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Da Hong Pao大红袍

Yan Cha · Wuyishan, Fujian, China

Da Hong Pao is a Yan Cha oolong from Wuyishan, Fujian, China. Brew it at 100°C with 6g of leaf per 100ml of water; expect up to 8 short infusions in a small gaiwan or teapot. A quick rinse is recommended.

Quick facts

Origin
Wuyishan, Fujian, China
Category
Oolong
Cultivar
Qidan (closest genetic clone of the mother trees); commodity DHP is often a blend
Oxidation
medium
Roast
heavy
Water temp
100°C
Leaf ratio
6g / 100ml
Infusions
up to 8
Rinse
Yes

Tasting notes

Most DHP you buy is a blend — Rou Gui for the cinnamon kick, Shui Xian for the body — and once you know that, the tea makes more sense. The first two steeps are all roast: char, cocoa, a chalky mineral scrape across the tongue. Third steep is where it decides what it is. Good DHP opens into baked plum and an incense-like top note; lesser DHP just keeps tasting like toast. Brew it in a small gaiwan with full boiling water, pour fast, and trust the rinse — it's often the best sip of the session. The trap is patience: if you push a steep to chase more flavor, the pungency tips into harshness and you can't pull it back. Yan yun — the cooling, stony aftertaste that makes you want water — is the test. Cheap DHP doesn't have it.

Flavor profile

The most famous Chinese oolong. Deep mineral backbone — the hallmark 'yan yun' (rock rhyme) — layered with dark chocolate, roasted almonds, and baked stone fruit. A well-made Qidan DHP has a cooling aftertaste and incense-like aromatics that linger long after the cup is empty. Blends vary widely in character depending on component cultivars and roast level.

Terroir

Zhengyan; original six mother bushes on Jiulong Ke cliff (museum pieces, no longer harvested). Commercial DHP is a blend — typically Rou Gui and Shui Xian — or made from Qidan/Beidou clones

Cultivar: Qidan (closest genetic clone of the mother trees); commodity DHP is often a blend

Brewing

Rinse: One quick rinse opens the heavy charcoal roast and primes the leaves. Don't discard it — often the best sip.

  1. Quick rinse — pour off immediately.
  2. Steep 1: 10 seconds
  3. Steep 2: 10 seconds
  4. Steep 3: 12 seconds
  5. Steep 4: 15 seconds
  6. Steep 5: 20 seconds
  7. Steep 6: 25 seconds
  8. Steep 7: 30 seconds
  9. Steep 8: 40 seconds

Full boiling water, no exceptions. Quality DHP evolves across 8+ steeps — early steeps show roast and chocolate, middle steeps reveal fruit and florals, late steeps are all mineral sweetness.

Aroma & taste

Aroma

  • roasted nuts
  • cocoa
  • incense
  • caramel

Taste

  • dark chocolate
  • mineral
  • stone fruit
  • allspice
  • huigan

Processing

  • withered
  • oxidized
  • twisted
  • charcoal roasted over months
  • multiple firings
Start brewing Da Hong Pao

Sources