2005 Wuyi Dahongpao Xiao Bing

I got a few remarks on the unique compression of the oolong tea. For some, this is a new concept. I like that. The dark rock smells of hay, char, dry wood, and mineral. I can see little dimples on where the press struck the cake. I warmed my gaiwan up and crumbled the brick inside. The aroma opens into hearty charred mesquite, roasted dark fruits, dark cocoa, and burnt sugar. This is a roasty one. I washed the leaves three times (sooper kompressed) and gave her a taste. The taste begins with heavy roast and a sweet and fruity aftertaste. The base is of mineral and the qi begins right off the bat. A nice heartwarming feeling complements the float-y headiness the brew gives me. The brick is heavily compressed so the session lasts for quite some time. The taste develops into some rich dry cocoa along with some black cherry. I can hint at the coffee notes, but I feel the brew was little too abrasive for that tone. The taste is decent even when it pushes into the char category. The energy is fair too. The qi continues to build and take up house in my head. I liked this tea, but after five or so steeps my stomach began to rumble.

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From LP’s Aged Oolong group buy. Used all 5.5 (give or take) grams in my new Taiwan Tea Crafts stubby pear pot. I must agree with what others have said about this tea, particularly one reviewer’s observation that this is reminiscent of the DHP brick from White2Tea (I think it was the Sept. club). It’s interesting to compare this to an inexpensive aged 2008 DHP brick I got from a vendor on Aliexpress; this tea is much more subtle, gentle, refined even. Lovely mineral/wet rock sweetness, well roasted and I would guess the aging has smoothed over the sharp edges. The Aliexpress tea is decent, but much more harsh and can get bitter when pushed. One of these days I’m going to try Bana Tea’s DHP brick and see how it compares to these. Overall, a very enjoyable DHP.

From LP’s Aged Oolong Group Buy 2015.

Totally agree with what others have said about this one.

I think this has been aged well &/or the aging process works well on DHP. I think it added some complexity and tamed what might have been once a bit too roasty for me. It was very much on the edge though.

Chocolate notes and thoughts of coffee were prevalent throughout the session (which has been going on since yesterday – a little bit goes a long way), and I didnt get any bitterness, it wasnt too sharp like some DHP, and wasnt too soft like some aged Oolong I have had from this Group Buy. I could taste some fermentation or storage flavour I get from Puerh, but quite subtly, and only in the earliest steeps.

This is defo something I would consider buying, (…aaaaand its gone, we must have got the last one) If only to share with any friends coming round mine. This wouldnt be my usual go-to for a dark roast Wuyi but I enjoyed the session a lot, and thats all that matters right?

From the Group Oolong buy… I really enjoyed this tea. It is similar to the tiny brick in a recent White2tea club offering. I think it helps to know what you’re getting yourself into with these aged dhp bricks. They are like whiskey in a lot of ways. This one tastes like dark oolong was aged in an oak barrel – a very strong vanilla note coupled with roasty oak undertones. It is really fun to drink, in my opinion. A tiny chunk goes a long way, kind of like shu pu erh. I think it helps to use a gaiwan and do short steeps.

This is another one from Liquid Proust’s Aged Oolong Sampler. This one is roasty, very roasty. It was fairly smooth though and a little bitter at points. Strange that I didn’t notice the bitterness in all the early steeps, just some. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention. I probably used a little too much leaf in this. I didn’t have enough leaf for my larger gaiwan so I put all 5.3g in my 60ml gaiwan. Probably should have gone with 4g but it seemed like a waste to save 1.3g of tea so I went with it. Eventually a sweet note showed up but it was behind the roast note, barely perceptible. This is not a tea I’d go out of my way to buy again, just too roasty for me, but it’s nice to get to try it.

I brewed 5.3g of leaf in a 60ml gaiwan with 200 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min. Judging by the color of the leaf this tea would keep on going with longer steeps but I really don’t feel like drinking any more of it.