[UPDATE – I discovered that this tea responds well when you extend the late infusions a great deal (>8 minutes) – the resulting liquid is more concentrated at first, and has a sweet complexity towards the end of the session, finally revealing the stone fruit/peach notes I was hoping to find earlier.]
11 years old now, rather than 9…my first encounter with Da Hong Pao:
Brewed in my porcelain Jingdezhen gaiwan with Los Angeles municipal tap water just off the boil throughout.
5-6 infusions ranging from 5 seconds to 2+ minutes: field drab liquor; ash, river stones, leather, and wood-ear…no stone fruit that I can detect, though a hint of spice appears in later steepings (star anise? pepper?). Woodsy, dry finish.
More one-note than I anticipated, and yielding a shorter session than I hoped (I wonder if this is true of most Wu-Yi teas? I experienced the same thing with the Lapsang souchong I had from Yunnan Sourcing as well)…still, pretty good over-all.
