home / teas / Oolong tea
Oolong · Wuyi rock tea
Da Hong Pao
dàhóngpáo · 大红袍
“Big red robe” — the most legendary of the Wuyi rock teas. Dark, twisted leaf grown among mineral cliffs and finished over charcoal, giving a roasted, mineral cup with the prized “rock rhyme”.
- Region
- Wuyi mountains, Fujian
- Harvest
- Late spring; roasted over following months
- Oxidation
- Heavily oxidised and roasted
- Cultivar
- Wuyi cultivars; the storied mother bushes
In the cup
Roasted and mineral — dark caramel, stone fruit, cocoa and a long, warming finish with that wet-rock minerality.
What it gives
Warming and grounding; the heavier roast and oxidation make it a soothing, low-astringency cup, kind to the stomach.
Da Hong Pao, the big red robe, is the crown of yánchá — the “rock teas” grown in the steep, mineral-rich gullies of the Wuyi mountains in northern Fujian. Legend ties the name to a few ancient mother bushes on the cliffs, so revered that their tiny annual harvest is no longer sold; today’s Da Hong Pao comes from their propagated descendants and blends of Wuyi cultivars.
The style is heavy: substantial oxidation, then a real charcoal roast carried out in slow stages over months. The leaf comes out dark, twisted and dry-fragrant, and the cup is roasted and mineral rather than floral — caramel, baked stone fruit, cocoa, and the famous rock rhyme, yányùn, a wet-stone minerality that seems to come from the cliffs themselves.
In the cup
Brew it boiling and brief, gongfu style. The early steeps are roast-forward; as they open, the fruit and minerality come through, and a good Da Hong Pao will give a dozen infusions before it fades. It rewards a seasoned clay pot, which softens the roast.
How to brew
Da Hong Pao
Water
100 °C — full boil
Leaf
8 g per 120 ml
Steep
15–30 s, many steeps
Vessel
Gaiwan or seasoned clay pot
More from this class
