Smitten at first sniff! This Rock Oolong is a fruity and floral explosion on the nose yet has a smooth and silky character.
The Jin Gui cultivar (not to be confused with Huang Jin Gui or Shui Jin Gui) is one of Wuyi's ten famous original bush varieties. Yet, it is not produced in much quantity, which is truly bizarre because it will wow almost any tea lover.
The first time I sampled this tea, I thought that Celine had spiked it with a touch of Dong Fang Mei Ren (Eastern Beauty) because it had immense muscatel fruitiness and zesty florals of roses and osmanthus. I could not believe that this was a pure Yancha.
Since then, I have been dipping into this beauty regularly and I love its bright and sweet top notes combined with a rich body and smooth, roasty depths.
The Jin Gui cultivar translates as Golden Osmanthus but this is not the same as the Huang Jin Gui variety often used to make Tie Guan Yin style Oolongs. This Jin Gui variety has nearly a hundred years of history growing in the mountains of Wuyi and is famed for producing a rich and sweet Rock Oolong with a distinctly vaporous rock rhyme.
A winner for your Yancha collection, which will likely convert all of your friends and family to the delights of Wuyi Oolongs.