Ma Tou Yan and Niu Lan Keng Rou Gui (Wuyi Yancha oolong)

 

A few weeks back I met a couple of contacts that I already knew in my favorite Bangkok Chinatown tea shop, in Jip Eu (their Maps link and FB page, for contacts).  We tried some interesting teas, and I bought something basic (I tend to stock up on Xiaguan tuochas there when I'm not really buying much tea just then), and they gave me some samples of really nice Wuyi Yancha to try.  

For the most part that's that shop's specialty, selling higher end, good versions of Wuyi Yancha, Fujian Wuyishan origin oolong.  Then a lot of their business also relates to selling lower quality, moderate character related blends to local shops and such.  We drank aged sheng that day; they carry some interesting versions of that too.  I've bought good Dan Cong there, upper medium quality versions that don't cost much, and we also tried a pretty good Longjing just then, one of the main Chinese green tea types.  They carry lots of different tea.

I think they're actually selling these; sometimes they pass on interesting samples that they aren't.  I don't remember if I asked about pricing, but it may not have stuck even if I had.  A lot of their higher end oolong range had sold for about 1000 baht per 100 grams in the past, if I'm remembering right, or about $15 per 50 grams.  Depending on quality level that's either a normal price range or else a really good deal, and I think it just depends on which tea it is for them.  Some would be worth more, rarer types, and for versions that don't match your own style preference it's not mostly about that kind of value rating.

The one place name reference is familiar, Ma Tou Yan, or horse head rock; it's in the natural park area in Wuyishan.  That's probably a high-demand origin, so that version may cost more than their standard quite good quality range.  It's odd that a tone-variation of "ma" also means horse in Thai; there's a good chance that word was derived directly from Chinese languages.  Since I'm terrible with hearing or speaking tones horse, dog, and come are basically all the same word to me, which is definitely a problem when it comes to trying to say things clearly.

Review:

Ma Tou Yan:  it's pretty good, as it should be.  Roast input comes across first, in a relatively balanced form.  I suppose if it was even more balanced maybe the roast input wouldn't come across first, but this is the opening round, and that could settle.  This does taste like cinnamon, as these often do, as the name Rou Gui translates to.  Inky mineral depth is substantial, as it should be.  

Overall balance is good; sweetness and all the rest are right in order.  For this being the first round it's a little early for the big picture evaluation, but I'm not noticing anything like a flaw in this, and even looking for a limitation requires some interpretation. 

Niu Lan Keng:  interesting, for overlapping quite a bit and also being very different.  The cinnamon range is common, and this is also sort of an upper medium level of roast.  Again the roast could integrate just a little better, but that's the kind of thing to consider and judge over a few rounds, not just the first one.  The mineral range is quite different.  The other one is a bit inky, but this is really inky, so that it reminds you of the smell of pen ink (versus ink from a copier or squid, I guess?).  

Layers of mineral bunch together, coming across as depth.  Of course it is expressed quite a bit in an aftertaste experience, which is also pronounced in the other, but not like this.  It comes across as intensity, often a limitation across a lot of oolong range, but it's definitely not a limitation for this version.  It will be interesting to see how the two balance as they unfold, if the different dimensions complement each other better in one than the other.  For aspects being this positive it leads on to looking for refinement too, not just balance, but subtlety of inputs, and finer aspect character working together.

For these being this good and this intense it would make sense to me for someone to drink them brewed light, maybe best trying only one version at a time, letting the intensity and effect of the aspects build up over rounds.  For trying to do a comparison that approach and effect won't work.  I'll need to drink water between rounds to get back to a clearer palate just to make out what's going on with them.  The aftertaste experience from both, maybe mostly the second, is so strong that the water tastes sweet and mineral-intensive for a few sips, like tea.  I'll need to brew these fast to not overdo it for intensity, not true flash infusions but under 10 seconds.

MTY #2:  again it's nice.  For someone looking for this particular flavor profile of tea this would be just the thing, for heavy and warm cinnamon supported by medium-high roast input.  This might balance even better after another year or so, once that roast input had time to settle.  Warm, complex mineral coats the outsides of your mouth, and just a hint of char is part of the roast effect.  That's the part that would be dialed in perfectly for some, or out of balance for others, too high, depending on preference.  A lot of people seem to like quite roasted tea, and this definitely isn't in the higher roast level range, but it's just below it.

Inky mineral is nice in this.  It's odd then that it's so much more pronounced in the other version.

NLK:  cinnamon is still present but the mineral is quite intense in this, maybe a little stronger.  For someone who couldn't get enough of that effect this is it.  It ties to a structured mouthfeel and strong aftertaste carry-over.  As a potential critique maybe this isn't as balanced as it could be; it's pretty far towards that one aspect range.  Sweetness and cinnamon do counter it, and balance it, but it's about as mineral intensive as any Wuyi Yancha I've ever tried, or maybe more so.

That shift in related feel structure might also divide judgment on the experience.  Some people love intense feel, so much so that they give up positive flavor range to brew oolongs extra strong to experience a blast of feel and aftertaste ranges.  There's no need to settle on flavor balance--at moderate infusion intensity--or quite intense feel and aftertaste with this; both are there.

Using maxed out proportion for these, my normal approach, probably isn't optimum.  I'm just brewing the samples as I received them, but this might be 10 grams.  Or maybe only 8, and the tea tends to expand, but either way it's a lot for a 100 ml gaiwan worth given how intense these teas are.  Even using fast infusion timing these are a bit strong.

MTY #3:  this integrates much better; lots of layers of flavors are balancing well in this, coming across as more refined.  Roast input is still pronounced but now essentially even with the heavy cinnamon and heavy mineral.  This is brewed lightly, or at least brewed quickly; it has to be, given this intensity and the proportion used.  "Lightly" there is relative; this is upper medium infusion strength, more than it would be easy to ever achieve using a more mild form of tea.

It's nice the way that the char effect has settled from being a main input to an extra edge.  Somehow you feel this tea more than you taste it after swallowing it; the overall effect stays with you.

NLK:  that heavy mineral range didn't settle to even up and balance with the rest in the same way, but it might be easing up a little.  The heavy roast input (upper-medium in terms of level, but the "char" effect is a heavy flavor tone) is similar to the other, but probably differences in that one aspect input could be broken down, if someone focused on it enough.

A coffee drinker might love this tea.  It doesn't give up anything in terms of flavor intensity and complexity to coffee, and some of the flavors overlap.  There's extra bitterness in coffee, and the feel is full in an unusual way in it, which tea doesn't completely match, but this isn't thin in feel at all.  It would be disrespectful to this tea but it would be interesting to see how it works out with milk and sugar in it, how far that parallel with coffee could be stretched.

I usually notice drug-like effect from sheng pu'er most, that rush that you get, and a specific but varying range of head buzz, cha qi, as tea drinkers call it, but this has it too.  Maybe caffeine level alone is really high, or that plus theanine; who knows what goes into that effect.  Breakfast wasn't that heavy, a mix of baked goods we picked up on bakery shopping spree yesterday; maybe I'll snack a little on more and then continue.  

Maybe it will be informative how baked goods tend to go in a place like Bangkok:  for breakfast I had a Krispy Kreme doughnut, a couple of custard filled eclairs (the small spherical kind), and a chocolate version of a cashew-topped toffee cake.  There is more traditional bread with green pandan custard on the table; maybe I'll get to that too.

MTY #4:  this seems to balance a good bit better than the other version.  Earlier on I would've guessed that the opposite was going to happen, that the other would settle in intensity and really fall together, but the most intense range in that is still a bit extreme in comparison with the rest.  It's sort of a subtle, emergent theme but to me better Wuyi Yancha takes on a liqueur-like character, like cognac or brandy, and this expresses that.  It's more like cognac, or even like the scent of the solvent base in perfume.  I suppose it must be more pleasant than that sounds.

NLK:  this is improved in balance.  Heavy mineral range, a moderate intensity but strong roast flavor, and cinnamon all stand out, but none take over.  Aftertaste is really significant.  Feel has moderated; it was almost rough or dry in body before, in the first couple of rounds, tying to that flavor intensity, and now it's not as strong.  I suppose the other tea seems better in quality, as markers tend to go, but really they're just slightly different styles.  Maybe the "markers" theme is just something I tend to make up and apply.

For someone seeking out pronounced mineral, pronounced cinnamon, light but noticeable char roast effect, and overall intensity this version would be better.  It's dialed up.  The other is plenty intense, but this goes further.  Oolongs in general don't tend to work out like this; the material just can't support coming across that strong.

Both are exceptional.  I suppose both exceed my expectations, in different ways.  I thought that the teas would be good but these really are novel.

MTY #5:  the balance gets better and better, with cinnamon standing out all the more.  It's a good sign.

NLK:  this balances well too, but heavy mineral stands out more than the cinnamon.  Again for someone really looking to get that full "rock oolong" mineral effect this is it.  To me balance is really the thing, not one aspect standing out being better, but then preferences do vary.

a water park outing with a favorite cousin

a park outing with family; we rode paddle-boat ducks

the other boat