Rou Gui
肉桂 · Cassia
Oolong
Rou gui means cinnamon, and the tea has nothing to do with the spice. Nothing is added. It is a plant that happens to smell of cinnamon, and charcoal roasting makes that smell stronger.
It has grown on the Wuyi mountains for three hundred years, and what scholars praised in the early 1700s was the bitterness. That has not changed.
The best ground for it is a valley called Niulankeng, Ox Pen Gully. The first character of rou gui also means meat, so growers there call their tea beef. It is a joke about the price.
Drink it hot. Cinnamon first, over wet stone, then the bitterness, which is the point and not a fault. A soft sweetness comes late.
- cinnamon
- stone fruit
- mineral
- Origin
- Wuyi Mountains, Fujian, China
- Water
- 100°C / 212°F
- Ratio
- 7 g / 100 ml
- Caffeine
- Medium
- Rinse
- Yes · 5s
Wuyi yancha canon
How much leaf
Gong fu brewing is leaf-heavy and short. Set your gaiwan or pot size and this is what to weigh out.
Vessel volume
100 ml
Recommended dose
Use ~7.0g of tea
The session
7 infusions after the rinse, about 3m 35s of total contact time.
- Rinse5sWake the leaf and pour it away — this one isn’t for drinking.
- Steep 110sA warm spice not yet sharp.
- Steep 215sCinnamon sharpens over wet wood.
- Steep 320sStone and pungent depth widen.
- Steep 425sA bright bitterness turns sweet.
- Steep 535sVanilla trails the fading spice.
- Steep 645sMineral warmth holds the finish.
- Steep 71mSweet stone rests on the tongue.
Also sold as
Rougui, Cinnamon Oolong, Wu Yi Rou Gui, Niu Rou
In Czech and Slovak shops
Wu Yi Rougui
Steaper times this session for you
A countdown per infusion, a gong when each one is up, and the whole library in your pocket. Coming to iPhone.
Get notified at launchThese numbers are a median of independent gong fu sources, not a law. Leaf age, vessel and water all move them. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.