Tea Session: Heritage Beidou

Red Blossom Tea (RBT)  in San Francisco started offering up tea samples (or they did, and I never noticed until now). I've been to RBT previous times and I've always enjoyed their tea.

However, they are a little bit on the expensive side, so I tend to only buy what I know and like. With their samples, it was a little bit more affordable to try their teas.  I bought a few based on their descriptions. 

For this session, I tried their Heritage Beidou from their Red Label collection. Each sample is ~3 grams.



From their website description:


Beidou, or "North Star" is famed as a direct descendant of the true Grand Scarlet Robe, or “Da Hong Pao”, variety. As true Da Hong Pao teas are reserved for elite government officials and dignitaries, we spend our sourcing trips searching for descendant varieties like this Beidou, which is reputed to be one of the closest in flavor to the famed mother plants.This batch is carefully hand-crafted using strictly traditional methods, and then finished by our roaster to receive several layers of traditional “heritage” charcoal roasting.


The result is the best Wuyi oolong in recent memory. The initial brew releases the intense toffee and caramel notes from the charcoal roasting. But it’s the balance of the tea that sets the Heritage Beidou apart from other Wuyis: at the same time rich, viscous, sweet, floral, fruity – each characteristic distinct, but balanced and in harmony with the others.

Their recommendations for brewing in a Gaiwan / Teapot (6oz)
  • leaves 3.5 grams
  • temp 200 ° F
  • time 1 min 30 sec



I don't like their quasi-Western Style brewing suggestions, so I oped to just brew this as I would normally other Wuyis, such as Da Hong Pao. 

Luckily, I had bought 2 samples, so I could try a higher leaf ratio. 
  • Tea Amount: I used 2 samples @ 5.4 grams. Note: One sample was 2.8grams, which annoyed me.
  • Teaware: 110 ml porcelain gaiwn.
For this tea, my steeping information is thus: 
  1. 200F @ 15 seconds
  2. 200F @ 25 seconds
  3. 200F @ 60 seconds
  4. 200F @ 120 seconds
  5. 200F @ 5 minutes

Figure: Steeps 1,3, 4

This tea is interesting. It has every single flavor note that I would expect out of a good Wuyi tea. It's flavorful, well balanced, and generally a good tea. I can see why a lot of people like this tea.

But....it lacks something. It lacks a kind of soul and cha qi that I would expect out of such a tea.
It's like hearing a technically accurate musician playing a song but without feeling. Every note perfect, but there is no soul or spirit to this tea. 

I kept trying to brew it for longer and longer past when I would have given up, but it never delivered.

I read some of the Steepster reviews a little later, and while most people did like it, I did find one reviewer who felt this was a "well balanced but shallow tea". 

For the price point of this tea, this is a hard No for me. It's a good tea, but it's just lacking a certain je ne sais quoi.


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