Hong Shui Dong Ding
Dong Ding made in the older manner, with higher oxidation and a real charcoal roast rather than the lighter modern style. Hong shui means 'red water', describing the amber liquor that the heavier oxidation produces.
Character
Baked fruit and caramel over the familiar rolled-oolong base, with far more warmth than the modern light style.
- Flavour
- Roasted, Sweet, Fruity
- Aroma
- Caramelised, Honeyed
- Mouthfeel
- Full bodied, Smooth, Rich
- Complexity
- Layered
- Notes
- baked apple, caramel, toasted nut, honey
- Aftertaste
- Sweet, warm and long.
Moderate intensity: noticeable weight or grip, but neither dominates the cup.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- Taiwan
- Region
- Dong Ding
- Cultivar
- Qing Xin
- Oxidation
- Partially oxidised
- Roast
- Medium
- Harvest
- Winter
- Processing
- Withering → Bruising (shaking) → Oxidation → Kill-green (fixation) → Cloth-ball rolling → Drying → Charcoal roasting
History
Dong Ding was planted in Nantou in the nineteenth century with stock brought from Fujian. The heavier-oxidised, charcoal-roasted hong shui style is the older manner; the lighter modern version displaced it in the same market shift that changed Tie Guan Yin.
Brewing
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
5–7 g/100 ml · 90–95 °C · 6 authored infusions
Western brewing (teapot or mug)
1.5–2.5 g/100 ml · 90–95 °C · 2 authored infusions
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Tan Bei oolong
Both roasted Taiwanese oolongs, one moderate and one taken to the edge. The step up is in roast depth rather than in oxidation.
- Dong Ding
The traditional and modern versions of one tea. Hong Shui is what Dong Ding was before the market turned toward light roasts.
- Hong Shui oolong
Both are higher-oxidation 'red water' Taiwanese oolongs. One names the style, the other names the style plus its most traditional area.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Aged Shou Mei
Shares 7 descriptors with Hong Shui Dong Ding: sweet, fruity, full bodied, smooth, rich, caramelised and honeyed.
- Aged white tea cake
Shares 7 descriptors with Hong Shui Dong Ding: sweet, fruity, full bodied, rich, smooth, honeyed and caramelised.
- GABA oolong
Shares 7 descriptors with Hong Shui Dong Ding: fruity, sweet, roasted, full bodied, smooth, rich and caramelised.
- Aged GABA oolong
Shares 6 descriptors with Hong Shui Dong Ding: fruity, sweet, full bodied, rich, smooth and caramelised.
- Assam golden tips
Shares 6 descriptors with Hong Shui Dong Ding: fruity, sweet, full bodied, rich, smooth and honeyed.
Journeys featuring this tea
- Understanding roast — Someone who likes oolong and cannot tell whether they are tasting the leaf or the fire.
- I like coffee — A coffee drinker who finds most tea thin and wants something with body and roast.
- I want stronger tea — Someone who finds most tea watery and wants something that arrives with force.
- Exploring Taiwanese tea — Someone who has had one high-mountain oolong and wants the rest of the island.
- Understanding oxidation — Someone who has read that oxidation defines tea categories and cannot taste what it does.