Wu Yi Shan Rock Tea "Classic Rou Gui" Oolong tea

Used my new 140ml yixing for this tasting and I anticipated a good tasting but alas I screwed up. I used 3 gm tea for the preparation and steeped initially for 20 seconds at 190F and got a limpid tea. I let the next steep go for 30 seconds and it was better but not quite right, still a little thin. I guess I need a little more tes say 5 gm. There was no cinnamon or robust florals as in other Rou Guis I’ve try, so back to the lab, hope its not the tea as it was a sample and I would hope you give out a sample to attract not repel.

I was anticipating roast and minerals here, but found an astringency reminiscent of Dan Cong that distracted me from much else going on in my cup. Tasty but a little jarring. I honestly think I’m just not quite in a place to sit and commune with leaves right now, too, body or mind, so this is a grain-of-salt take and a pause button until such time…

Since I’m not fond of aggressive roasting, Wuyi oolongs are always a bit of a gamble. This one from 2015 was never too roasted to begin with, and I’m sure the years have mellowed it even further. I steeped about 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, and 120 seconds.

This oolong has notes of wood, caramel, honey, minerals, undefined fruitiness, florals, and yes, even some cinnamon. The roast stays in the background, supporting and not drowning the other flavours. By the third steep, the tea has become simultaneously greener and more roasted, with some lingering charcoal. Like another reviewer stated, I find many of the nuances emerge in the aftertaste. By steep seven or so, it starts getting less interesting, fading into minerality and roast.

I did a long steep overnight and the results were surprisingly good, with wood, spice, and a lot of astringency.

Although I want more fruit and cinnamon in my Rou Gui, this is a complex oolong with a roast that doesn’t remind me of a campfire.

Dry leaf – SWEET, SPICE, MINERAL, NUT (primary light cinnamon/Mexican chocolate and wet rock minerality; notes of dark caramel and bitter green leafiness. In preheated vessel – pungent green leafiness and dried apricot)

Smell – MINERAL, SWEET (wet rock minerality, walnut, bitter leafiness; notes of cinnamon chocolate and dark caramel)

Taste – MINERAL, NUT, SWEET, EARTHY, SPICE, FRUIT (In mouth – mineral, dry nuttiness, some cinnamon and spice notes, tea leaves. Finish lingers on cinnamon and some chocolate/dark caramel. Aftertaste mouth-coating and complex, with sweet cinnamon, root beer (sarsaparilla), red fruit, apricot.)

Overall a tasty Wu Yi oolong. Flavors in the mouth are pretty standard – dry minerality and some nuttiness, hints at the cassia/cinnamon of its name. The aftertaste, however, is complex and coats the mouth. Multiple flavors pop out in different parts of the mouth – some fruit, some spice, some nut, some earthy-sweet.

Be sure to take the time to sit back and let the aftertaste develop. This tea doesn’t give away very much in the mouth.

Similar burnt chocolate / mineral rock notes as Da Hong Pao and other yanchas, but seems to have a less bold, thinner flavour.

Wet leaves smell of raisins and the liquor smells of sweet pastry crust. Pleasant but not outstanding. Will experiment with this one a bit more, maybe using more leaf and brewing in my Yixing pot.

Creamy texture and caramel, spice, and fruit notes. Slight mineral quality, excellent cinnamon/floral aroma.

This is the best Wuyi I’ve had, though that being said I haven’t had very many.

Dry – A ‘dark’ / roasted sweetness, mineral oolong notes, some wood-spice (Cinnamon? not getting clear Cinnamon notes), Caramel.
Wet – Oolong mineral/rock notes, very floral, wood-spice notes, sweetness that comes from a roasted/dark source not so much line honey.
Liquor – Copper — very aromatic of Wood-spice(Cinnamon), Honey, mineral, floral and roasted sweetness.

This tea is very aromatic, it has very apparent floral-bitter/tart notes that emanate from the cup, sweet mesquite honey notes and finally get an apparent Cinnamon/wood-spice scent followed by the hallmark mineral/rock/hay Oolong notes.

The liquor is fairly smooth but pieces are not uncommon, filter if you don’t want residual astringency, however I feel like this is very pleasant. It wears all of its floral notes well, the Cinnamon character is lacking in my opinion; mostly caramel sweetness with floral and mineral. As it goes down some more of the wood-spice notes come forward and after a while the Cinnamon is more clear. This is definitely a tea to keep at work, I’ve done very short steeps and some a bit longer and the taste barely changes. It doesn’t endure much in western cup style, I’d stick to using portable Gong Fu methods, and enjoy 3-5 good cups.

Nothing too special. A great cup of work, the aroma is VERY enjoyable, definitely its best trait.