I bought a small sample packet of this tea with one of my Aliexpress 11/11 orders. It is my first Rou Gui oolong, so I have little to offer in terms of evaluating relative quality. It was a decently tasty yancha though. The dry leaves had a creamy, dark chocolate aroma. After a rinse, that was all overwhelmed by a pretty serious roasty, maybe even charred, smell.
I could definitely taste the roast, especially in the early steeps, but it didn’t come across as overpowering or sour or any of the unpleasant things roastiness can do. The tea had a mineral and ever so slightly woody sweetness and left my mouth feeling the opposite of dry. I know the opposite of dry is wet, but it sounded weird to say it left my mouth wet…so, it was mouthwatering I guess. Rou Gui oolongs are known to have a bit of a cinnamon flavor to them apparently – I think I may have noticed a bit of that in the woody part of the flavor, but there is a good chance I only tasted that flavor because I was looking for it based upon prior knowledge.
The tea also developed what might have been a bit of a floral flavor, and on occasion the chocolatey notes I smelled on the dry leaves came though in the flavor, though never strongly.
I wasn’t particularly wowed by this tea, but it was tasty. It will be a good point of comparison when I try some higher end Rou Gui oolongs. I’ve got one or two of those laying around. Not sure whether I would recommend it or not at this point, though!
Flavors: Chocolate, Floral, Mineral, Roasted, Sweet, Wood
I know what you mean by that “opposite of dry” sensation. I suppose it’s more like a salivating reflex. I get that from many yanchas. It sounds like this one could use a year or two of resting/aging for it to come into its own.