to light brown, depending on infusion number

Liquor aroma: Roasted and peachy-like sweet notes

Liquor flavour: It has a light roasted flavour with some sweet, peachy and honey-like                                     notes. It is a medium-bodied tea that is very smooth. The tea has a                                         lingering, roasted aftertaste

Infusion method: Gong fu style is best, with a gaiwan or Yixing teapot                                                                     4 to 5 grams of tea                                                                                                                                 150 to 200 ml of 95C water                                                                                                                 Very short infusions: 5 to 30 seconds                                                                                               4 to 6 infusions

Comments/Conclusions

This tea has a good amount of complexity between its roasted and sweet notes. Even if you are not totally sold on roasted oolongs, this tea is not overly roasted – which I personally like. Because it cups out numerous infusions, the tea is good value for money. It is not the most complex Red Robe I’ve tried, but it doesn’t fall short on flavour and aroma, by an means

Retail price: 60 gram packet for £16.13 /125 gram packet for £29.32