Jiu Long Ke Rou Gui "Gorge of Nine Dragons" 2024 - Mid-Light Roast

I was able to secure very small amounts of this tea - more for exposure and educational purposes on Wuyi Cliff teas and the impact of various mountain formations can have on a tea (think "caves" v.s. "cliffs" v.s. "ravines and gullies" v.s. " gorges"). 

This is a harvest of the Rou Gui "Cassia" varietal tea trees grown from the Jiu Long Ke 九龙窠 "Gorge of Nine Dragons" - the very same revered garden as the legendary  350 - 400 hundred years old Da Hong Pao mother tea trees.

This tea was crafted at a light roast to preserve the vibrancy of the fresh tea and exemplify how impressive mountain formations, the revered garden's unique micro-climate and diverse ecosystem, can make a breathtaking tea comes alive. The perfect medium of capturing the essence of the eternal mountains.

**** Tasting notes and monitoring: This Rou Gui is a LIGHT ROAST - making it a more finicky one to brew. This 2024 harvest wasn't suitable for the usual three rounds of heavy roasting due to the harvest time, material available, weather conditions, and other various constraints. From initial tastings within the first few months of harvest and roasting, the tea was phenomenal. Due to the lighter roast (unstable nature, very ephemeral), this tea is not suitable for long-term storage and needs to be consumed immediately within the first 6 months. Lately, after 9 months, I noticed it has been going through a drastic change lately. The tea is waning on the aromatics and the grassiness notes is starting to show. I am not quite sure how it will settle a year or two from now.

This tea is not the most forgiving and can be overbrewed; proper attention and preparations are needed. Scalding hot water and long brewing time with bring out the more bitter edges (keep brews when using high temps), as the Rou Gui cultivar needs more thorough roasting to kill/temper the greeness and sharp grassiness of the material, bringing out the fragrant aromatics innate to the cultivar. Lower temperature water around 208F is recommended, gradually increase temperature in the later steeps.  5 grams  in 150ml vessel for Gongfu Cha method of brewing (quick steeps 5-10 seconds). These are just recommended guidelines to explore the characteristics offered by each tea.

This is another tea I would say, "Less is more."

Color of Brew: Yellow Orange