Spring 2014, Da Hong Pao (大红袍)

Da Hong Pao (大红袍) literally: “Big Red Robe” is a premium, prestigious variety of the Wu Yi Yan Cha. Legend has it, the emperor of Ming Dynasty sent great red robes to clothe the four bushes from which that tea originated after his mother was cured of an illness by a certain tea. Three of these original bushes, growing on a rock on Mount Wuyi still survive today. Due to its high quality, Da Hong Pao tea is usually reserved for honoured guests in China only unreached by us mortals. highly expensive, Da Hong Pao can sell for up to US$1Million/kilogram. 

Prior to this tasting, Both Tei and I felt Pek Sin Choon’s Royal grade Rougui was the best Wuyi we ever tasted. Complex both in it’s taste  and aroma, Rocky mineral mixed exotic fruits like lychee favour lingering in your mouth leaving a sweet aftertaste.

Today, finally we are trying the revered Da Hong Pao. My friend Tei managed to get hold of a 15 grams sample from JKteashop. Our expectations are high with all the raving how good this is. We just had to have a taste of it. Will this be our next favourite? 

REVIEW

Tea Source: Jkteashop 2014 zhengyan Da Hong Pao

Water source: Hyflux Filtered Tap

Water Temperature: 90-95deg

Tea Leaves rinsed prior to first influsion

1st infusion: Wow, Malty chocolate with fruity undertones. Feels like the combination of Tie Lou Han and Rougui.   

2nd infusion: Malty with a slight dark Chocolate aroma and taste. This follows by a rocky mineral aftertaste. The mineral resembles that of Pek Sin Choon’s Royal grade Rougui’s Rocky favour.  

3rd infusion: 3 distinct layers can be tasted in sequence. First malty chocaolate like not overpowering but just nice. This followed by the solid mineral taste and finally finishing off with a fruity citrus aftertaste that lingers in your mouth even after all that golden liquid is gone.  

4th infusion: Surprisingly the malty chocolate taste is now more mild and can be felt in the undertones. The dominate favour is the strong rocky mineral taste hits you straight with a fruity citrus aftertaste. 

5th infusion: The strong rocky mineral taste is maintained followed with mixture of mild chocolate & citrus aftertaste.  

6th infusion: Corner stone where the malty chocolate favour makes way for the fruity melting pot of lychees and exotic fruits after which you can experience the with a strong mineral aftertaste. 

7th infusion: Same sweet fruity experience without the rocky mineral aftertaste.

CONCLUSION

There are two concepts on Da Hong Pao; One is pure Da Hong Pao tea directly from Qidan tea variety, which is very limited in output every year; another is commodity blended Da Hong Pao(using Shuixian, Qilan, Beidou,Huangguanyin, Rougui and other variety to blend the tea) to make its aroma and taste similar to pure Da Hong Pao or better than pure Da Hong Pao. 

Da Hong Pao summaries all the characters of the famous wuyi yan cha. If they say durian is the king of fruits, Da Hong Pao is the king of Wuyi Ya Cha!!!

Spring 2014, Shui Jin Gui(水金龟)

Shui Jin Gui (水金龟) literally means Golden MarineTurtle is one of the four famous bushes of Wuyi, a Si Da Ming Cong. Tei purchased 50grams hence, we decided to have a quick sample. 

Visually, the tea leaves looks brighter shade of green when steeped than most other Wuyi Oolong teas.

REVIEW 

Tea Source: Jkteashop 2014 Spring Shui Jin Gui 
Water source: Hyflux Filtered Tap 
Water Temperature: 90-95deg 
Tea Leaves rinsed prior to first steep 

Initial brew yields a citrus mixture of oranges and grapes with mildly sweet caramel undertones with an earthy base. Subsequent brews consistently contains a strong Rocky mineral earthy base with slightly citrus(orange grape like) after taste.The final brew (6th) the Rocky mineral heavy taste makes way for a slight caramel taste. 

CONCLUSION

Both exhibits strong rocky mineral base notes but personally, I prefer the fruity and smoothness of Shui Xian as compared to the citrus caramel undertones of the Shui Jin Gui. I felt, Shui Xian gave me a more overall complete comforting feel. Tei says is something that he likes to drink for variety. 

Final notes, this is no doubt a solid wuyi yan cha with very strong and consistent rocky mineral taste every brew till the last infusion(8th) but It all boils down to the matter of individual taste and preferences when comparing it’s undertones and aftertaste.

Comparing 2013 Spring, Rougui(肉 桂)

Known for it’s rich mineral favour and distinctive sweet aroma and aftertaste, Rougui(肉 桂) is a Wuyi Oolong tea loosely translated as Chinese cinnamon.Often, gongfu style brewing is preferred and can do up to 7 steepings

Above is Jkteashop’s competition grade Rougui and on the right Pek Sin Choon’s signature golden pack Royal graded Rougui.

I first tried Rougui when i started my tea journey at Pek Sin Choon. For the unknown Pek Sin Choon is one of if not oldest tea merchants in Singapore since 1925. Their current boss is 4th Generation Kenry Peh whom is a really friendly boss with no airs. There tea are buy no means cheap with me grabbeing 50grams of 2014 Spring harvest Rougui for a whooping S$69.80 which, I shall review it on a later date. 

Today’s comparison is between Pek Sin Choon’s 2013 Spring Rougui against the much raved about Jkteashop competition grade Rougui 2013. Both tea belongs to my friend Tei.

REVIEW

Teas Compared:

- Jkteashop’s 2013 competition graded zhengyan Rougui  S$36 (50 grams)
- Pek Sin Choon’s 2013 Royal graded Rougui  S$69.80 (50 grams)

Water source: Hyflux Filtered Tap
Water Temperature: 95-100deg
Both rinsed prior to first steep

Both teas exhibit strong, thick and really of excellent quality but they both have very distinct different mineral taste. Aroma is a whole different topic but in short, both smelled natural with a unique freshness fragrance.

JKteashop: The first slip gives you a strong mineral experience. It taste metallic Iron(Fe). This is followed by a flower scent sweetness lingering after taste. All these gets much more distinctive from 3-6th brew as the leaves starts to settle down. 

Pek Sin Choon: The first slip will wow you with a distinct rocky mineral taste. i cannot quite put it down in words. But it’s awesome!  This is followed by fruity type cinnamon aftertaste. Best brew was from 3-7 brew. at 6-7 brew the taste and difference gets more distinct with the cinnamon aftertaste together with the fruity notes we often get.

CONCLUSION
Both are very much on par with the smoothness texture in-mouth feel. I would say Pek Sin Choon Rougui’s rocky mineral taste more distinct and pleasant as compared to the metallic iron taste of JKteashop. 

Nevertheless, it’s important to note the price difference between both teas. At 50grams, Pek Sin Choon’s cost almost double that of JKteashop. Sometimes you just have to pay for the extra for that extra kick.