Red Dragon Red
Gongfu
Leaves in a Bowl
Sidehandle
Red Dragon Red is a distinctive tea that straddles the boundary between two genres. It comes from the same farm as our Red Dragon Oolong, one of the southernmost tea gardens in Taiwan, in Tai Dong, which has been organic since its inception and is among the cleanest, most natural farms we know. Where the oolong version is fired (殺青, sha qing) to arrest oxidation, this version is allowed to continue into a red tea, made with more time, effort, and roast.
Many farmers use their premium leaves for the local, famous tea and turn later, lesser-grade flushes into a red tea. When a red tea is made from premium leaves instead, we call it a "gongfu red (工夫紅茶)," because the farmer must invest far more attention in its production. This is one such tea. It has a roast like an oolong and a depth that many red teas lack.
Red Dragon Red is much more forgiving to brew than its oolong sibling, though when you brew it gongfu and the parameters are all just so, it flushes in fragrance and opens up beautifully. It carries a Yang energy that is wonderful in the morning, uplifting and expansive. Drinking the two Red Dragons side by side is an amazing experience, and a lesson in what processing alone can do with the very same leaves.
Where Red Dragon comes from
One of the southernmost tea gardens in Taiwan, and among the cleanest, most natural farms we know. Master Tsai took these photos on one of his visits, when the rows were alive with ladybirds.
