Actually, I may as well post another of my backlogged tea reviews while I’m at it. This was a more recent sipdown since I finished what I had of this tea around the end of July or start of August. I found it to be an excellent Rou Gui, and that is really saying something since Rou Gui is not usually one of my things.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.
Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cinnamon, pine, char, rock sugar, blackberry, and black cherry. After the rinse, I detected aromas of roasted almond and roasted peanut to go along with a stronger rock sugar aroma and a slight smokiness. The first infusion saw the bouquet turn spicier and citrusy as aromas of candied orange peel and ginger emerged. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cinnamon, pine, black cherry, smoke, char, rock sugar, and blackberry that were balanced by notes of cream and roasted nuts on the swallow. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of black raspberry and pomegranate. Notes of candied orange peel and ginger belatedly emerged alongside stronger roasted peanut, roasted almond, and rock sugar notes. New flavors of minerals, pomegranate, black raspberry, and ginger emerged. There were even very subtle notes of popcorn, grass, tobacco, roasted barley, black pepper, nutmeg, and red grape in places. The later infusions emphasized impressions of minerals, cream, roasted nuts, and rock sugar that were backed by hints of pine and smoke.
This was an incredibly complex Rou Gui with tremendous depth and a wonderful body in the mouth. I also loved how crisp and pronounced the mineral impressions were. Honestly, this was the sort of Rou Gui I had been looking for since I first started trying them a couple years ago. Definitely give this one a shot if you are in the same boat. I doubt it will disappoint.
Flavors: Almond, Black Pepper, Blackberry, Char, Cherry, Cinnamon, Cream, Fruity, Ginger, Grapes, Grass, Mineral, Nutmeg, Orange, Peanut, Pine, Popcorn, Raspberry, Roasted, Roasted Barley, Smoke, Sugar, Tobacco
