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| Oriental Beauty plantation in Hsin Chu county |
The top sample had been the Bai Lu cultivar (see part 1). It's a new cultivar (No 17), created by Taiwan's Tea Research and Extension Station. It beat all other cultivars, including the traditional Da Pang cultivar (which is often used by Oriental Beauty farmers). But the reason the Da Pang performed badly was probably a defect (burned) during the process.
The second OB is the one I selected this summer. And it's a Da Pang cultivar! So, this will be a kind of second chance or rematch for this cultivar. Who will perform better? The new scientifically developed cultivar, or the traditional leaves? Wenshan area or Hsin Chu county?
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| Bai Lu Oriental Beauty |
The dry aspect shows 'fat', thick leaves. Their colors are varied and quite red.
The scent is very elegant and perfume like. Inside the preheated cup, it is the most intense.
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| Da Pang Oriental Beauty |
2. On my right, the Da Pang Oriental Beauty from Hsin Chu County.
Hand harvested on June 15, 2012.
The dry leaves appear thin and lighter in color overall. I also notice considerably more 'hao' (hair) on the plate after putting the leaves in the cup.
The dry fragrances are somewhat more muted and remind me of milk chocolate and red fruits.
For this duel, I'm (again) using competition parameters: 3 grams, boiling water and 6 minutes of brewing.
Both brews come out very clear and transparent. The Bai Lu is a little bit more red, while the Da Pang has a slight greenish note (see the big cups below for best comparison).
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| Bai Lu vs Da Pang |
Taste: compared one against the other, the Bai Lu OB has an astringent taste and it feels much less sweet than the Da Pang OB. The Da Pang OB absolutely shines with its pure, clean and mellow taste and long aftertaste. It's like the caress of fine silk!
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| Oriental Beauty plantation in Hsin Chu county |
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4 comments:
Forgive the off-topic comment, but I enjoy the large ginger jars in your tea room very much. I have been considering buying some for myself, to store the tea.
Is the seal airtight? If not airtight, what tea can you store in them.
Thank you for sharing the thoughts, and inspirational tea room.
The seal doesn't have to be 100% airtight. I simply put a cup on many of my jars and it's enough. Of course, you don't want to store them in a place with a lot of airflow... If you're really concerned about the air, you can wrap the jar in a piece of fabric.
Thanks for your interest and kind words.
If this thread is still alive perhaps you could inform me what 'da pang' translates as?
I understand that there is a lot of Qing Xin variety tea grown in Taiwan, and that, typically, Bai Hao (OB) is made from Qing Xin Da Pang but I can't find what Da Pang means.
Thank you.
Nick.
Hello Nick,
Qingxin DaPa is written "青心大冇" in Chinese characters.
There are several pronouciations for 大冇:
- Damo or damao in mandarin where mo means 'there isn't'
- Dapang, dapan or dapa in the hakka dialect. That's how farmers around Hsinchun talk, since they are of hakka descent.
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