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“I really cannot decide about this one. The first cup always seems to have a little too much astringency, while the rest are easy-drinking enough, but I am not getting a huge wodge of character from...” Read full tasting note
“Utilising one of my larger gaiwans and about a tablespoon of this tea, I rinsed the tea and got right down to the first infusion of 30 seconds. First impressions: Smells a bit fruity, a bit sweet,...” Read full tasting note
“Sitting in Starbucks waiting for my study buddy and drinking the last of my Anxi.” Read full tasting note
“Leaves are beautiful before infusion and remain a nice bright green. Liquor has a lovely golden colour. Quite a light flavoured oolong. Flavours came through stronger on second infusion. Nice with...” Read full tasting note
Evenly rolled, small leaves, this medium-baked tea is sweet and mellow with a hint of apple and cinnamon. The medium-bodied liquor has a long, smooth aftertaste and the flavours deepen and develop after each infusion.
Rou Gui is a very famous old Wuyi tea-type known for its rich, slightly spicy flavours. The Anxi varieties tend to be more lightly baked than traditional Wuyi Rou Gui’s.
Our Buyer’s notes
“Wuyi Rou Gui is a famous Wuyi ‘rock oolong’ but the Rou Gui varietal actually originated from Anxi and was then taken to Wuyi, so Anxi is the original home of Rou Gui. We bought this tea unbaked and baked it ourselves so we could ensure it was finished the way we like it.”
{GUILD OF FINE FOODS ‘GREAT TASTE’ AWARDS 2009 – GOLD *}
Canton Tea Co is a London-based tea company trading in high grade, whole leaf Chinese tea. We have exclusive access to some of the best jasmine, white, green, oolong, black and authentic puerh teas available. In our first year, we scooped Six Golds at the 2009 Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards. Our Jasmine Pearls won the top three star gold award, endorsing it as the best available in the UK.
I really cannot decide about this one. The first cup always seems to have a little too much astringency, while the rest are easy-drinking enough, but I am not getting a huge wodge of character from it. I have tried it in my small glass teapot and in my yixing pot. Interestingly, my yixing pot seems to really like it and the flavour is improved, but I am still undecided. On the plus side, I absolutely loved the way the leaves unrolled in the glass pot. The visual aesthetic was perfect, but the rest of it … well, I need to work on that.
EDIT:
Further experimentation tells me that a lower brewing temperature and a slightly shorter steeping time may help. Somewhere down around 80-85 degrees and only brew it for two minutes. When I tried that, hints of apple and cinnamon came through, the astringency was not as pronounced and the whole experience was much more pleasant. As a result, I have increased my rating for this tea.
My next experiment will take the temperature in the opposite direction and the steeping time right down. I have noticed that one of the other tasting notes mentions a high temperature and a 30 second steeping time. It will be interesting to see what that does to the tea.
Final Edit:
I tried high temperature, short steeping time and it turned this one into a totally different tea. Not awful, but different. I liked it. Then I finally tried it by heating the water to just before the boil and steeping for a 1m30s. This works really well to make it a very drinkable tea. It’s not stunning, but it makes for a good everyday drink. There, I’m done experimenting. I wonder if the taste is significantly affected by my new celadon tea bowls? Maybe I am not done experimenting after all …
Utilising one of my larger gaiwans and about a tablespoon of this tea, I rinsed the tea and got right down to the first infusion of 30 seconds.
First impressions:
Smells a bit fruity, a bit sweet, yet mellow and slightly grassy at the same time.
The liquor is very clear and bright.
The taste is a bit darker and more woody than I expected from the smell. Also, I noted the taste to be a bit more watery than expected Perhaps more than 30 seconds are necessary for the second infusion.
Continuing impressions:
The 45 seconds I gave the second infusion brought about a darker hue, perhaps not as bright, yet still clear.
It definitely improved the flavour.
Over the next three or so infusions I put these leaves through, this tea never grew very strong, but sipping it truly was a delight. The aftertaste of this tea is stronger than expected, composed of floral and fruity notes.
Overall, a thoroughly pleasant oolong that I would definitely recommend. On my personal scale, I give it an 85/100.
Hm- I wonder if the tea likes a higher-consistant temp during brewing? That may explain why it was happier in the yixing than the glass (where the heat would dissapate most quickly). Don’t know how that would help astringency, though.
That’s a good point about the consistent temperature. I plan to try it slightly cooler and slightly hotter to see how things go. I shall also have to try cutting the brew time on the first infusion, and I may well try it in my gaiwan to see how that compares. It’s all a bit of an adventure really! A bit like chemistry classes in school!! :)
Fun! I’m definitely of the school of thought that each tea has it’ own ideal brewing procedure (though that itself can change over time and depending on what you want out of it). It’s always fun to play around with the tea to see what makes it happiest.