Andao Tea Rou Gui

Andao tea is a place I have put off ordering from, though after ordering the tea table from them and liking it very much, I decided to try some of their teas with a teaware purchase of Gong fu tools, and a glass fair cup. Andao's teas are certified USDA organic, which I believe they pay the certification fees for the farms they use. They do this as part of a mission to return Chinese tea back to some of its more traditionalist values, without the focus on mass production or use of chemicals on the plants.


Rinse.

1: Boiling 20 seconds

Hint of baked cinnamon (it is rou gui after all), With a nice peachy aroma to it also, very fruity, sorta like a baked peach dessert. Wow quite a bit of cinnamon on the palate, which extends into the finish, but the finish also picks up the hints of the peaches.

2: Boiling 30 seconds

The aroma is still very fruity, I'll stand by my baked peach dessert assertion. I'm also getting hints of butter in the aroma this infusion also. Lots of cinnamon and butter, and I'm really liking how the finish just lingers, for quite some time too.

3: Boiling 40 seconds

Much more buttery, so I want to go with a peach filled pastry, but I am honestly getting a lot of peach in this tea. The Cinnamon astringency is starting to fade, and the finish only seems to exist on the tongue, as there isn't really any presence of flavors in the throat or even back of the mouth any more, other than a slight buttery note, which is quick to fade.


I have to admit, I was plesantly surprised by Andao, and this tea which seemed to be giving up steam around brews 3 and 4... with long infusions in 5 and 6, its got a great mouthfeel, buttery and creamy, but not alot of flavor, but its quite different than just warm water, so I'm still drinking it.