Gui Xiang Fei Ying — Osmanthus & Coffee Shadow Wuyi Rou Gui (Cinnamon Rock)· 51g

A Rou Gui named for what the fire made of it. Where a light roast leaves the cultivar bright and sharp, Master Zhu has taken this one deeper, far enough that the cinnamon settles into osmanthus, and a dark roasted note rises underneath it that Wuyi roasters recognise and this tea is named for. Coffee shadow.

Origin:

Wuyishan, Fujian. Bushes rooted in weathered volcanic cliff, the source of 岩韵, yan yun, rock rhyme.

The roast is the product:

Rou Gui is the fragrant pillar of Wuyi (香不过肉桂), nothing more fragrant than Rou Gui. But raw aroma is only the starting material. What separates one Rou Gui from another is what happens in the bamboo basket over charcoal: how many passes, how hot, how long the tea rests between them. Weeks of judgement, all of it by hand, none of it recoverable if it goes wrong.

A deep roast is the harder direction. Push too far and you burn the garden out of the tea and taste only fire; stop short and it sits muddled between styles. Done right, and this is the point of the name, the cultivar's aroma doesn't disappear, it converts. Cinnamon becomes osmanthus. Char becomes dark chocolate and coffee. The mineral underneath survives everything.

Taste:

Deep amber, thick and oily in the cup. Osmanthus and dried longan on the nose over roasted grain. In the mouth: dark chocolate, coffee, caramelised sugar, warm baking spice where a lighter Rou Gui would give you sharp cinnamon. Full-bodied and rounded rather than sharp, no bitterness, with a cool mineral finish sitting deep in the throat and a long returning sweetness.

The most approachable serious yancha in the catalogue — coffee drinkers understand this tea immediately.

Brewing:

Gongfu, 8g per 110ml gaiwan, full rolling boil.

Quick rinse to wake the leaf, then flash / 8s / 10s / 15s, extending. 10+ infusions. Deep-roasted yancha lasts longer than light.

Boiling water, no exceptions. Cool water on a deep roast tastes like ash and nothing else.

The mineral finish emerges around the third cup, once the roast settles back. Middle cups are the best cups.

Not suitable for Grandpa brewing.

Specs: Wuyishan, Fujian · Charcoal-roasted oolong (乌龙茶) · Store sealed, cool, dark. Deep-roasted yancha keeps for years and softens as the fire rests.