Rou Gui AAA Spring 2012 (Ebay-cnteacup)

There's a big difference between this spring Rou Gui from cnteacup and their just-reviewed autumn version. Here's what I found.

The dry leaf is relatively small, with green clearly visible. Once wet, it appears delicate and supple, and a combination of hand and machine picked.  The leaf colors suggest a fairly light oxidation and a fairly light roasting as well.

The tea brews up a medium-light amber/orange.  The moderately strong aroma is that of a clean, minimally processed, modern-style rock tea.  There is a lot of floral varietal Rou Gui character, with a nice balancing fruitiness, but it's not as deeply fruity or peachy as some.  A light hint of roast rounds things out.

Right up front you're greeted with the tea's strongly varietal and floral character. It's clean and direct, and definitely leaning toward the greener side.  It's not quite as nuanced or complex as some of the other modern-style Rou Gui I've had, but it's quite good nevertheless.  After the swallow, there is some of the chalkiness and grip I associate with good rock tea.  More noticeable, perhaps, is the cleansing acidity that helps carry the aftertaste.

This tea has a very nice, lingering aftertaste, with a lemony element. Like the initial taste, it's clean and strongly varietal, and, as you might expect of a minimally processed tea, not terribly complex.

The dry cup aroma is generous and floral.

This tea has quite a bit of strength and can be brewed several times before fading into a pleasant lightness.

Clearly this is a high-quality tea produced in a very modern style.  If you are looking for a tea that's had a lot of complex processing and long roasting, then this is probably not the tea for you.  However, fans of modern-style Rou Gui will probably find this tea both charming and surprisingly affordable ($12.98 for 100 grams).

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.   

Lao Cong Shui Xian AAA (Ebay-cnteacup)

A good Lao Cong (Old Bush) Shui Xian can make a most enjoyable cup of tea.  In general, Lao Cong Shui Xian undergoes a fairly heavy oxidation and roasting, and usually comes across as far softer and smoother than other Shui Xian.  The best examples I've tried have been deep and thick in the mouth, with hints of cocoa, red fruit and a bit of a camphor/menthol-like flavor.  The problem with the better ones has always been their price.  Good old bush is never cheap.  So after having a good initial experience with the Ebay store cnteacup, I decided to purchase their value-priced autumn old bush.  It seemed rather unbelievable that they could be selling a true AAA grade of this Rock Tea for only $18.00 for 250 grams.  I suspended my disbelief, forked over my $18--the shipping was free--and here is what I found.

The dry leaf is quite uniform, quite dark, and contains very few stems.  The aroma of the dry leaf is modest, but clean, and with the smell of a fairly heavy roast.  The wet leaf looks quite good.  There is a lot of whole leaf in this tea showing a fairly high picking standard.  The leaf colors indicated a moderate oxidation and moderate roast. 

The tea liquors up a dark amber, and, if you don't give the tea a quick initial wash, the aroma has a slightly acrid smokiness.   After a 5-10 second wash, the roast comes into balance with the other elements, and the aroma comes across as pleasant, soft, clean, and somewhat restrained, with the sweet and smokey mingling nicely.  However, the aroma strikes me as more generic, and not too terribly varietal.  You smell the Shui Xian, but it certainly doesn't come out of the cup screaming.  

Typical of Lao Cong Shui Xian, the tea is soft and smooth with a fairly full body.  It's pleasant, clean, and proper, but, as with the aroma, it's not particularly varietal, deep, characterful, or complex. The tea finally shows its rock character after the swallow, leaving a nice mineral coating at the back of the mouth, along with some zest and a distinct and creamy Shui Xian flavor.  The aftertaste is surprisingly good, especially after the tea's ho-hum initial flavor.  The empty tea cup aroma is also charming.

This tea can be steeped several times.  The tea remains fairly clean and colorful through several infusions, but its taste remains pretty generic and plain.  

In the end, I have to question the meaning of this vendor's AAA rating.  Overall, the tea strikes me as  rather commercial and solid, devoid of any significant flaws, but also, lacking in the complexities, depth, and nuances of higher-priced examples.  Also, the tea appears to have been finished with an electric roast at a fairly high temperature, leaving a slightly burnt flavor with few of the complexities  that I associate with a charcoal roast.  If you are looking for a nice, value-priced dark oolong without the coarseness of much of the similarly-priced Shui Xian, this could be your ticket.  It goes well with food, and brews up very much like the Shui Xian that used to be served in Chinese restaurants.  I will probably not reorder this tea, but will continue to enjoy it as a first-cup-of-the-day tea.