Rou Gui Oolong Tea

Rou Gui ( Chinese: 肉桂), literally means cinnamon in English, is made with the leaves picked from tea plants grown in Wuyi Mountains in Fujian Province. As a kind of high-aroma tea, it belongs to the well-known Wuyi “rock ”or “cliff ” (武夷岩茶) tea family. This Rou Gui Oolong Tea from TeaVivre belongs to heavily baked Wuyi rock tea, so we can smell the baking flavor from both the dry leaves and tea liquid. From the moment of brewing the tea, the tea aroma fills our nostril. When sipping the tea, the cinnamon aroma comes first, and then comes the obvious flavor of flowers and fruits. The tea liquid and tea aroma are perfectly blended together, so it tastes fragrant and sweet, mellow and thick, and smooth with sweet afterwards.

When slowly sip the tea, you will find that this Rou Gui Oolong Tea has some spicy aroma, which is what we call cinnamon aroma. Cinnamon aroma is the characteristic of Rou Gui Oolong, and also the most essential aroma of this tea, which lets us feel the spicy and tangy of cinnamon. Even after drinking, the tea aroma will be lingered throughout our mouth and makes us comfortable.

	Cup Method		Chinese Gongfu Method
	Teacup: 12oz / 355ml		Gaiwan: 3.8oz / 110ml
	212℉ / 100℃		212℉ / 100℃
	4 Teaspoons / 5g Tea		7g Tea
	Brewing time: 3 - 5 mins		8 steeps:rinse,10s,15s,20s,50s,80s,160s,200s,300s
			Rinse time is around 5 seconds

Lan Gang Yan tea garden sits on those high mountains with thick mist in all four seasons, at an average elevation of 1,000m above sea level. Covering a total area of more than 164 acres, there are three predominant characteristics here to guarantee tea quality:

1. No chemical pesticides and fertilizers are allowed to use in the garden.

2. Permeated with natural aroma from the surrounding pine forests day and night, tea leaves grow in this garden carry a pleasant natural fruit aroma from the very beginning.

3. High elevation and good ecological environment make the branches of these old trees covered over with moss.

Located in the southeast of Wuyi Mountain, Jianou City is one of the major oolong tea production areas in Fujian. The annual average temperature, annual rainfall, and relative humidity here respectively are 18.5℃, 2,000mm and 80%. The mist-covered high mountains and thick forests in this area collectively form a natural green barrier to protect the tea plants from the hot sun light in summer and cold valley winds in winter. All those excellent conditions are conducive to tea growth and help accelerate the accumulation of aromatic compounds in leaves.

The variety of Rou Gui got its name from its featured cinnamon flavor which is prominent in both leaves and liquor. It is originally a native Wuyi tree species and later becomes the principle new variety of Wuyi rock tea through the asexual reproduction which was largely generalized in this area in last century. Generally, this variety begins to sprout new leaves in April and can be available for picking in May.

Wuyi Rou Gui tea is also known as Yu Gui （玉桂）, it has a long history of nearly 200 years and was first recorded in Qing dynasty. Except for its special YEN flavor（岩韵）unique to Wuyi rock tea, Rou Gui tea wins wide acclaim for its long-lasting pungent aroma and has got gold medals in several national premium tea competitions as the representative of Wuyi rock tea.