Rou Gui AAA Autumn (Ebay-cnteacup)

Up to this point, the Wu Yi teas I've commented on have been primarily from the Shui Xian bush. I'm a big fan of Shui Xian, but I have to admit it's probably the least overtly characterful of the well-known Wu Yi oolongs. Nevertheless, it's excellent at playing second fiddle, and that can be a good thing. It's almost always comforting and rarely abrasive, it goes very well with a variety of foods, and, for me at least, it's less likely to cause the jitters.  Rou Gui is not at all like that.  It demands attention and, often careful brewing.  At its best, it has a beautifully unique and piercing aroma and flavor, and an energizing kick.  Here's my experience with cnteacup's relatively inexpensive autumn version of Rou Gui.  They also have a more expensive spring version which I will be reviewing in a later post.

The dry leaf is rather typical in appearance, moderate in length, and with a slightly purple hue. The wet leaf shows signs of moderate oxidation and moderate-to-light roasting.  It appears to be a blend of hand and machine gathered leaf.

The tea liquors up a fairly deep amber/red.  The moderately intense aroma is heavier and deeper than that of a typical light-roast Rou Gui, with dark stone fruit aromas and just a hint of cocoa.  It's pleasant and rather similar to that of a Fujian red tea, but also a bit reticent.  The typical artifacts of roasting are barely discernible here.  

This Rou Gui is fairly full and mellow, but the flavor is a bit more generic and muted than in-your-face varietal.  It's still clearly Rou Gui, just not in the kind of piercing manner I'm accustomed to.  As with the aroma, there isn't a lot of the green/floral character showing, nor the complexities of the more heavily roasted versions.  The similarities with Fujian red tea show here too, with darker, cherry-like fruitiness and firm tannin.  After the swallow the tea shows a noticeable acidity and a nice grip in the throat.  

The aftertaste is quite persistent, and of moderate intensity, with hints of dark fruit and cocoa.  It's quite attractive.

This tea has more endurance than I was expecting.  It can be brewed several times.  

 At $9.99 for 100 grams, this may be the least expensive Rou Gui out there.  It's a quite a good tea, but, if you're aiming at the low end of the price range, I'd spend a bit more and get this vendor's spring Rou Gui (to be reviewed) or the Rou Gui from the Ebay store Shanghai Story.