84
drank Rou Gui (2016) by Old Ways Tea
1048 tasting notes

Now that I have had five days off to adequately recover from my snake bite, I am getting off my lazy butt and posting a few more tea reviews. For once, I am also trying to focus on some teas that I finished more recently. I recall finishing my sample pouch of this tea back around the end of July. Although Rou Gui is almost unbelievably hit or miss for me, I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 ounces of 205 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of cinnamon, cream, pastry, and dried blueberry. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of char, pine, smoke, and roasted peanut. The first infusion then introduced hints of ginger and Merlot grape to the nose. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of roasted peanut, cream, cinnamon, pine, char, and smoke that were balanced by some vegetal character reminiscent of cooked green beans and hints of black cherry and tobacco. Subsequent infusions introduced aromas of roasted walnut, tobacco, cooked green beans, black cherry, and blackberry. Hints of Merlot grape, ginger, and dried blueberry appeared on the palate along with stronger tobacco and black cherry notes and new impressions of minerals, grass, blackberry, roasted walnut, and cocoa. The final infusions emphasized lingering mineral, cinnamon, cream, roasted peanut, pine, and smoke notes that were chased by somewhat more fleeting grass, cooked green bean, tobacco, and black cherry flavors.

Kind of an odd, folksy tea, but also very appealing, I could see why this tea drew such positive reviews elsewhere. It displayed a very unique profile, a nice, thick body, and strong, full mouthfeel with solid longevity. Old Ways Tea features some higher end, more refined, and more tightly focused Rou Gui in its catalog, but one could do far, far worse than giving this tea a shot.

Flavors: Blackberry, Blueberry, Char, Cherry, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Cream, Ginger, Grass, Green Beans, Mineral, Pastries, Peanut, Pine, Red Wine, Roasted, Smoke, Tobacco, Walnut

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 g 3 OZ / 88 ML
Ubacat

Snakebite! That is scary. Were you camping? Was it poisonous?

eastkyteaguy

Ubacat, I was not camping when it happened.I was standing on my parent’s driveway (barefoot, of course) watching deer and stepped on what I thought was a small stick. Obviously, it was not a stick! Yes, it was poisonous, a copperhead of some sort. We have both the northern and southern subspecies here, but I got a good look at it, and to me, it looked like a juvenile northern copperhead.

Ubacat

Oh, I hate when they’re camouflaged. Thank goodness you’re better. I am thankful I don’t have any poisonous snakes where I live.

derk

eastkyteaguy: For a few days I thought maybe you had a script written to like every new review but I see now that you’re back in the cyber-flesh. Speaking of flesh, do copperhead bites become necrotic?

Regarding this tea, I shared a gongfu session with my dad when he visited earlier this year. My 100mL gaiwan and one pouch of tea produced roughly 8 infusions with my longer steeping times. His choice of tea doesn’t venture beyond tins of loose Earl Grey and breakfast blacks but he said he really enjoyed this Rou Gui. Based on 1 anecdotal experience (heh), I think it would be a good introduction to yancha for people with a similar palate to my dad’s.

eastkyteaguy

derk, I would have to say that I also think this would be a good introductory yancha. It struck me as being pretty heavily roasted (which is not unusual for Rou Gui), so I think it would be a good step-up oolong for black tea drinkers or those used to similar oolongs to which lighter roasts are generally applied. It would definitely let you know whether or not heavy roasts are your thing. I tried it Western too with 3g of loose tea in an 8 oz mug and got four strong infusions starting with a 3 minute steep and then going to 5, 7, and 10 minutes. It’s a very good tea, and that’s coming from someone who is pretty indifferent to Rou Gui. I tend to lean more toward DHP, Shui Xian, Shui Jin Gui, Bai Ji Guan, Qi Lan, Tie Luohan, Jin Mu Dan, and Fo Shou when it comes to Wuyi oolongs. And no, copperhead bites are not generally all that necrotic. They can be if one experiences an allergic reaction to the venom or secondary infection sets in, but to this point, I have not had any obvious necrotic lesions. The venom is a haemotoxin, disrupting blood clotting and breaking down blood vessels, red blood cells, and other soft tissues, but it’s rather weak and you generally won’t see the breaking down of bone or all that much skin and muscle tissue like you would with a rattlesnake bite.

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Ubacat

Snakebite! That is scary. Were you camping? Was it poisonous?

eastkyteaguy

Ubacat, I was not camping when it happened.I was standing on my parent’s driveway (barefoot, of course) watching deer and stepped on what I thought was a small stick. Obviously, it was not a stick! Yes, it was poisonous, a copperhead of some sort. We have both the northern and southern subspecies here, but I got a good look at it, and to me, it looked like a juvenile northern copperhead.

Ubacat

Oh, I hate when they’re camouflaged. Thank goodness you’re better. I am thankful I don’t have any poisonous snakes where I live.

derk

eastkyteaguy: For a few days I thought maybe you had a script written to like every new review but I see now that you’re back in the cyber-flesh. Speaking of flesh, do copperhead bites become necrotic?

Regarding this tea, I shared a gongfu session with my dad when he visited earlier this year. My 100mL gaiwan and one pouch of tea produced roughly 8 infusions with my longer steeping times. His choice of tea doesn’t venture beyond tins of loose Earl Grey and breakfast blacks but he said he really enjoyed this Rou Gui. Based on 1 anecdotal experience (heh), I think it would be a good introduction to yancha for people with a similar palate to my dad’s.

eastkyteaguy

derk, I would have to say that I also think this would be a good introductory yancha. It struck me as being pretty heavily roasted (which is not unusual for Rou Gui), so I think it would be a good step-up oolong for black tea drinkers or those used to similar oolongs to which lighter roasts are generally applied. It would definitely let you know whether or not heavy roasts are your thing. I tried it Western too with 3g of loose tea in an 8 oz mug and got four strong infusions starting with a 3 minute steep and then going to 5, 7, and 10 minutes. It’s a very good tea, and that’s coming from someone who is pretty indifferent to Rou Gui. I tend to lean more toward DHP, Shui Xian, Shui Jin Gui, Bai Ji Guan, Qi Lan, Tie Luohan, Jin Mu Dan, and Fo Shou when it comes to Wuyi oolongs. And no, copperhead bites are not generally all that necrotic. They can be if one experiences an allergic reaction to the venom or secondary infection sets in, but to this point, I have not had any obvious necrotic lesions. The venom is a haemotoxin, disrupting blood clotting and breaking down blood vessels, red blood cells, and other soft tissues, but it’s rather weak and you generally won’t see the breaking down of bone or all that much skin and muscle tissue like you would with a rattlesnake bite.

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My grading criteria for tea is as follows:

90-100: Exceptional. I love this stuff. If I can get it, I will drink it pretty much every day.

80-89: Very good. I really like this stuff and wouldn’t mind keeping it around for regular consumption.

70-79: Good. I like this stuff, but may or may not reach for it regularly.

60-69: Solid. I rather like this stuff and think it’s a little bit better-than-average. I’ll drink it with no complaints, but am more likely to reach for something I find more enjoyable than revisit it with regularity.

50-59: Average. I find this stuff to be more or less okay, but it is highly doubtful that I will revisit it in the near future if at all.

40-49: A little below average. I don’t really care for this tea and likely won’t have it again.

39 and lower: Varying degrees of yucky.

Don’t be surprised if my average scores are a bit on the high side because I tend to know what I like and what I dislike and will steer clear of teas I am likely to find unappealing.

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KY

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