by Brian Queenan
February 2023
I've been buying this for a while.
Typically, it has the characteristic rocky mineral taste, along with a malt note and an overly strong charcoal fkavour. Decent, but unremarkable.
The last shipment was different. The charcoal flavour is reduced, and instead of a malty note, there's a floral orchid note with a streak of cherries. It's beautifully balanced and withstands almost 10 steeps.
My favorite oolong. It tastes similar to bagged Oolong that you'll get from Bigelow. Love the musky aroma.
It's fine for the price you pay, the only bad thing is a really noticeable amount of stems (like 1/9).
First, I have to say that I love the mixed signal of oolongs; half way between black teas and green teas. Always interesting to discover.
In opening the bag, I found the aroma to be definitely musky. I followed the guidelines for oolongs: I rinsed then steep my first infusion at the right temperature for the time suggested (2-3 minutes). I used 1 tsp of tea in 8 oz. hot water. The musky scent was still there. It was also slightly earthy and vaguely reminiscent of a crisp mountain air early morning. Taste like, this oolong has more characteristics of a black tea. Mouth-watering is right! Very mellow with some astringency.
I did not get any floral aroma at my first infusion, but I definitely did at the 2nd infusion (steeped 6-7 minutes). I could even smell some vanilla and something reminiscence of pin. Wow!
The 3rd infusion was even better, but I got the mineral taste only at the 4th infusion, which also made me think of an early grey (aroma, taste and astringency).
I did make a 5th infusion, and it was still very tasty and mellow, just not as complex anymore.
this is just a wonderful oolong, I drink it all day long iced. it is excellent warm also just luv the flavor!!!
I think this tea is fine for the price and I am enjoying it but the prominent astringency reported by other reviewers is the main downside for a tea like this. The high temperature brewing temp required to bring out the best parts of this tea, also brings out the worst (astringency and bitterness). Tastes more like a pheonix dan cong to me, that the tea makers decided to charcoal roast and do last finishing steps in the style of Da Hong Pao. Clearly not a true Da Hong Pao (not originating from the famous original 5 Da Hong Pao bushes), but tea aficionados probably already knew this by the price point, and non-aficionados probably won't care.
by Jerred Toews
April 2021
While most of the tea I have tried from tealyra has surpassed my expectations, this particular one fell short, citing heavy astringency when brewed
It’s da hong pao for sure, but unfortunately a very poor quality da hong pao. Having tasted and purchased this tea directly in wuyi mountains, and ordered from other suppliers, the flavour both in volume and intensity in the da hong pao tea leaves from Tealyra is very poor. I will not be purchasing from this provider again.
