What kind of tea is Wuyi Da Hong Pao? Understanding its tea category in one article
Our country is the hometown of tea, and its tea culture has a long history. Among them, Da Hong Pao is deeply loved by people. So, what kind of tea is Wuyi Da Hong Pao?
1. What kind of tea is Wuyi Da Hong Pao?
Wuyi Da Hong Pao belongs to oolong tea. It has excellent quality and is produced in the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian Province. It is made with exquisite craftsmanship and is a famous specialty tea of China. The finished tea has a rich aroma and a mellow taste, with an obvious “rock rhyme” character, and leaves a lingering fragrance on the teeth and cheeks after drinking.
2. Characteristics of the Wuyi Da Hong Pao tea plant
Wuyi Da Hong Pao is a rarity in China's famous tea gardens. It is known as the “champion of teas” and is the king of rock teas, worthy of being called a national treasure. When the tea buds sprout in early spring, seen from a distance, the whole tree is as brilliantly red as fire, as if draped in a red robe, and this is also the origin of the name Da Hong Pao.
The Da Hong Pao tea plant is shrub-type, with a slightly spreading crown and relatively dense branching. The leaf tips extend upward at a slant, and the leaves are broadly oval, with slightly blunt tips drooping downward and edges curling inward. The leaves are dark green and glossy; if they are new buds, they are dark green with a purple tinge, revealing downy leaf hairs.
The Da Hong Pao trees are already a thousand years old and are rare treasures. On the cliff of Jiulongke there are only 4 plants. They are moistened by spring water seeping from the rock crevices, need no fertilizer, and yet grow luxuriantly. People set up cloud ladders high to pick them from the 13th to the 15th of May each year. The yield is extremely small, only about 11 liang, and they are regarded as rare treasures.
3. Benefits of Wuyi Da Hong Pao
1. Delaying aging
Tea polyphenols have strong antioxidant and physiological activity and are scavengers of free radicals in the human body. Research has proven that the ability of 1 milligram of tea polyphenols to scavenge excess free radicals harmful to the human body is equivalent to 9 micrograms of superoxide dismutase, far higher than other similar substances, and the anti-aging effect is 18 times stronger than that of vitamin E.
2. Inhibiting cardiovascular disease
Tea polyphenols play an important role in fat metabolism in the human body. When the body has high levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and so on, fat deposits on the inner walls of blood vessels, and after the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, atherosclerotic plaques and other cardiovascular diseases form. Tea polyphenols, especially catechins in tea polyphenols and their oxidation products such as theaflavins, help inhibit this plaque-like proliferation, thereby inhibiting atherosclerosis.
3. Preventing and treating radiation damage
Tea polyphenols and their oxidation products have the ability to absorb the harmful effects of radioactive substances strontium 90 and cobalt 60. Clinical trials have confirmed that for mild radiation sickness caused by radiotherapy in tumor patients, treatment with tea extract can reach an effective rate of more than 90%; for cytopenia, the effective rate of treatment with tea extract reaches 81.7%; and the treatment effect is even better for leukopenia caused by radiation exposure.
4. Weight loss and beauty
Wuyi Da Hong Pao can lower blood lipids, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, promote the activity of pancreatic lipase, inhibit the increase of neutral fat, and achieve weight loss and beauty effects.
When brewing and drinking Wuyi rock tea Da Hong Pao, the brewing method used is gongfu tea art, which is rich in cultural connotation and also has ornamental artistic value, so it requires care, calmness, and commitment.