/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>18343776
This is mostly on point but I don't think small red robe and big purple robe are easier to find. Most yancha that is vaguely like "dahongpao" will get sold as it because it is a recognized name.

>>18343834
>My understating is that any "dahongpao" oolong on the market is a yancha blend

In my mind "dahongpao" refers to yancha that tastes like "dahongpao", made from one or more of the varieties of tea bush that are clones of or are considered related to the dahongpao "mother bushes" but may be blended with other varieties for taste. Its not like other types of tea are never blended in order to help them taste like they are "supposed to". For example I have heard higher end Tieguanyin is sometimes blended to taste as well. The problem is that the Big Red Robe name is so popular and that there are no real standards which has lead to a lot of cheap subpar interpretations of it. You could however argue that "real" Big Red Robe should be a high end tea because it has been traditionally made and sold as such and that many of the modern "dahongpaos" are "fake" because they do not live up to the name.

I consider the popular modern conception "authentic" dahongpao to be something of a myth in and of itself. I have seen no historical basis to prove that the "mother bushes" are in fact direct clones of the mythical original dahongpao bush from and they are almost certainly not the originals themselves. Additionally, I doubt any detailed records of how the original tea was processed survive. It is very likely that dahongpao has changed at least somewhat over the hundreds of years from when it is said to have first been made. Furthermore, the tea would not have gotten as famous as it is if there had never been enough to actually sell to anyone. The strict modern definition of Big Red Robe appears to be a product of the People's Republic of China from back when the tea was made for communist elites exclusively.

>>17772422
It's totally arbitrary, there are expensive meme teas like oolong from the original bushes but god know if it tastes any good.
https://www.wufeng-tea.com/news-post/the-current-situation-of-da-hong-pao-mother-trees/