Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: dark, long and twisted
Ingredients: oolong tea
Steep time: 30 seconds
Water Temperature: 200 degrees
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: dark amber
I always look forward to teas from Peony Tea, especially Chinese oolongs. The taste of this particular tea was full bodied and complex with strong floral notes. This one wasn’t quite as a fruity as other Da Hong Pao that I have tried but it still had the classic taste that I had expected. There was a pleasant roasted quality to the finish and just a touch of astringency. Sadly I only had enough time for three steeps when I wrote this review but there was definitely still several more left to be had. I couldn’t resist saving leaves and going at it again the next day. After a rinse, they came back to life and produced a few more beautiful rounds of tea. I strongly recommend preparing this tea in the traditional way in order to get the full flavor. If you don’t have a gaiwan, a very small teapot can serve the purpose if you use a higher amount of leaves than you would in a western style brew. This reminds me, I need to write up a post about this type of tea for my Legends of the Leaf series.
Big Red Robe sample provided by Peony Tea Shop.