TeaSource Oolong Tea<Horse Head Rock Tea | Oolong Tea

Available online only in 2 oz. quantities.

An aroma worthy of an art gallery. The tea has an intensely floral character, the body of salt water taffy, but with a toasted caramel flavor to let you know it’s actually rock tea. Worth every penny.

Produced by Mr. Liang Gui from Wuyi, Fujian. It’s grown at 1,200 feet using a one bud, three-four leaf pluck of Huang Guanyin cultivar. It was harvested on May 1st, 2020 and final charcoal roasting on November 5, 2020. 

“Da Hong Pao” translates “Big Red Robe”. Big Red Robe is an umbrella term for “Rock Wulong” or “Rock tea” – one of the famous traditional forms of wulong/oolong teas in China.    

The Huang Guanyin cultivar is a hybrid between the Huang Jin Gui and Tieguanyin plants. The locals simply call it “104” which is the number given to it by the Fujian Research Institute. The planting technique for this tea is called “yefang” or “to release back into the wild”. There’s no weeding, no cutting, no fertilizers, and the leaves are only harvested once every spring. It’s lazy farming and slows the output of the plants, but can give the tea a unique character.

Rock tea is often roasted twice – the first time at the end of initial production, the second time up to a year later after the tea has had time to “rest”. This tea was roasted six months after production and is considered a medium-light roast. Huang Guanyin has a high aroma quality which makes it easy to screw up if not roasted properly and less conducive to a heavier roast.

Ingredients: oolong tea

Steeping Instructions

3 grams | 12 oz water | 212°F | Steep 5 min.

Traditional method – 8 grams, boiling water, 150ml gaiwan

• 10 second rinse
• 1^st steep – 25 seconds
• 2^nd steep – 20 seconds
• 3^rd steep – 25 seconds
• 4^th steep – 45 seconds
• 5^th steep – 90 seconds
• (or steep however you want)

Number of Cups

2 oz makes 19 cups