2017 Bairuixiang 白瑞香

Opening the bag I get a roasty and sugary aroma. Reminds me a bit of kettle corn at the state fair. (In a good way) Brews a medium light orange, a bit lighter than the Rou Gui.

Very rich and thick in the mouth. Notes of rock sugar, caramel, minerals, roast, and flowers with a slight “green” quality. The floral note isn’t airy like jasmine, it’s more thick and heavy like bulb flowers; tulip or hyacinth. Besides sugar and caramel, the sweetness reminds me of a really good, really fresh, really sweet raw onion. That may sound like a turn off, but I mean it in the best way possible. This is a very nice tea, but not as much to my personal tastes as the Rou Gui.

Oh dear!! Did not expect this at all. Shhhhhhhhh be very very quiet, I’m drinking WuYi nectar of the immortals. This is my first time with this varietal, been scoping it out for at least 5 years but hey there is soooo much tea out there to drink and I like my favorite WuYis in my cupboard. I decided to try it because of its source WuYi Origin. All of the teas from this company have been super tasty and reasonably affordable. The first thing when opening the bag is you get a big whiff of cocoa and turbino. The leaves are deep black, plump, thick, long, velvety. The name of the tea is suggestive that this will taste like BaiYe, BaiJi & RuiGui and it does and doesn’t. First off there is the sweet floral nature of the Bai then the backbone stonefruit of the Rui, but then it morphs into a DaHongPoa but without the over smokey roastiness with creamy peach honey flavors. Super smooth and supple on the tongue with a chew. After a few steeps the rock comes in along the sides of the tongue as a slight mineral astringency but still smooth. Later the sweetness gives way to the gentle roast and some orange rind. Used gaiwan GongFu brewed out to 10 steeps. 5/10/15/20/30/45/60/90/150/300. The longer steeps at the end did not offer up any bitterness at all. West and wewaxation at wast!