- Da Hong Pao tea
Infobox_Tea
Tea_name = Da Hong Pao
Tea_type = Oolong
Tea_color = Wuyi
Tea_
Tea_origin =Mount Wuyi , Fujian Province,China | Tea_names = LargeRed Robe (andsynonym s), Ta Hong Pao, 大红袍| Tea_quick = Most famous of theMount Wuyi teasDà Hóng Páo () is a very important Wuyi
Oolong tea. Legend has it that the mother of aMing Dynasty emperor was cured of an illness by a certain tea, and that emperor sent great red robes to clothe the four bushes from which that tea originated. Three of these original bushes, growing on a rock onMount Wuyi and reportedly dating to theSong Dynasty , still survive today and are highly venerated. Less than one kilogram of tea is harvested from these plants each year, of which a portion is retained by theChinese government . The remainder of this original and real Da Hong Pao is auctioned, with an initial asking price of 4000 RMB/100 g, but often reaching millions of dollars per kilogram [ [http://www.luxee.com/htmlNews/2005/4/18/1002437.html 茶中狀元----武夷大紅袍] ] . Cuttings taken from the original plants have been used to produce similar grades of tea from genetically identical plants. Taste variations produced by processing, differences in the soil, and location of these later generation plants is used to grade the quality of various Da Hong Pao teas.Xiao Hong Pao, or "Small Red Robe" refers to Da Hong Pao grown from plants of fourth or greater generation, but the term is rarely used. In some cases Xiao Hong Pao is simply sold as Hong Pao, presumably for marketing purposes.
As it's of very high quality, the Da Hong Pao is usually reserved for honored guests.
ee also
References
* Babelcarp on [http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=Da%20Hong%20Bao Da Hong Pao] .
* Master Lam Kam Cheun et al (2002). The way of tea. Gaia Books. ISBN 1-85675-143-0.
* Tea Hub on [http://teatalk101.blogspot.com/2006/05/da-hong-pao.html Da Hong Pao]* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=MoxLXQAun2E A Video of the Wuyi Mountains and the Red Robe Tea trees]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.