Organic Rou Kuei Oolong from auraTea is a wonderful and unusual tea. It is a darker oolong with pretty long red leaves. The dry leaves emit a nice woodsy scent, foreshadowing a nice tea liquor. The brewed tea has a rich flavor that tastes almost like it has been roasted, like mesquite coated in molasses. Its slightly bitter floral undertone was quite pleasant and it held up admirably to at least five infusions. Rou Kuei means “cinnamon” in Chinese, which is a fitting analogy. It is one of the varieties of Wuyi Rock Teas grown in Fujian Province.
For the initial tasting of this tea I brewed it gongfu style in a yixing pot. It’s a tea well-suited to the warmth and darkness of clay and slow, small servings.
I have had other Wuyi oolongs that I found exceedingly dull, but I enjoyed this tea very much. It’s a tea to give full attention to, not one to drink in the background while performing some other task.
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That bitter floral tone was what I identified as being like cinnamon as if in an unsweetened candy stick.
[Reply]
Cinnabar Reply:
July 28th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Yes, it really is like a dark, woodsy cinnamon. Now I wish I had brought some of it with me to work today because it has been too long since I’ve had any of it.
[Reply]
Left by Jason Witt on July 28th, 2009