Wuyi Origin 2019 Rou Gui

A friend recently sent a few interesting teas to try, including a 2019 Wuyi Origin Rou Gui.  

I wrote review notes before looking up what he said it was, beyond remembering it was Rou Gui, and it probably is the same version I used for this water type testing back in 2019, or maybe it's not.  Not much comes of looking back to compare character; it sounds similar, but that was focused on minor differences between using Volvic bottled water and filtered local tap water for brewing.

It's interesting that this isn't the fruitier style of Rou Gui I have tried more of in the past.  They make and sell both versions; I'm not sure what that difference relates to.  It would seem that it would have to be a slightly different plant type variation, that they couldn't use processing differences to cause that much of a main aspects range shift, or that terroir input would cause that particular change.  Or maybe that's completely wrong, and it is more related to one of those inputs.  Cindy has mentioned before that the exact same plants can be especially fruity some years, which they can notice even when picking the leaves, from the scent of fresh oils on them, so for sure growing conditions each year play a role.

Wuyi Origin sells a 2023 version that seems likely to be similar, citing all they say about it here:

Location: Qing shi yan (青狮岩）

Harvest: 2023.May.3rd

Cultivar：Rou gui  cultivar

Roasting level:  Medium Roasting ( 3 times charcoal fire roasting )

                                    The first time :  20th of June

                                    The second time : 24st of July                              

                                    The thrid time : 10th of September

This cinnamon is in Qingshiyan Zhengyan Mountain Farm, and the tea garden is on the flat ground. The sunshine shines from morning till night, and there is plenty of sunshine time. The unique growth environment makes this cinnamon have a very direct and sharp cinnamon. The first infusion  is full of fragrance. Cinnamon aroma is flamboyant, strong and lasting. Cinnamon fragrance always exists from beginning to the end, and there is no  any fertilizer and pesticide using  in this tea garden 

Medium charcoal roasting,  stewed this tea has ripe fruit flavor, its tea soup is fragrant and pure, and its taste is mellow, thick and sweet.

This Rou Gui was hand-made the totally steps  We made it by hand from picking fresh leaves, Oxidation, and then the last Maocha sorting . The tea strip is very compact and complete. The raw fresh leaves is from Qingshiyan garden ,it is  part of Zhengyan Farm in WuYi National Garden Park . 

Highly recommended, this is a very standard  taste of the Rou Gui Cultivar with "spicy " and "ripe fruit" fragrance.

The Feature of this tea is quite direct ,you can get it easily .

Suggestion: 7-8g / 80 ml gaiwan or Pot . 100C

I last reviewed a Rou Gui that was supposedly from the Zhengyan park area in September (and I think it was), a sample from a local Chinatown shop, from Jip Eu.  It wasn't on this quality level.  That doesn't necessarily mean that the origin area was mis-represented; just being from a famous origin area, where conditions are generally quite favorable for growing those plant types, doesn't mean that a tea will achieve a certain quality level.  That tea was really good, clearly better than the medium quality re-sale outlet version I compared it to in that post, but this version is the next step up.

It's a little early to be getting into conclusions but this website version--not the one I'm tasting--sells for $15 for 25 grams, not discounted when buying more volume as their site is set up.  

There is some room for improvement in the version I'm trying; it could be slightly more complex, or refined, with slightly extended aftertaste experience.  

But all of those aspects are already so positive that it wouldn't necessarily be easy to notice that improvement; this contains no flaws, and all the positive aspects are pretty far up the scale.  And I suspect that aging (this being a 4 year old version) has muted the higher end / more aromatic flavor range, bringing out more smoothness and depth, so part of what I'm saying could be more intense relates to a difference in tea type instead, to how somewhat aged versions vary from newer ones.  Then it's down to what people value most in tea experience, whether that's an improvement or it's not as good.

Review:

first infusion:  that's heavier on cinnamon than Cindy's Rou Gui usually are.  Somehow there are two different styles or versions of them, with one quite fruity, including citrus, or even peach, and the other the more familiar cinnamon.  Per an input from a local Chinatown shop owner it's even similar to a specific version of cinnamon; as I recall one type is regarded as true cinnamon and another a related variation.  Maybe he said similar to Vietnamese cinnamon?  That would probably only be a confusing form of reference to a secondary plant type.  Anyway...

This tastes like cinnamon.  Maybe there is some fruit tone included, but it's really mostly that, with some warm mineral base.  It's clean, and balanced; pretty good Rou Gui (with "pretty good" used here in the understated sense).  Oxidation level must be a little higher than I'm accustomed to in their fruity style Rou Gui, or I could easily be mixing up a roast input, or it could be both.  

This comes across as balanced and complex for one flavor note standing out so much.  The mineral tone includes an ink sort of character, not uncommon for Wuyi Yancha, but a marker for better versions.  That effect can be interpreted as leaning towards a liqueur or cognac nature.

second infusion:  cinnamon gets even stronger; interesting.  It includes so much earthiness and warmth it's on to folding in some tree-bark range.  I get it that cinnamon is tree bark, but I mean how more common tree bark smells, aged or cured versions of hardwood stored for firewood.  Hickory wood has a nice rich smell; maybe like that.  I grew up in the forests of PA and spent a lot of time cutting firewood but I'm not claiming here that I could actually identify cut wood by smell; that's just a guess.

trees, snow, and wild turkeys at my parents' house

This is so interesting and pleasant that I'd like to add more, but that's it; it tastes like cinnamon, a specific wood tone, and mineral base.

third infusion:  I tried this brewed faster to see how aspects would vary but it's mostly just lighter.  Brighter cinnamon flavor and sweetness stands out more, so a vague hint of citrus seems more intense, but it's still pretty similar.  For me optimum intensity is more medium; that bright character is nice, and aftertaste is still pronounced, but the strong hit of balanced and intense flavor is nicer.

fourth infusion:  warmer tones pick up, probably more from brewing this slightly longer than a natural transition cycle.  It's great the way a simple range of flavors comes across as so complex and intense.  In between the cinnamon and mineral depth, separate from the supporting fruit range, there is flavor range tying it together, along the lines of other spice or tisane.  Then a pronounced aftertaste extends the experience, makes it longer and adds a sensation of depth.  This is really clean in character too; it's hard to describe how the complete absence of flaws and great balance work together.  

The roast level in this is so perfect that it's easy to lose track of that even being an input.  I wonder if it's not aged a couple of years?  That would settle a roast input, leaving behind positive transition while smoothing over rougher edges. [later edit:  it's 4 years old, so sure, that input changed it a little].

fifth infusion:  it's changing slightly, but not enough that it's going to be easy to describe, not in terms of identifying separate flavors.  The spice input seems to shift from straight cinnamon more onto root spice.  A light touch of citrus might be getting heavier, moving from fresh orange peel to dried orange peel.  

It's still quite pleasant; it's not changing in terms of losing intensity, balance, or appeal.  I went with a high proportion, brewing all that Bruce sent me, which has to be around 8 grams.  That's a lot to brew at one time in a 90 to 100 ml gaiwan, even though that is my standard approach.  For someone using a more typical 5 or 6 gram proportion this would probably transition faster, since infusion times would probably be a little longer, unless someone likes their tea wispy light.  It works for that; it was fine in that very lightly brewed round.

Conclusions:

I drank more rounds but it continued on in a similar way.

I'm curious what this is, what it was sold as by them.  The Wuyi Origin lists a separate now sold-out version they describe as "boutique," that had sold for $32 per 25 grams instead of $15, for twice as much.  Material quality and potential can vary quite a bit, from year to year, or location to location, depending on what the plants experience that year.  

From how vendors and producers often market teas it might seem like one main lot of given year and season's tea is produced but really it's not like that.  Teas are harvested and processed in batches, and in cases where a vendor is trying to make a uniform and consistent version from year to year they might mix batches to arrive at a certain effect, a certain balance of aspects.  That would align with yearly named-type branding, how teas are sold.  Tea from a higher level specialty producer is something else; it would be produced and sold as different versions like this.

Which leads back to me not knowing exactly what this is, how it was presented.  It's clearly quite good, but it might be that it was a more standard offering 4 years ago, sold as a more ordinary type.  The balance of oxidation level and roast input seem very favorable, so by ordinary I mean truly exceptional but sold as their more moderate priced range, possibly even selling for less than 50 cents a gram 4 years ago.

Then to me the fruity range style versions can be even more distinctive, because for Rou Gui with cinnamon as the dominant flavor aspect it either balances or it doesn't, either including plenty of other complexity and refinement or not.  But fruity Rou Gui can be completely novel, expressing a set of flavor aspects that you'll only experience in that one version that one time.  Unless it comes up in a similar form again, but it's usually not like that; peach, citrus, floral tones, or whatever else can balance in a unique way.  

Well-balanced and high quality cinnamon-dominant Rou Gui is still very nice, a pleasant experience.  It's a tea quality range that one might never get around to experiencing, depending on the sourcing approach they take.  This may have lost some intensity across the four years; it may not be as good as it was two years ago, per my preference.  For heavier roast levels aging really is a positive input, even across 3 or 4 years, but surely this was moderate in roast level earlier on, not low, but not beyond medium.  All that is just guesses though.  

This is still truly exceptional tea, so I'm splitting hairs here a bit, comparing it to as good as I think Rou Gui character could possibly be.  This is relatively close to that, for this style, perhaps with some limited range for improvement.

Wuyi Origin Jin Mu Dan (wuyi yancha)

 

Wuyi Origin Jin Mu Dan right; the comparison DHP on left looks ok too

This is the last of a few teas that Cindy, of Wuyi Origin, passed on for me to drink last year.  It seems those were more intended to share tea as a friend than for review, but of course it works for both, since discussing interesting tea versions is my hobby interest.  That reminds me, Cindy described some changes in tea awareness, demand, and vending patterns in China in an online meetup last year (not so directly related to this tea or a review theme).

We visited the local Buddhist temple we go to most regularly recently (2 weeks ago now, and also since) to check in with an astrologer monk (a long story), and he gave me some tea that someone gave him a lot of, a Da Hong Pao.  I've tried it; it's good, better than I remember trying from him a few years ago.  One might wonder if it's not a problem for monks to receive that sort of a gift, well above average tea, that has considerable value (not like 50 cents a gram; it's not that good), in some quantity.  It's not a problem.  Monks live by a broad set of rules (227 or so?), and owning much of any value isn't allowed, but as far as grey areas go they're fine, and possessing tea is ok.  He would just share some with other monks or visitors if it was more than he would drink, as I experienced.

I never look up tea details before reviewing them but I thought maybe I'd make an exception, just to change things up.  It balances things a bit, since I've actually drank that second tea I'll use as comparison (the Da Hong Pao).  The Wuyi Origin listing:

Jin Mu dan 金牡丹 2021

location : Shui lian dong (水帘洞） zheng yan garden 

Picking date: 2021.April 28th

Roast level :   Medium (roasted on June 23, July 7, and August 10)

Feature : Golden Peony is a new type of tea developed by the Fujian Tea Research Institute in the 1970s, with Tieguanyin(铁观音） as the female parent and Huangdan （黄旦）as the male parent. Growing in the protected area of Wuyi Mountain,the soil is rocky and rich in minerals. The soil is loose, conducive to water transportation.

The dry tea sticks are tightly tied, the color is dark and the aroma is restrained. The tea soup is orange-red and bright, the soup is clear and transparent, and the tea aroma is perfectly integrated into the tea soup. The entrance is smooth and thick, the rhyme of rock surrounds the throat, the sweetness is long-lasting, and the lips and teeth retain fragrance. Smell the fragrance of the bottom of the cup, such as honey, the hanging cup is long-lasting and full of tea. Very obvious taste of ripe peaches.

Interesting, that background.  The plant hybrid type is interesting, and I can see how it goes with picking up peach flavor.  This really should be better tea than the other, but that's part of the point, to pin down how it varies.  Style will be relatively completely different too, given that is within the normal earthier, slightly heavy, mineral intensive range of a blended DHP (maybe Shui Xian with a little Rou Gui, or it could be anything).

Review:

Da Hong Pao (left in photo):  much darker than the other tea.  Flavor is pleasant, as I'd experienced before, not so far off normal Shui Xian character, that one mineral and wood flavor range, with one inky sort of effect tying more to mineral.  The wood range isn't a conventional hardwood sort of effect, or aromatic wood, like cedar, but more like the smell of a wet-environment tree bark, or even tree bark in curing cut wood.  It tastes fine until you try the other tea, then not as good in comparison.

Jin Mu Dan:  wow that's good.  Cinnamon, floral tones, and fruit really jumps out, with the overall character just on another level of the other tea.  It's easy to try pretty good wuyi yancha, as this example is, or one I've recently bought for gifts from a local Chinatown shop, and say this is good enough, I can really appreciate this.  Then when you try a good example from a much higher quality level it's something else altogether, and what really didn't seem like limitations in the other range of versions stands out.

The flavor profile is completely different, and the feel, and aftertaste experience.  The roast level in the first example is fine, kind of medium, something that complements that tea, but this comes across as absolutely dialed in.  It's a lower level of roast, just perfect for highlighting the strengths of this tea.  There's no flaw to compensate for; it's not masking that kind of thing.  I really love their Rou Gui, for balancing fruit, warm tones, and mineral input, and this is a completely different expression, only sharing a vague general tea category range.  Floral tones are strongest, at this infusion, but there is plenty there that could emerge through later transitions.

Da Hong Pao, second infusion:  slightly better; the mineral that was a bit dry, or just not so pleasant, mellowed, and sweetness increased.  Depth picked up, and that towards-ink aromatic range contributes more.  It's picking up more of a perfume-like quality.

Jin Mu Dan:  it's not fair, trying an ordinary quality DHP along with this tea.  Depth picked up in this tea too, warmer tones, but the heavy floral aromatic range is still really impressive, very pleasant.  Peach starts to pick up, from range that was just non-distinct fruit in the first round.  A warm tone I interpret as cinnamon, but that's not a given, it could be interpreted in different ways, or just described as a general underlying warmth.  Someone could see that as connecting to the floral range, with heavier floral tones like lavender or rose petals included.  I don't see it as related to mineral range, which is evident, but that would also make sense.

The main thing that stands out is how intense all of these positive aspects are, how complex the tea is, and how it all balances together.  It's less unusual for a few very positive aspects to be expressed by a tea, but when it comes together as an integrated set and experience that's something else.  You could try 1000 wuyi yancha versions from other kinds of sources and never encounter a version as novel, high in quality, and well-balanced as this one.  The best of what I tried from my favorite local Chinatown shop wasn't so far off this, but the limited difference, the extra refinement, really sets this apart.

It makes you think about how cost ties to those issues, doesn't it?  This sells for $22 for 50 grams, so on towards 50 cents a gram, but not there.  If I remember right the best I bought from that Chinatown shop had sold for about $30 for 100 grams, so less, but the move up in quality level might seem like money well spent.  Then when I buy teas I have to also factor in that my own budget is limited.  I could buy a good value sheng cake for not much over the $44 100 grams of this would cost, or quite decent Dian Hong (my favorite black tea category) often costs $10 per 50 grams for pretty good versions.  It would be nice to not worry about whether I spend $300 a year on tea or a couple thousand.

Da Hong Pao, third infusion:  really not so different than the last round.  Since this is about comparison to the other I'll not add more.

Jin Mu Dan:  cocoa flavor seems to pick up a little, as it warms and fills in yet more complexity.

Keoni joined and asked what smelled like chocolate in here, and smelled the empty cup from last round, and said that's it.  He tried both teas and really loved this version, and didn't care for the other.  He even passed on an assessment that this is one of the better teas he's ever tried, and I agree that the quality level does stand out.  Kalani tried both and like the other better, the DHP; personal preference can be like that.  It is a lot closer to this other in general level of appeal in these rounds, for evolving to drop out most of a heavy tree-bark range flavor, with pleasant aromatic inky mineral picking up.  I'm adding this during editing, but after another couple of infusions they kind of evened out more, since the bright and intense flavors in the Jin Mu Dan kept fading, and the Da Hong Pao retained its depth and kept seeming more pleasant.

Later infusions:  peach may well stand out more in the next couple of infusions for the Jin Mu Dan, and some of the most striking floral aromatic range fades a little.  It's still great for picking up a little more warm depth.  The Da Hong Pao works as well as it has across any rounds, for that inky mineral range and some vague floral tones hanging in there.  Aftertaste is pleasant for both, it's just a matter of which flavor range carrying over one prefers.  Both could be a little richer in feel but they're definitely not thin, so it doesn't come across as a flaw.

Both kept going for lots of additional infusions, more than four extra shown in pictures and mentioned here.  Both stayed pleasant too, fading in ways that didn't shift feel or flavor balance into a negative range, maintaining enough intensity and complexity to still seem nice.  For the Wuyi Origin tea starting out so clearly high in quality that seemed normal, and versions backed off a little in terms of oxidation and roast level might last a little longer.  For the DHP it was more of a surprise; it seemed to be better quality tea than I had expected, or noticed in the first rounds of the two sessions I tried it.

Wuyi Origin prize winning Qi Lan (oolong)

 

I'll keep the intro part short here; this is another version of Wuyi Yancha from Wuyi Origin, sent by my friend Cindy for me to try (more so than for review, but both).  Their description:

Qi lan 奇兰

Location: Qing shi yan (青狮岩) zheng yan garden

Harvest date: 2020.4.28th

Roasting style: Two times Roasting, Medium Roasting style

The first time roast :  July 1st, the second time roast : August 14th 

Feature:

The Qilan variety of Wuyi Mountain was introduced from Pinghe County, Southern Fujian in the 1990s. Because Qilan grows well under the unique and excellent geographical conditions of Wuyi Mountain, the Qilan quality under the unique Wuyi rock tea production technology is even more superior. Beloved by the masses, it is widely planted in Wuyishan area.

Dry tea: the strips are neat and curly, the color is brown and green, and the color is oily and shiny; the color of the soup: the tea soup is orange and yellow, the entrance is mellow and sweet, and the teeth and cheeks are fragrant after the swallowing; the bottom of the leaf: yellow and bright, with a light green bottom and red border.

The flavor is sweet, with the typical mineral taste of Wuyi tea. A flowery orchid aroma and cinnamon flavor. Very pleasant and smooth aftertaste as well. It has a pleasant, very subtle menthol-like effect in the aftertaste. Qi lan is a quite  popular Pinzhong among others pinzhong in Wuyi. 

There is more cited that defines the term "Pinzhong" after the review section.  

I tend to not usually bring up value, unless there is an unusual point to be made, but this seems to be a good place to break form.  That lists for $32 for 100 grams (which I'm assuming is identical to what I reviewed, although there really could be different batches or mixes of batches being sold).

If it is identical that's a great value for this tea.  It seems odd saying that about a 32 cent a gram tea; that's a bit for tea, for some types and quality levels.  Let's check a seemingly comparable source, the Tea Drunk shop in NYC (not a fair comparison, direct sales from a vendor based in China and a physical shop in a high-rent area, but I'll address that part).

Their Qi Lan here lists for $20 for 1 ounce, or 28 grams, so 71 cents per gram, more than double.  There's a really good chance this shop tea version isn't nearly as good; the Wuyi Origin package literally says "prize winner."  There are different local Wuyishan tea region competitions and apparently a version of this tea won an award, which I take to mean first place, but it could mean just "placing," ranked but lower.  They run through an awful lot of submission versions, with it a point of pride among local producers to be recognized; if it really was "only a top 5" award that's meaningful.

That's really not a fair comparison, since that shop has rent and staff costs to cover, with physical-shop pricing running higher than for online-only shops, even for online sales from such outlets.  It's good to also support your local shops, if you value them and want them to stick around, even if you do pay a bit more for the teas.  Let's check a well-regarded US online vendor to flatten out that comparison point, Seven Cups:

Qi Lan, Rock Wulong 2018:  25 grams selling for $24.30

So selling for even more, $1 / gram.  This tea may or may not be comparable in quality to the Wuyi Origin version; only trying both tells that story.  Styles can vary slightly, and that's where personal preference starts to inform more than an "objective" quality level.  Since that is a well-regarded source it will be interesting to cross-check their interpretation of the type-typical style:

Qi Lan stands out among rock wulongs by virtue of its distinctive lingering orchid fragrance. Named “Lan” (orchid) for its floral character, it is smooth and complex rather than sharp. Qi Lan producers strive for a tea with a well-developed aroma that has sweet notes reminiscent of caramelized sugar. Its initial subtlety encourages you to breathe its fragrance in more deeply and experience the lasting rich character. The aroma and flavor build up to a rich complexity as you drink this tea through its many bright yellow-orange infusions. 

Qi Lan is always lightly roasted to preserve its beautiful aroma. In addition, the traditional charcoal roasting of the leaves helps create a deep, full flavor. This tea is famous for the developing sweetness that lingers after the tea is swallowed. Its soft and slippery flavor betrays no hint of bitterness or tannic sharpness...

...While some varieties of Qi Lan are given a slightly heavier roast, our Qi Lan is the lightest-roasted variety with the highest aroma.

That's a citation of a much longer passage about the history, typical growing area, and processing themes related to the tea type, with the rest also worth a read.  That last sentence I included to fill in that earlier comment about stylistic variations; there is a norm for processing approach and final style in these types of teas, with some range for interpretation within that.  What people mean by terms like light and heavy (related to roasting) tend to be a bit variable, and again trying the teas fills in that meaning best.

I don't doubt that the Seven Cups' version is exceptional tea, even though I've never tasted a single version of anything they produce, based on accepting hearsay input.  I would expect it to be stylistically varied, if only slightly, from this Wuyi Origin version, versus "giving up" much in quality, and being on a completely different level.  Presumably it couldn't be substantially better than a local award winning version, even if individual batch differences may add some variation.  On the value side I expect that Wuyi Origin is just underpriced, related to how it could go selling teas directly versus adding a resale and import step.

It goes without saying but all of my guesses should be taken with a grain of salt.  Trying the teas tells the story; the rest is speculation, guesses based on hearsay and common patterns.

Review:

First infusion:  amazing, of course.  I get accustomed to their teas being lightly roasted, and this is more on the medium side; the input comes across more.  Putting it on a scale doesn't work because the entire over-roasted range is more typical than it probably should be, and reference to it means nothing to me in terms of placement.  A bit of the char flavor in more-roasted oolong versions comes across, but just a trace, limited enough that it seems likely that it could fade fast.  Resting these tea versions changes things too; this might come across slightly differently in another six months.

The rest of the flavor range is interesting.  To me it's closest to a combination of floral tone, which is warm and subdued, and more pronounced well-roasted almond flavor.  The way that underlying mineral, underlying warm floral tone, touch of char, and heavy almond flavor combine is nice.  I think a bit more of an aromatic effect I think of as congnac-like will develop as this keeps going, once it's really started [interesting that this comment was from trying the tea, not a type-typical expectation; I added these citations, and first read them, only after doing the review].

Feel is already pronounced, and aftertaste, and this is only the first round.  The feel coats your tongue, heavy and smooth, along with a heavy mineral tone, and both trail into a related aftertaste expression.  It's so complex and full in feel that it seems to affect your whole mouth, lingering on as aftertaste + "afterfeel."  Different.

Second infusion:  I brewed this fast since the intensity is high, also related to using a relatively full gaiwan.  This tea version is intense enough that for once using less tea to help moderate that might be better.  The proportion of earlier aspects present shifts a bit, and intensity ramps up.  Even using a lighter proportion really fast infusions would be enough.  It comes across as one single, integrated flavor range, but what is there is actually very complex.  In addition to the mineral tone, slight char (receded already), touch of floral, and heavy almond other spice-like tone seems to join in, something like ginseng, but I suppose maybe not that.  

It picks up a touch of vegetal character, like a very aromatic hardwood.  That probably sounds different than I intend it, since cheap oolong or black tea versions tend to be woody, but a touch of cedar (not that, but I'll call it that) joining all the rest of this is a completely different effect.  Or it would be natural to interpret that as an extension of the notable root spice.  It's complex.  This part is going to sound strange too but that combination isn't complete different than licking the back of an envelop, that particular form of glue.  It's really pleasant though, so crazy to be saying this tastes like wood or glue.  Those are descriptions that inform what one component is, but only the experience of the whole would pass on a more complete impression of that intended meaning.  

This is one of the more complex and intense Wuyi Yancha versions I've ever tried.  Since I really love fruit in them it's not in the range that matches my standard strongest preference, but I suspect this will evolve to include more aromatic range and an overall balance that is a truly unique experience.  It's just getting started.

Third infusion:  the aspects include most of the same as the last round, but the balance is different, with a shift in the vegetal range.  It went from relatively close to ginseng to more like a tree leaf.  This part is a little odd, because it's like the scent of fresh leaves, not so much the "fallen leaf" range, maybe maple or oak, a temperate climate range leaf scent.  Floral tone is still filling that in, and an almond flavor that's now evenly balanced with the rest.  Mineral is just as intense but less warm, shifting a little towards a light metal range, or actual salt.  It all balances really well; nothing stands out as dominant.  Nothing in this complex range could be considered a flaw, although of course preference would dictate if someone really loved any part or the whole.

To be clear all this end-effect is familiar.  Unless I'm remembering wrong an exceptional Ban Tian Yao I reviewed a long time ago--five years ago--was pretty close to this, complex across a floral / mineral / nut / root spice range.  Few teas I've ever tried match this for intensity, consistent and integrated complexity, and aftertaste expression.  Feel is interesting, and notable, but that kind of thing comes up.  

This might be the kind of tea that someone new to the range might not like as much, without really knowing why.  It's not at all challenging but it's a lot to take in, across a range that's not as immediately appealing as strong, simpler fruit or floral tone, or a plain-cinnamon Rou Gui.  You have to be able to appreciate the complexity, and to some extent how it's shifting from round to round, but without valuing that transition at all you could still like it.

Fourth infusion:  somehow the warmth seemed to bump a little; odd.  This flavor range is so tightly integrated but that sort of broken down list approach to explaining it seems wrong; it comes across as all one thing.  That cognac-like aromatic aspect did increase, an effect you get from that type of brandy, or maybe in some kinds of liqueur, or present in the scent of perfume.  

Roast level seems perfect at this stage, drawing out very pleasant complexity, and tying it all together.  There is no trace or hint of a distinct char aspect.  Even the other parts, almond, ginseng, fresh tree leaf, etc., all seem so well integrated that it's just one very complex flavor now.  It will be interesting to see how Cindy describes this.

Fifth infusion:  it probably did shift slightly from last round but I really can't describe how.  Maybe that warmth makes the spice range that had been more like root seem closer to cinnamon now.  A flavor break-down goes against actually describing this experience, since it's so integrated.  That pronounced aromatic range is really nice, the way it links with and extends from the rest.  It would make it natural to describe this as coming across as more floral now, but to me the complexity just integrates together.  It's interesting how a dominant early almond tone transitioned to balance along with the rest, and how strong underlying mineral also did.  

This is definitely one of the more interesting and better Wuyi Yancha versions I've yet to try.  I wouldn't say that it's "over my head" but my normal tastes are a little more basic.  I can appreciate what I'm experiencing, but a much simpler and less refined version would be essentially just as pleasant, in a range that matches my personal preference.  Taken in a different way more basic Wuyi Yancha versions would stand in this one's shadow, and seem less desirable for not matching it across those extra dimensions.

Sixth infusion:  more of the same.  Mineral seems to be playing a slightly larger role now, and I'd expect subtle shifts like that to keep happening, for the balance to adjust a bit.  The result is still completely integrated, very pleasant.  

I've not really mentioned sweetness related to this tea, and that input is moderate.  It matches the other range, which isn't exactly savory, but more towards that side (nuts, warm floral, root spice, etc.).  The overall effect is very pleasant balance.  I suppose I might appreciate styles more that include more sweetness and fruit, towards a separate preference for Dian Hong black tea.  Of course I've been more on sheng for a few years, so I'm open to a broad range, to lots of mineral, sweetness or not so sweet, and a broad range of flavor and other character.  Related to that type and range, the overall intensity and complexity of this version works well.  Of course it has no sheng bitterness or more structured feel, or the different range of complex flavors well-aged versions express, but there is lots going on.

I'll leave off here; it's nice to try a few rounds without making notes, and it must get old reading sentence after sentence about minor transitions.  This was really exceptional tea.  The description may not have did justice to how much I liked it, covering more on the analytical side, breaking down what was going on with it.  It's easier to "gush" about how fantastic a tea is when it completely matches main personal preference, and this was as much a case of noticing how exceptional the character and effects were.

I'd expect tea at this quality level to more typically be priced at double or triple this cost, so it is a good chance for someone to try a version on the next level for style and quality at a great value.  I would guess that this is a great version of Wuyi Yancha for people who already love Wuyi Yancha, and not as suitable a starting point.  It wasn't challenging in any way; I don't mean that.  There was no astringency, or any negative aspect to "work around."  The very clear quality level, refined nature, aromatic character, feel and aftertaste, integrated and balanced flavor set, and pleasant transitions across infusions were all easy to appreciate.  But they do produce sweeter or fruitier versions, or more familiar "Da Hong Pao" range, all of which might seem more conventional, to some, if based on limited type exposure.

Post-script:  Ming cong versus Pinzhong Wuyi Yancha types

Wuyi Origin / Cindy lists the cultivar / product types in these two different groups on their site, and it may be unclear to some what those mean (as it was to me).  She includes a blog section in that site that covers some growing and processing descriptions, with the most recent post covering this distinction (with most of that short entry cited here):

Ming Cong:

Ming Cong means they are all with long histories, and most of them were named with some special kinds of stories...  The  most popular Ming Cong in Wuyishan now are :

Qidan(奇丹）, Beidou（北斗）, Tieluohan（铁罗汉）, Shuijingui(水金龟 ）, Baijiguan （白鸡冠）, Bantianyao(半天腰）, Rougui（肉桂） and Laocongshuixian (老枞水仙）

For this Ming cong, except their own features, they always with very strong tea energy, we always bake them to medium or high-level degree. Through the baking can force their essence to come out and this kind of baking style is quite good to be drunk in the second year or third year...

Pinzhong:

Most of the Pinzhong were imported from other tea growing places or through Hybridization in the 90s.   

Now the most popular Pinzhong in Wuyi like Qilan (奇兰）, Meizhan （梅占）, Foshou （佛手））, huangmeigui（黄玫瑰）, huang guanyin (黄观音）, huang dan （黄旦）, jin mudan （金牡丹）, jin yaoshi（金钥匙）, jin qian(金钱）,  queshe(雀舌）, Bairuixaing(白瑞香）baxian(八仙）and so on, too many different Pinzhong.

Like Meizhan is from Anxi tieguanyin growing area, Baxian is from Taiwan Wulong cultivars. Huang guanyin is from Hybridization of huang dan and Tie guanyin. Different pinzhong, they are with different kinds of aroma, but one same common thing is that they all do not have very strong body comparing to the Ming Cong. So for the baking, we always use bake them light style or medium style to keep their special aroma.

Of course there is more to be said about all that.  Her summary of two distinct, uniform preparation styles is surely oversimplified to make an abbreviated, practical point.  People love to try to "poke holes" in any simple definitions and categorizations, and separating that broad a set of plant types into two distinct groups could easily lead to sweeping aside a grey area, or other potential distinctions.  All the same, her understanding is much better grounded, and more developed and reliable, than standard vendor input, never mind tea group discussion hearsay or other online content.  She grew up around these plants, as her daughters now do.

Another TChing post about to "go up" is about tea themes bringing people together.  Given the holiday season timing this seems a good time to mention that I really do appreciate having online friends like Cindy, and the others I mention in that post, and the many that I don't bring up.  Thanks for taking part by reading some of these ideas, and humoring me if I ask you questions by random contact message, or go a bit far with enthusiastic tea group discussion.

This would be a great place to include a picture of Cindy's family but since I don't have a recent version I'll have to settle for more of my own munchkins, the standard inclusion here.

Wuyi Origin Shui Xian, exceptional Wuyi Yancha / rock oolong

This post reviews a Shui Xian version from Wuyi Origin, sent by Cindy for review.  Really for me to try, since she's a friend, but I'll review it too.

I'm probably biased in relation to how I expect their teas to be.  To some extent if you expect a tea to be really good or instead flawed that could lead to a more positive or negative interpretation.  At this point I think I'm able to get a relatively clear, neutral read on whatever I try but I guess you never know for sure.

I don't think this tea is listed on their site.  Two versions are, of Wuyishan Shui Xian oolong, but this was identified as roasted twice, and in those descriptions both are said to be roasted three times.  This may be somewhat similar to what is listed, and I can pass on how they describe their teas:

Gao Cong shui xian 高枞水仙

Gaocong Shuixian , first of all, it is also a Shuixian Cultivar , but has not been pruned for more than 10 years. Therefore, the tea tree is relatively tall, but the age of the tree is about 50years, so its taste is still the standard taste of Shuixian . Due to the difference in roasting fire, its aroma is not as high as Huaxiang Shuixian , but the Yan yun is more obviouse , more mellow, the taste is quite soft . and clean  . Its content is rich, and the taste is more layered. Half of the aroma is condensed in water, and half floats between the walls of the cup, the texture is very silky.

Let's check the other description, which looks a lot lighter, related to the photo shown on the web page, at least:

Shui xian (Narcissus) 2020 (hua xiang 花香）

Since ancient times to present , Shuixian is like a house keeper tea in every tea family. It is famous for its mellow soup and it's suitability for aging. After some years of keeping, its soup can be like rice water, sticky and mellow. the age of the tea bush in this garden is about 40 years old ,but every year in October we did the tea tree pruning , so the tea tree is no so tall , of 2020 harvest , the roast fire temperature is no so strong , keep its  original aroma ,  very Hua xiang  (floral )  . 

These cost $54 and $38 per 100 gram, respectively, so it's not "cheap" tea.  The best versions of Wuyi Yancha that I can buy locally aren't nearly this good, although some are quite decent, and a standard price for the highest level in my favorite Bangkok Chinatown shop is 1000 baht ($30) per 100 grams.  That is more or less completely irrelevant to people anywhere else, just offering that for comparison.  

Really appropriate price depends on quality level, and for teas in the range of as good as theirs tend to get presented in different ways and sold for different prices.  A lot of vendors would be selling "teas so good that they almost never make it out of China" that aren't this good for more.  But don't take my word for it; look up "Wuyi Origin" in your favorite tea group search function, and see what others say.

 

Review:

Just amazing. I won't do this tea justice with a description.  To be fair I've not tried related oolong anywhere near this good since whenever I tried theirs last, so the differential in quality level is probably making this seem all the more impressive.  I've been focused on sheng pu'er for about three years, trying to get that complex type sorted, and beyond that being impossible, a never-ending task, I think I've made enough of a start that I could move on, to some degree.

It tastes like good Wuyi Yancha, smooth, rich, complex, intense, and balanced. It's hard to describe a main flavor, never mind a set. I suppose interpretation as floral wouldn't be wrong but there's an earthier, towards-spice flavor that dominates. It's like how dark tropical wood furniture smells, sweet and complex, with layers of input.  

I think it's really a complex group of flavors causing this end effect: rich floral tone, dark wood, aromatic oil, fragrant spice (like frankincense, maybe, but I don't keep up with that range). It's so clean in effect; absolutely no trace of mustiness. Of course mineral stands out too, as a base. To me that mineral is like Utah desert slickrock, warm and slightly sweet. Of course anyone else's interpretation would be likely to vary, especially about a part as difficult to split out as the mineral tone.

2:  a bit more range towards sweet leather emerges, probably the tea opening up. This is better tea than 99% of all Da Hong Pao, or what is sold as that.  Saying that a DHP version might "just be Shui Xian" doesn't do justice to how good this plant input results can be. I'd expect that this flavor is exactly what many people think DHP should taste like, at best.

In this round the mineral reminds me a little of the smell of ink. The sweetness, cleanliness, complexity, and sophistication makes that work really well. The feel is great; not rough, but with some structure. The aftertaste is very pleasant, the way that mineral carries over. It's strange to think that a couple of the other oolong samples Cindy sent will be better than this, more subtle, complex in a different way, and more novel. For what this type is there might not be that much room left for improvement; it should be exactly like this.

3: Strange that it could still be improving. The level of roast is perfect in this; I'm sure that helps.

As I contemplate the flavor more roasted chestnut is quite close to the main flavor. Those usually pick up a little char flavor, and this didn't, so maybe it's light roasted chestnut, or one cooked at a moderate temperature. The  bumped mineral and slight shift in other flavor may have prevented me from making that association earlier, or maybe it's just a gap in my ability to describe the experience.

I may let note taking go after another round. This isn't changing much and I'm a bit under the weather, just a cold. Since my sense of taste seems fine it shouldn't be covid. That's not really here in Thailand at this point anyway; we've only had 2 or 3 cases of in-country transmission in four months.

4: not so different.This includes a hint of cinnamon spice I've not yet mentioned, probably increasing in this round to become more noticeable. This probably has 3 or 4 really exceptional rounds left in it, the another 3 or 4 tapering off, then for as good as this is I'll stretch it for more after that.

It's strange that pu'er gets so much focus, for as good as teas like this are. I like sheng too, and drink shu sometimes.  The intensity and range for those is amazing, and it's cool how they change with even moderate ageing. But Wuyishan oolongs are amazing for other reasons. Lots of people know, but it may be that the rarity of versions this good detracts from their image.

5: still great, similar to last round.

The picture of the wet leaves looks greener than it does to my eyes; interesting. This does taste like the oxidation level and roast level are moderate. To me it works really well. The quality level is so evident it's hard to split out a guess at objective quality level from preference. It seems high on the scale for both.

That lighter part seems to tie to the floral component of the complex flavor range that I've not said much about. Maybe like lotus flower? That set or list of flavors integrates much better than it sounds like it would, coming across almost as on broad-scope single flavor. Such a nice tea experience.

Wuyi Origin Shui Jin Gui (golden water turtle oolong)

Cindy of Wuyi Origin sent some teas to try awhile back and I'm just getting to the last, a Shui Jin Gui (Golden Water Turtle).  It's not really familiar, so I'm not sure what to expect, but I will cite her description before posting this (here):

Location: Zhong gu yan (钟鼓岩)
Harvest time: 2019.05.3th
Roasting level: 3 Times Roasted, Medium baking
Feature: Growing naturally and never been clipped for several years, the age of the tea bushes are about 40 years. Roasting three times gives this tea quite a fruity taste.


Fruity, that reduces to.  I didn't notice all that much fruit in this, more almond, toffee, and butter cookie, with a touch of ginseng range spice transitioning to include cinnamon too later on (with all that in more detail to follow).  The type isn't all that familiar, so I looked up the general background, starting with Wikipedia's take:


Shui Jin Gui is a Wuyi oolong tea from Mount Wuyi, Fujian, China. Its name literally means 'golden water turtle'.[1] The tea produces a bright green color when steeped and is much greener than most other Wuyi oolong teas. It is one of the Si Da Ming Cong, the four famous teas of Wuyi.[2]


Since that doesn't add much about a typical flavor profile ("green" seems to relate to oxidation level, even though brewed oolongs are between yellow, pale gold, gold, and darker or towards copper and gold).  Looking through other vendor descriptions of their versions it's odd how they all say completely different things.  Read a couple and it does sound like this version is supposed to be fruity, but then others oppose that, with some clearly oxidized more to shift the profile.  Here's an example, a Yunnan Sourcing sold version (right, wrong province, sort of):


The taste of Shui Jin Gui is complex, sweet potato, caramel, grass and spice all mixed into one delicious feeling! 


That actually isn't too far off my take on this other version I'm reviewing.  Since I was paging around I noticed that Steepster interpretations of what looks to be the same Yunnan Sourcing version included a lot of range:


Apricot, Black Pepper, Caramel, Char, Coffee, Dark Wood, Earth, Floral, Hops, Licorice, Maple, Medicinal, Metallic, Mineral, Peat, petrichor, Sage, Sap, Smoke, Spicy, Stonefruits, Sweet, Toffee, Wet Rocks, Fruity, Peach, Roasted, Almond, Butter, Butterscotch, Camphor, Cinnamon, Clove, Dark Chocolate, Eucalyptus, Ginger, Grass, Hay, Leather, Nutmeg, Plums, Popcorn, Sugar, Tobacco, Vanilla, Wood, Peanut


So it's complex.

I glanced back through old posts here and found a review of a version from the main local Chinatown cafe, Double Dogs, from 4 1/2 years ago.  I did cite general descriptions of the tea type in that post but my own take on it probably wasn't all that informative even in relation to what I had experienced.  This blog was a year and a half old then and it took about two more years for review descriptions to become more reliable, and they'll probably be even more so a couple more years after now.

Review:

First infusion:  very nice.  This seems closer to almond range than the floral or fruit that tends to come up.  It could be interpreted in different ways but straight roasted almond makes sense to me.  Roast level is really well balanced, normal for their teas.  This level might be slightly higher than for some others but it works well to balance that particular flavor range.  It's quite far from the char effect that comes up in others, nothing like that.  That almond trails over into a medicinal / old furniture range that's quite pleasant, a bit towards root spice like ginseng.

Second infusion:  more of the same, just picking up even more depth.  It's reaching back a bit for a clear recollection but as I remember this reminds me of a Ban Tian Yao from the one local shop I always visit and talk about, Jip Eu (also from 4 years ago; I seemed to be struggling to place the effect of the level of roast in that, not that I name that as a factor). 

I'm off to meet someone visiting from Belgium there at that local shop in two hours; I'll have to keep this moving.  Almond is still present but the rest of the range ramps up more.  Ginseng-like root spice might be the strongest flavor aspect, with the almond shifting towards roasted chestnut. 

A mineral base input increases, in a form that's not as familiar as some other similar range.  It's like that dry vegetal-mineral range in old driftwood, but with plenty of rock too.  Sweetness is moderate, enough to give this balance, but it's not an especially sweet version in comparison with the fruit and cinnamon in their Rou Gui versions.  It's intense; I'm brewing this fast just to get it in a normal range, just a few seconds.

Their fruitier tea versions are my personal favorite, or floral intensive Dan Congs, but this works.  It's nice experiencing something different, and the good balance and quality level are apparent.


Third infusion:  the roast effect seemed to change the most.  That one rich, sweet, complex roast related range again reminds me of roasted almonds.  Some of that root spice aspect, which is still primary, is giving way to that almond, and it leans a little towards cinnamon.  It's interesting how so much mineral integrates with the rest, landing on a consistent, balanced, complementary broad flavor range.

Thickness of feel is notable, although it could be a little richer or more intense.  Aftertaste effect is nice, the way that roasted almond and trace of other roast effect trails over.  Sweetness may have picked up a bit.  It's in the range of light toffee, which works well with the rest.


Fourth infusion:  if anything this is still improving, and it was very pleasant before.  Richness of feel is developing, still ramping up.  It picked up a butteriness that covers flavor as well as feel.  Interpreted one way that nut and toffee flavor moved into more of an almond butter cookie range.  This probably tastes about as much like an almond butter cookie as any tea ever would.  It's interesting how it's like that without sweetness level being quite as high as fruit or floral range oolongs.  That could be interpreted as a slight savory quality but it just seems like that underlying mineral, richness of roasted almond and butter, with a now lighter root spice combined and well-integrated, with none of that range actually "savory."

This tea has good intensity, but with the feel this clean and flavors this moderate and balanced it should be prepared using hot water and short infusion times.  That kind of goes without saying for oolongs of this type and quality level; making the point here relates to talking to a mixed audience.  Those recommendations to brew oolongs at 85 C in brewing tables may be fine for lower quality oolongs brewed Western style, but even for those I'd use a Gongfu approach and higher temperature, moderating infusion strength and character aspects by adjusting timing.


Fifth infusion:  not transitioned so much; a touch of wood vegetal range might be joining the rest.  I'm noticing cinnamon slightly more than I had last round too.  Shifting infusion time by a few seconds or water temperature by a few degrees (C) might change this tea character, more than for most; it lands on a fine balance of a lot going on.


Sixth infusion:  this tea won't be finished but I'll probably leave off notes here; my wife added a couple of chores to help out with before getting ready and going to that shop.  I went slightly longer on this round, out towards 10 seconds, and depending on preference someone might elect to use 15 instead.

Going that little bit longer, not so many seconds, drew out more of the roast effect.  It still comes across more how roasted almonds do than as a "char" effect that can be present in roasted oolongs.  This tea definitely doesn't need any aging but it would be interesting to see how it changes with a year of rest.  Probably not for the better, per my preference, but it might be just as good but slightly different.  I say that because char effect diminishes over a year or so of time (again not that this is over-roasted).

Even for being six infusions in the thickness and richness of feel is more notable than for the first 2 or 3 infusions.  All the prior flavor descriptions still apply, it's just not worth the trouble describing how that balance of those keeps shifting slightly round to round.  The flavor profile is balanced and complex; none of it really stands out a lot more than the rest, it comes across as a uniform, well-integrated range.  It even seems simple, as a general impression goes, but there's a lot going on once you try to notice what is involved.

Seventh infusion:  why not see this through that little bit more.  What I said in the last round still applies though; roast comes across as incrementally more intense, but it's still well-balanced with the rest.  That effect seems to draw the nutty flavor from roasted almond a little towards roasted chestnut.  For this style of oolong this is as good as this could seem to be; I end up saying that a lot related to their teas.  It's very complex, in a sense, and refined, but it still ends up coming across as quite simple.  It's good tea.

This seems to have been made using a slightly lighter oxidation level, with a bit higher roast, not unlike how one style of Tie Guan Yin comes across.  I've never had any Tie Guan Yin that expressed this complexity or refinement though. 

To be clear it's not heavily roasted compared to what turns up here in Chinatown; those are completely scorched in comparison.  It's on the higher end Wuyi Origin teas tend to go, which means it stops way short of tasting like char.  Per my understanding they will roast some oolong versions just a little longer, if that processing suits the tea character, but in such cases those teas are "designed" to be sold after a year or two of rest, which causes the main flavor from that input to settle.

Versions made this way retain a lot of the greener vegetal nature (as oolongs of these sorts go), warming, deeping, and adding complexity through a roast process.  It's completely different than when oxidation or a balanced mix of oxidation and roast achieves a related result; that adds sweetness and a good bit more warmth, pulling flavor towards cinnamon, cocoa or something such, more commonly as toffee or leather / rich wood tone in oolongs from this area, while these slightly-more-roasted and less-oxidized oolong stay more vegetal but pick up an effect like roasted chestnut instead. 

It's possible for similar Tie Guan Yin versions to be closer to this balanced but more common for those to be a bit too green and then a bit too roasted.   Kittichai, the owner of that shop I keep mentioning, Jip Eu, passed on a TGY version that he said either won or placed well in an Anxi (Fujian) competition this year that works as an example.  That tea was nice but there's a level of refinement to these Wuyi Origin teas that's hard to find.  They know what they're doing, and they seem to start with really good leaf material to work with.

Rou Gui oolong, reviewing an exceptional Wuyi Yancha

I recently bought a Rou Gui oolong from Cindy Chen and it was awesome.  Tea reviews are usually presented as objective judgments, listing characteristics, or often only taste elements, sometimes only indirectly implying personal preference.  But I'll come right out with it:  this was clearly one of my favorite teas that I've ever tried.  A lot of the review summary can be spanned by naming one taste element:  peach.

a day at work

Teas can express a range of taste aspects so it's not so unusual for one to exhibit a pronounced fruit or floral flavor (or earthiness, or mineral element, etc.).  It's also not unusual for teas to achieve natural sweetness--the effect, not caused by a type of sugar, of course--or to have clean flavors, or show good balance.  It is unusual for a tea to taste like a sweet, ripe peach, passing on the illusion of that juiciness, or even the taste and feel of the fuzzy skin (that last part I probably just imagined though).  Actually eating that fruit is a distant memory for me now, since I live in the tropics.  There are lots of wonderful papaya, mango, and pineapple but almost no peaches, and certainly no great ones.


Rou Gui is often said to taste more like cinnamon, most typically, with the name more or less meaning cinnamon.  Other versions can be earthier, or a bit floral, and the general category type includes some baseline mineral flavors.  This is probably what they're best known for, tasting "like rocks," although to me that typically is the underlying base, with spice and dark-wood-range earth more predominant, on top of that or in front of it, however you like the space analogy.


To be honest, I'm skeptical when I hear about such things myself, some pronounced taste element matched with exceptional balance in a tea.  I tried a decent commercial Dan Cong not that long ago that expressed some intense fruit flavors, a very interesting tea, but the experience was nothing like this, falling short on a few levels.  It's unusual for a tea to cross over into a different level of experience.  Per some tea reviewers they have that experience all the time, and there are so many varied great teas out there that maybe they really do.  I'm reminded of the first time I tried a truly great Tie Kuan Yin, the way that floral component and feel really shocked me, or the first time I tried a good version of Darjeeling, how those opened new doors on what tea could be.

drawing on experience

I'll get back to review-mode before touching a little on some background about Wuyi Yancha oolong, how it is made.  A full description would require a longer, separate post, so I'll just start to mention a little from a recent discussion with Cindy.  She's been there and done it; she lives it.  She says that an older uncle serves more in the role of "tea master," although people that claim that title have usually taken a few courses and tasted a lot instead of having spent their lives immersed in making or selling tea.


Judging from the pictures she shared it takes a small army to complete all the laborious tea processing steps, all supervised directly by experienced family members who work like fiends during harvest and processing critical steps.  I'm jealous, really.  I grew up in a rural area in the US--Pennsylvania--and I miss the feel and smell of country life, even the work aspects.  Or maybe that's mostly nostalgia; that working like a fiend routine can be a little demanding, and it might not take many 14 hour work-days to appreciate not doing that again.  But back to that Rou Gui.

Review, and rambling on

It's hard to really get past the peach, and one really doesn't want to.  I suppose that's unless one doesn't like sweet, fruity teas, balanced with mild mineral and earth aspects, in which case someone might actually not like this tea.  But that would be weird.  The other normal supporting elements are there, a dark toffee sweetness, a distant underlying base of mineral elements, not at all pronounced, and a bit of dark-wood taste that stands out a bit more than that base, some spice, but nothing so pronounced.


Someone else might "get" something I completely don't, like malt or cocoa, or that sweetness might flag vanilla for them, but that's just how tasting can go, complex flavors really do combine a lot of subtle aspects.  Adjusting brewing can vary what "comes out," and lots of tastings would provide a deeper understanding of what is there, but I've only tried this tea a few times.


It's all well presented, very clean and balanced.  There is essentially no astringency, as black teas would go, so normal for the type.  The tea has enough body to give it a full feel to go with the sweet and complex tastes.

It doesn't seem like a difficult tea to brew in terms of not screwing it up, but with more care someone could extend the experienced results of this as a very good tea further and further into the range of greatness.  It would be a shame to brew it too strong, to lose some of the effect, to give up a wonderful balance, but it's not as if brewing to counter some negative aspect is an issue.  It should be easy to get the tea to express most of that basic range, so the tea isn't "temperamental" about brewing parameters.  At the same time it's not like a mid-range black tea or lighter oolong where it wouldn't matter so much to optimize the potential, related to teas with far less potential, this is a tea one would want to pay a lot of attention to.  Brewing it "Western style" or God forbid "grandpa style" just wouldn't come up.


I recently made the tea for two visitors at the house that have no background at all with tea.  Sometimes it works like that, that a tea is so good that I want to share it (although intuitively hoarding it might occur to me instead, and I wouldn't share it in terms of giving away much).  One was a bit shocked by the experience, happy to be trying a tea like that, but it was so unfamiliar that the best he could describe it was saying the taste was really rich.  That is a good start.

On making this tea, and Wuyi Yancha in general

It's a bit late for me to admit that I'm not impartial but I regard Cindy as a rare online friend.  What a strange world we live in, that a friend could be someone you've never met.  She's just nice in general, I am certain, but she was recently so kind as to go through lots about the process of making this tea, continuing way past some basic explanation to running through the steps in detail.  I won't get to much of all that here but I'll add a few comments relating to this tea.

Don't just take my word for it; let me cite a description of Cindy that stuck in my mind, from an author that is sort of "one of those names" in tea, Jeff Fuchs, who was there in Wuyishan in person not so long ago:


Cindy is made of tea it seems. Rampant energy, talking of nothing else, she knows tea from the soil to the very skin of the leaf and through the various stages it is a subject that is part of her. Her entire family for generations has produced Rock teas (called ‘yen cha’ locally), named for the fact that the teas generally grow in small terraced plots amidst stone and shadows where the teas must struggle to find a root-hold in the soils...


He goes on more about that region, and those teas, even talking through another fascinating review of the taste of a Rou Gui that I won't mention here.  It really is worth a read, a lot of content packed in a short space, at least compared to this rambling on.

On to passing on some of what Cindy said herself:


It is not easy for the Rou Gui to have the fruit taste.  It [relates to] Matou yan, a rock in the Wuyishan mountians.

Note that in a previous article Cindy went through a lot of factors that affect a tea, which went far beyond the normal expectations, moderate rainfall and such.  Cindy feels that the type of terrain, the specific growing location conditions, and the minerals in the soil--her point here in this quote--all lead to the final characteristics of these teas.  I've recently discussed the balance of inputs of location (terroir:  soil type, rainfall, temperature, etc.) with another tea producer, and in his case he saw processing as the main input.


One might read this as claiming the opposite, but I think that Cindy wouldn't necessarily disagree, since she also repeatedly claims that one key is skill in processing.  I don't see it as a conflict, since I get the impression that the results could never be the same without all those inputs coming together in just the right way.  She mentions organic growing conditions in a very specific environment as one factor, along with mineral content, but in describing every processing step she mentions the importance of getting that step just right.  The final output isn't a tea that tastes exactly like some pre-defined optimum, the same tea every year, it's what these natural best inputs together draw out.  More on that related to this Rou Gui:


In the oxidation step, we knew this tea would have a very strong peach  taste.  Because when the tea was processing all the house was full of peach  flavor.  After this step we do the baking, a process we repeat a number of times.


And from there the conversation moved on to some related topics:


If you taste the tea in  2015 you will not get this feeling, because the tea still has too much charcoal feeling, so that you cannot get the taste the tea clearly.  So that is why we always sell the rock tea in the next year.

Of course I've left that close to her original words, to retain the sense that feel and taste of the tea really are sort of overlapping concepts.  In that earlier post, on inputs to making Wuyi Yancha, Cindy described how different types of teas are processed best related to different levels of roast.  Some other articles claim that less is more, that only lighter roasts are somehow valid, but the sense I get from her is that there is an art to making that sort of choice.  It does tie back to personal preference on some level, but that it's not nearly as simple as saying one set of processing parameters is best.

same tea, different picture

It's normal for people to talk about level of roast when discussing this general category of teas, or the amount of "char" effect, so it may stand out that I've not brought this up (in this tea review; of course I've discussed it in many).  It just wasn't an aspect that stood out in this case, not that the tea was heavily roasted, or lightly, but the effect was just transparent.  Cindy claimed that this was in part because these types of relatively more roasted teas should "rest" for a year prior to selling, and this tea was made last year, when that component would have been more noticeable, not so well balanced.


There is room for a lot of background discussion on lots of points, many of which relate to type and preference.  According to Cindy there is no simple formula to get the teas right, and every step and decision is based on experience.  I won't do any of it too much justice given that scope and the level of impossible to describe skill-input required but I will share a lot more of Cindy's description of processing steps in another post later.