Review topics: ["taste","quality","aftertaste","order","texture","aroma","smell","tea","profile","shou","balance","session","notes","ripe","coffee","tones","grains"].
Reviews
smooth and sophisticated
"Brewing: 6g/100ml, 100°C, flash rinse, 15s, +5s. Warmed-up dry leaves smell of wood and stone fruit. When wet, bread and liquorice appear. The liquor tastes of stone fruit, wood, caramel and liquorice. Very smooth and sophisticated."
— Ștefan T. (5/5)
Very fine balance. Personality with oiliness
"A great tea from the start. Very nice smell, great first cup as for all the following. Very fine balance. Personality with oiliness. Can please coffee drinkers as some similar notes but none of the bitterness or astringency. No note out of balance. This ripe is more expensive than the average but it is one of the best I had until now. Brewed GFC 95C 6g in 120ml Zen Ceramic Gaiwan and Jingdezhen ribbed cup (on YS)"
— Gilbert B. (5/5)
Best of the bunch ive tried so far!
"This is exceptional. Im still in the early steeps, but this one was a real surprise because of the 10 samples I got, I was more excited about the raws. This is probably among the best ripes ive had. Its slightly sweet, there is a little earthyness, but it has a good herb note, maybe sweet basil. Its hard to place, but its incredibly well balanced and smooth. At the very least, do yourswlf a favor and add a sample to your next order. I highly recommend this tea!"
— CaliTeaGuy (5/5)
Nice ripe
"Good amount of sweetness with a round mouthfeel and a mint and cream sensation. Would buy again."
— Travis R. (5/5)
Delicate and unusual
"This shou is quite delicate and unusual, but I am not totally sure where I stand with respect to it. The aroma is sweet, thick and red wine like. As the tea cools down, more floral and herbal tones emerge. It has a slight medicinal quality almost like an aged sheng. Taste is very light and nuanced with a good balanced profile. There are notes of butter, autumn leaf pile, roasted grains and coffee. In late steeps I also get a papaya like sweetness. Overall, the end of the session is a bit too sweet for my liking. The aftertaste is spicy and expansive with a light tannic quality and porter ale note. Later on it gets quite milky too. As for the mouthfeel, the tea is delicate there too. The body light to medium and the texture is watery and smooth. As the liquor cools down, it gets a bit thicker and creamier. One thing I didn’t quite expect is the fact that this tea doesn’t resteep very well. I can’t seem to get much more than 100ml per gram out of it. I would like to have a cake to see how this kind of light fermented shou with virtually no bitterness develops, but I don’t think I quite like it enough to get a cake."
— Tomáš G. (4/5)
Delicate, unusual and sweet
"This shou is quite delicate and unusual, but I am not totally sure where I stand with respect to it. The aroma is sweet, thick and red wine like. As the tea cools down, more floral and herbal tones emerge. It has a slight medicinal quality almost like an aged sheng. Taste is very light and nuanced with a good balanced profile. There are notes of butter, autumn leaf pile, roasted grains and coffee. In late steeps I also get a papaya like sweetness. Overall, the end of the session is a bit too sweet for my liking. The aftertaste is spicy and expansive with a light tannic quality and porter ale note. Later on it gets quite milky too. As for the mouthfeel, the tea is delicate there too. The body light to medium and the texture is watery and smooth. As the liquor cools down, it gets a bit thicker and creamier. One thing I didn’t quite expect is the fact that this tea doesn’t resteep very well. I can’t seem to get much more than 100ml per gram out of it."
— Tomáš G. (4/5)
"The Beast"
"There is a roller coaster at Kings Island amusement park in Ohio named 'The Beast'. This tea reminded me of that ride. My first couple of steeps were teasing me with the uphill ride. Nice flavor, not too strong, but unique. Unique aroma as well. Then BOOM! The third steep on was shocking. The flavor enhanced, the terroir came out. I actually experienced a 'high'. So emotional, so calming yet exciting. I was in total shock. Admittedly this tea is young. The complexity obviously has yet to peek. I only have this one cake so I am sure I will not be able to let it age properly. So, I must order a tong or at least another cake or two just for the purpose of aging (hopefully before it sells out, sadly I just made a new order the other day and did not include this in the order, sad face). This tea is a little pricey for some, but for a 'single estate' premium Yi Wu the price is commiserate to the quality. I think the adjective used 'enlivening' is nice but insufficient for this teas 'drug' qualities. Seriously , I was blown away, and loved every feeling. Can not imagine what this tea will become in about 5 years!!!! Tea on"
— Gary T. (5/5)
I'm so glad I got it!
"I'm super jazzed that I got some Rooster King before it sold out (sorry!). Super smooth and interesting. Overall you really can't go wrong with YS brand ripes. They're always worth it - highly drinkable."
— Emily M. (5/5)
Excellent Premium Shou
"Finally, the wait is over! These are my first impressions of Yi Wu Rooster! I heard about this from Scott back in December and I've been impatiently waiting for it to be released. Technically, I got this three days ago but to my parents' house not my apartment so it's had a small chance to rest. This is everything I wanted it to be! Dry leaf smells crisply sweet and oddly floral with a classic Yiwu wood profile and a hint of pile. The tea soup is perfectly balanced with a lot of sweetness and bitterness, had obvious Yiwu character (even from the beginning). There is also a lot of floral flavor that emerges later on and smells amazing in the cup and cha hai. I do get some flavors that remind me of a good pour over coffee but disregard this if you haven't had that kind of coffee specifically. I also get some duiwui throughout the session but it isn't fishy or unpleasant to me. If you love Crimson Rooster then this is for you! It is much more complex and maybe not as much an intro into shou as Rooster King (which is super friendly) but for a premium shou this is exactly what I want! Pictures here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BhSHYCbFBUA/?taken-by=heichaholiday"
— heichaholiday (5/5)
