Nothing but TeaDa Hong Pao Oolong 100 g

Wasn’t expecting much because of the great value compared to the posh place up north I’ve been buying from online, but it’s every bit as enjoyable in my opinion. I’ve never had any brought for me from China like one reviewer here has but I haven’t had any better in the UK.

I have a Chinese friend who brought me some red robe tea back from China. He told me that it was the "PG Tips" of Chinese tea and that it was "nothing special", but I loved it anyway so I decided to buy some more. I could not find the same brand so I bought this instead and was very disappointed.Instead of having a rich and smooth flavour profile, with fragrant notes of cacao; this brand of tea had a bitter aftertaste and an almost stale, 'brackish' organic fragrance. It is possible that I had a 'bad batch' but this was a far-cry from what I had previously enjoyed.

The leaves are large un unfurled. Two teaspoons per pot. boiling water. it needs to brew for several minutes. the infusion is a wonderful golden yellow /orange colour. There is a mild nutty flavour with distinct maltiness. there is a slight touch of bitter orange peel in the front of the mouth and an aftertaste of something that reminds me of buckwheat. I am finding it wonderful to drink in the morning. A second infusion of the same leaves yields a lighter colour but still retains the malty taste. it is a wonderfully balanced tea with very mild astringency

A great all round Oolong tea.Mild fragrance and flavour

Jolly nice any time of day.

From a Chinese perspective, this is a cheap knock off from the real da Hong pao. No fragrance. No flavour. Nothing compared to the real tea.

Nice black tea.