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“Prep: 100cc gaiwan, full to brim (didn’t weigh), boiling water, 10s steeps until the color fades and then chase it Sessions with this tea: 6+ Taste: Reading previous reviews I was like “what? plum?...” Read full tasting note
“My friend Nick – a fellow rock climber, a fellow home coffee roaster, musician, and all around aesthete – knows little about tea and asked for a tasting. He liked the first few teas well enough,...” Read full tasting note
“Well I WAS going to go to the zoo today, but the weather had different plans, it is going to be one of those all day storming events, so instead I shall satisfy a different kind of craving. The...” Read full tasting note
“This is a sample for review. i really like the Tea Yuan yancha offerings are high roasted. its not common, most of the places are offering medium roast. high roast if done right is much more...” Read full tasting note
A pure Zhengyan Rou Gui that comes from scenic reserve of Wuyi Shan. Very thick body that fills the mouth and a very strong aroma that seems to fill the room. A very long lasting sweet and mineral aftertaste lasting through many infusions. Finished with a medium high roast.
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Prep: 100cc gaiwan, full to brim (didn’t weigh), boiling water, 10s steeps until the color fades and then chase it
Sessions with this tea: 6+
Taste: Reading previous reviews I was like “what? plum? this is all roast” but then there it was. This is much heavier on the roast notes — fire and coal and spice — than what I’ve been drinking lately. And yes, this tiny nutty fruitiness with a sour note pokes a head out from steeps 4-6 or so, then fades back in. The nuttiness lingers like a slightly bitter pecan, and the last several steeps brings out more and more sweetness, which fades away slowly. My second session with it I appreciated the roast notes more, since I wasn’t drinking it immediately after a session with gaoshan.
Body: The thickness is good and offsets some of the high roast, if this were a thin body tea I think I would not like it. This had me salivating afterwards also, which was interesting. The energy hit me hard and I thought my head suddenly expanded in size.
Overall this is an enjoyable tea. The roast is a bit heavy-handed at the front, but ends up adding complexity rather than dumbing down the tea to roast notes. It has a nice evolution from savory and smoky to sweet, with that short-lived little sour fruit note in the middle.
Edit: I let the second half of my sample sit around a bit before finishing. Some of the roast notes died off, and the throatiness and body of the tea stands out a bit more. I think at this level, the roast is perfect for this tea, and there is good rou gui flavor. This is a very enjoyable tea overall. My only complaint is that it steeps out quickly, and I haven’t been in a position to try boiling it.
My friend Nick – a fellow rock climber, a fellow home coffee roaster, musician, and all around aesthete – knows little about tea and asked for a tasting. He liked the first few teas well enough, but then this one hit him like a hammer in the heart.
Nick: “You know what this feels like? Not just like, taste, but feels? Like when you’re topping out on a climb, and it’s fall, and the rock is all sharp and in your face, and lichen is dry and crispy and falling off under your fingers, and fall is in the air. This feels just like that.”
Exactly, Nick.
Well I WAS going to go to the zoo today, but the weather had different plans, it is going to be one of those all day storming events, so instead I shall satisfy a different kind of craving. The craving for muffins! I plan on baking blueberry mochi muffins later today and then I will gorge myself on them. I woke up with such a muffin craving, it is rather intense! But first I have to go gather the needed ingredients.
Today we are looking at one of my favorite rock oolongs, Rou Gui, specifically Tea Yuan’s 2013 Rou Gui, and this one is fancy because it is a Zheng Yan, meaning it came from inside the Wuyi Scenic Reserve area, a legit Yancha! Since this is from a couple years ago, the roasting has mellowed out, and you can tell this from the aroma. There are the usual char notes, but they are mellow and distant, alongside the gentle char are notes of tobacco, cocoa, very gentle spice like a spicebush flower, and a touch of sweet nuttiness.
Yancha pot time for the leaves, giving them a steeping and then sniffing. The aroma of the wet leaves is stronger in the char department, but instead of smelling like burnt wood, it smells like burnt nut shells, and just toasted nuts in general. Like fire roasting chestnut shells and walnuts, it is pretty pleasant, it has the usual char notes but with a fun twist. There are also notes of tobacco and a touch of burnt plum, no spice though which is always sad. However, the liquid has a gentle spice quality, not terribly strong, but like a distantly blooming spicebush. There are also notes of creamy sweet chocolate and plums, with undertones of wet slate and a touch of wet char.
Ooh this is a pleasantly woody Yancha, like fruit wood that has been roasted rather than charcoaled, it is sharp and a bit brisk, a good start. The initial woodiness fades to a fun combination of char, wet slate, and wonderfully sweet and gently spicy cocoa. The spice notes are pretty mellow, as are the char, it is like only slightly burnt chocolate rather than chocolate that has been lit on fire. The finish is sweet and a touch creamy, with a fruity plum and cherry aftertaste.
The aroma of the second steep is surprisingly sweet, it blends plums and creamy chocolate with wet slate and gentle char. I always love that about Yancha, it is like eating dessert out in nature and the tastes and smells of both blend perfectly. This is a thick Yancha, usually I found their mouthfeel sharp and crisp, sometimes smooth (especially with the aged ones) but this one has a real thickness to it similar to many Taiwanese oolongs I have interacted with. The taste is smooth and sweet, chocolate and plums dance with gentle spice and wet slate. The finish is a blend of wet slate and plums, the mineral is strong in the tea and it lingers for a while in the aftertaste.
A thing I can certainly say in this tea’s favor, it has some excellent staying power for a Yancha, usually I find most of them putter out after four or so steeps, but this one lasted for seven, which was awesome. The aroma for this steep is sweet, not as sweet as the second steep, but still quite sweet. Notes of fruit and fruit wood blend with chocolate and char, with a strong mineral finish. The taste is so sweet this steep, there are the strong notes of mineral and some char, but there is such a wonderful juicy plum and chocolate note that I was surprised when this tea turned out to not be sticky. I really enjoyed this tea, it had great strong mineral qualities which I love in a Yancha, and of course it had the char notes I love, but it was pleasantly mild and not like drinking the remnants of a forest fire.For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/04/tea-yuan-2013-rou-gui-tea-review.html
This is a sample for review.
i really like the Tea Yuan yancha offerings are high roasted. its not common, most of the places are offering medium roast. high roast if done right is much more complex and enjoyable in my opinion
This Rou Gui is high roasted. The roast is nicely done, doesnt mask the fruitiness of this tea. the color is dark and pretty. it doesnt have that strong cinnamon flavor associated with Rou Gui, but its been awhile since i had one with noticable cassia(cinnamon) flavor. When i pushed for longer steeps it didnt get bitter or unpleasant.
It was very enjoyable, thank you Tea Yuan for the chance to try it!
4.5g 70 ml shiboridashi 212F
rinse/short steeps
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