by Poohblah » Apr 16th, '12, 20:25

Ilaria Maria Sala wrote: Tea connoisseurs appreciate Da Hong Pao's finer qualities, but it commands high prices for another reason: the thrill of enjoying something that used to be reserved for the most exclusive elite due to its rarity. Previously, other than imperial and Communist Party big shots, the tea was reserved for visiting dignitaries. An oft-quoted story recalls that Richard Nixon was given 50 grams of Da Hong Pao by Mao Zedong in 1972. Shortly afterward, Nixon quipped with his aides that the Chinese leader must be quite stingy to part with such a small amount of leaves, but he understood the value of the gift when someone told him that what he had been given was half of the whole harvest of top-grade Da Hong Pao for that year.

Amy Ma wrote: A national treasure: Said to be the “king of all Chinese teas,” da hung pao teas are often given as gifts to heads of state. U.S. President Richard Nixon was famously presented with da hung pao by Mao Zedong during his visit to China.

math is not the only problem with this article.



the name of the tea is da hong pao (not da hung pao), but we can all mistake the Chinese pinyin. also however, the photo headlining this article is of tieguanyin, a different type of tea from an entirely different region. da hong pao is an oolong; it is not similar to an oolong. but finally, the article is so obviously an advertisement for a second-rate tea house – anyone who imagines there is a tea on this earth that can be re-steeped sixty times is just silly.

Catherine Tam, shop manager at Fook Ming Tong, one of Hong Kong's best-known tea shops, explains that Chinese customers are buying up a variety called Da Hong Pao, or "Big Red Robe." From the oolong (or semi-fermented) family, it's grown in the fabled Wuyi mountains in northern Fujian province. Shrouded in mist during most of the year, this area comprised of 36 stony peaks has been used to cultivate "rock teas" since the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-907).



Rock teas brew a dark, reddish liquor, with an initially bitter, slightly woody flavor, that quickly metamorphoses into a sweet and lingering aftertaste, with delicate hints of honey and fruit. The leaves, long and twisted, can be infused up to 15 times. As is common with many products in China, Da Hong Pao is believed to have health benefits: "It helps fight cholesterol, and has antioxidant properties," explains Ms. Tam.

That is not the only WSJ article that mentions this story. There is at least one other, too. I have access to the WSJ online through my school. The parts of the articles in question (first is from the article mentioned in the post above, second is the one linked to in this post):However, the credibility of the second article as a source of information on tea is questionable, for several reasons, as one commenter pointed out:I would contend the point that "anyone who imagines there is a tea on this earth that can be re-steeped sixty times is just silly," however, for reasons that I'm sure all of us are aware of. I bet you there are a few of us on this board who have managed to come across a tea which holds flavor for that long, and I wouldn't be surprised if the "true" da hong pao also could manage that feat.To Sala's credit, she prefaces the Nixon story with "oft-quoted," suggesting that it is not necessarily true. Furthermore, she does better justice than Ma to DHP with regards to its categorization and its brewing longevity:So there you have that. I, for one, am not trusting of most accounts of tea from the point of view of vendors or journalists, especially ones written by Westerners. It seems the truth is out there, but these two groups of people don't have much vested interest in "the truth."But let's face it: tea is a product, and its value only increases as a result of marketing. We can't escape that, and so there are always going to be stories and wild claims circulating. Maybe there are some of us genuinely interested in history, but I think most of us just want to drink a nice cup of tea and ignore the vendors yelling in our ears.