What Is Red Tea?
Known as black tea in the West, red tea is one of the most commonly produced styles of loose leaf tea in the world. A well-made red tea, by definition, is fully fermented – all enzymes exhausted – making it the sweetest, smoothest category. A well-made red tea should not be unpleasantly astringent like many associates with a strong black tea. Instead, it’s naturally sweet with a full body and creamy tannins. Red teas are categorized by geography. It depends on where the tea comes from; rose, honey, malt, dry dates, and longyan are the exciting notes a good red tea promises to deliver.
Why Taste Xiao Chi Gan & Da Chi Gan Side-By-Side?
Origin: Gua Dun, Tong Mu, Wu Yi Shan mountains, Fu Jian Province, China (~1000-1300m elevation)
With the same origin, same cultivar, same processing style - the main factor differentiating these two teas is their harvest date. Xiao Chi Gan is an Early Spring harvest, while Da Chi Gan is a Mid Spring harvest. Only a few days apart, tasting these teas side-by-side gives us insight into what just a few days difference does to the final product.
Da or Xiao?
Da Chi Gan means big, red, and sweet, which speaks truthfully of what the tea is. It is a sweet red tea made from more mature tea leaves than Xiao Chi Gan. Xiao means small. Xiao Chi Gan is made from more tender tea leaves.
Learn More About Each Tea
Watch a Guided Tasting on Xiao Chi Gan here
Watch a Guided Tasting on Da Chi Gan here
Share Our Passion
If you love this guided tasting, join us monthly with our Educational Tea Club! We deep dive into two teas a month over Zoom. You'll be able to participate live, ask questions, and taste the tea together with our community.
Example Curriculum
What You'll Need
To get the most out of this session, we advise having a gong fu brewing set up ready to brew along with.
You can purchase teaware from Tea Drunk.
