Gold Medal Rou Gui (Tea Urchin)

This tea supposedly won a gold medal at the Wuyishan Tea Expo, so it's inevitable that I have raised expectations for it.  I wouldn't normally spend so much for a tea ($50 for 50 grams), but I also believe that one can't really understand relative value until one experiences the extremes of the product spectrum.  This one is clearly positioned near the top; let's see what all the fuss is about.

The dry leaf is bold, quite uniform, and well twisted.  It's surprisingly long.  Once moistened and unfurled, you're greeted by mostly whole leaf that is well processed.  In general, the leaf is bigger, and more whole than that in other high-quality Zheng Yan Rou Gui that I've tried.  This is clearly a modern-style oolong, with medium-to-light oxidation and medium-light baking as well.  

The tea liquors up a medium to medium-light amber orange, and the fine aroma is that of a  less processed modern-style tea.  It's quite fragrant, clean, and mellow, with an excellent balance of fruitiness, floral overtones, a light yet piercing herbaceous quality, and a dose of the roast.  No doubt, it was processed to highlight the varietal character of the leaf, and not to develop a lot of complexity.   

This Rou Gui is very smooth and very flavorful.  Compared to the other expensive, modern-style Rou Gui that I've tried, it is comparatively mellow and soft, without much of the edginess I've come to expect from this cultivar. The distinctly varietal flavor is a bit sweeter than I was expecting, with a nice balance of the fruity and the floral.  The tea really blossoms during the swallow, and ushers in a surprisingly good aftertaste.

Up to the aftertaste, this tea struck me as just a very well made, and perhaps overpriced, Rou Gui. It's first rate, don't get me wrong, but it's without quite the nuance of one of my favorite Rou Guis, and lacking quite the floral beauty of another (neither reviewed in this blog).  However, its pedigree becomes evident after the swallow, when the tea essence is felt and tasted all around the mouth and in the throat.  The aftertaste is, to the best of my recollection, the strongest and longest lasting of any Wu Yi tea I've had.  Ten minutes after the swallow, one can still taste the tea.  

The dry cup aroma is outstanding.

It think this gives about as many cups as one can expect from modern-style Wu Yi Oolong, with clearly evident varietal character after many brews.  In general, however, I find that traditional-process teas fare better in later infusions, and, in that regard, this tea is no exception.  

I learned a few things from this tea and the other high-quality rock teas I've had recently.  One is the importance of the raw product.  Regardless of the processing style, great Wu Yi starts with great leaf, and great leaf is chock full of essence.  That concentration of rock essence is often expressed in fuller and mellower teas that coat the mouth and provide exceptional aftertastes and wonderful dry-cup aromas.  This tea also allowed me to appreciate just how good Rou Gui teas are in general.  While it's arguably better than any other modern-style version I've had, it's not so much better that I would drop another $50 to restock my supply.  Nevertheless, I'm still glad I blew my holiday gift money to experience it.  If you want to try a modern-style Rou Gui that's pretty much as good as it gets, loosen your purse strings and go for it.