Jip Eu Ma Tao Yien (Horsehead rock) Rou Gui

Rou Gui brewing (actually a different tea version)

Two recent posts covered visiting Jip Eu (a local Chinatown shop here), getting some OB from Ethan, a travelling tea friend, and reviewing a "duck shit" Dan Cong.  The shop owner also gave me this tea sample.  I incorrectly said he doesn't sell it, but it turns out he does, he just doesn't have much of this version. 

this shop is beside the subway (right side), but the Express boat is much nicer, just not close (see transit site)

I'm using a clay pot I bought in Taiwan that I finally started using for Wuyi Yancha a couple months ago.  I did also try it again later prepared with a gaiwan, and I'll mention how that went (pretty much the same).

Review

The tea is nice, and that particular typical version of cinnamon does come across.  As I remember that shop owner has mentioned that the cinnamon tastes like a type that comes from Vietnam.  The roast level is significant, a bit medium, without much "char" to overshadow the rest of the tea, less of that roast effect than in the last Rou Gui I reviewed from them.  A lot of mineral comes across as the base. 

this tea version, brewed lightly

The next infusion isn't so different.  That "dark" cinnamon flavor might have dropped ever so slightly, now more integrated with the other range instead of coming across a most of it, but it's still the main theme.  Mineral is still strong but I'll skip talking about rocks in this post, even though it must taste like some sort of rock.  Beyond that it's what you'd expect, a bit rich, not so much thick in terms of mouth feel, but not thin either, but full in flavor with a substantial aftertaste. 

It all works well enough.  The balance is good, the way the effects come together.  It's not exactly complex in terms of showing a large number of flavors but there is plenty going on.  No part of the experience is negative; the sweetness is at a good level, and it's clean in taste.  It's not all that different than Cindy's cinnamon-aspect Rou Gui I reviewed not long ago, but then she makes some pretty nice teas (her family, but she does some hands-on work too).

The next infusion is consistent; maybe the cinnamon dropped off a little more, now just one part of that range.  I'm not really taking much of a stab at describing the rest; it tastes like mineral, like Wuyi Yancha tend to, with earthiness that is hard to describe, in between wood and leather, but in a decent way in this expression.  Sometimes the effect along that line can extend towards a spice root, or cognac, but this is mostly cinnamon.  I suppose it's a bit straightforward as some Wuyi Yancha goes, emphasizing flavor over aroma, if that use of those concepts rings a bell.  More about that comes up in this post comparison tasting two Rou Gui along with a Tie Luo Han.

Trying the tea prepared in a gaiwan

I tried the tea again not so many days later, prepared in a gaiwan instead.  It would work better to compare brewing device related differences side-by-side, but the point was also to just get a second take on it, to try it again at a different time, since it's hard to judge how much I vary. 

The taste profile was the same:  that cinnamon effect, a richness from being an upper medium roast, but not really extended into a charred effect, with a good bit of mineral base.  I was wondering if the pot didn't contribute some to that but the mineral effect seemed just as strong prepared in a gaiwan.


I noticed the aftertaste quite a bit in this session, maybe slightly more, which had to just be me interpreting the same thing differently, or possibly from slight variation in brewing.  It was quite strong for about half a minute after swallowing the tea and diminished after that.  That's not nearly as pronounced as the effect can be for either sheng pu'er or lighter Taiwanese high mountain oolong but significant as this tea type goes. 


It brewed over a half dozen infusions very consistently.  That could be seen as a bit of a trade-off related to tea types where transition is an interesting experience, but it didn't fall off or degrade in any way.  Around the 6th to 7th infusion the mineral picked up a little, with cinnamon dropping off, but it wasn't close to finished yet at that point.  I'd mentioned in that recent Oriental Beauty review about how that's one factor related to tea quality, that some teas that are ok but not quite on this level might be quite good for a few infusions and with the main positive aspects fading over the next few, but this tea lasted for quite a number of rounds instead.

brewed tea from the second session

I could go back and compare it to the one I tried from Jip Eu last year, related to that write-up, but if my expectations shifted a little from drinking more cinnamon type Rou Gui in the past year that might be more of a change than the tea differing.


The nice thing about buying tea from a physical shop versus online is that you can go visit and taste them to see which type you really like before you buy it.  At least at better shops you can, and at Jip Eu they're quite open to drinking and talking about tea with you.