Rou Gui

ròuguì

肉桂

"Cinnamon" — the bold, spicy face of Wuyi rock tea. Dark twisted leaf, charcoal-roasted, with a famous warm cinnamon-bark aroma over caramel, dried fruit and that wet-stone rock rhyme.

Region: Wuyi mountains, Fujian — 500–1000 m
Harvest: Late spring; roasted over the following months
Oxidation: Medium-high, charcoal-roasted
Cultivar: Rou Gui (Wuyi rock cultivar)

In the cup

Warm cinnamon and spice over dark caramel and dried fruit, with a mineral, wet-rock depth and a long warming finish.

What it gives

Warming and full-bodied — the roast and oxidation make a soothing, low-astringency cup that sits well after food.

Rou Gui — cinnamon — is, with Shui Xian, one of the two pillars of modern Wuyi yánchá. It takes its name from its signature aroma: a warm, sweet cinnamon-bark spice that rises off the roasted leaf and runs right through the cup. Grown in the steep mineral gullies of the Wuyi mountains, it has become the bold, assertive favourite of rock-tea drinkers.

Like all rock teas it is substantially oxidised and then charcoal-roasted in slow stages, which darkens and twists the leaf and deepens its flavour. Beneath the cinnamon lie caramel, dried fruit and the famous rock rhyme, yányùn — a wet-stone minerality that seems to rise from the cliffs themselves.

In the cup

Brew it hot and brief, gongfu style, after a quick rinse. The early steeps are spice- and roast-forward; as the leaf opens, the caramel sweetness and minerality come through, and a good Rou Gui gives many infusions. A seasoned clay pot rounds the roast and lengthens the finish.

How to brew