The Li Family is becoming famous in Wuyishan for their Rou Gui. The combination of a biodiverse plot, full of wildflowers and natural forest cover, the volcanic rocky soil, mature root stock plants, and multiple twelve hour hand-firing processes spread over several months make their Rou Gui a true standout. Classically, Rou Gui is known for its cinnamon spice, but in the Li Family’s capable hands, the cinnamon spice is bolstered by tingling cooling undertones and deep minerality. This Rou Gui is Li Xiangxi’s focus in all her taste training courses at her family’s Yangxian Academy, served to students and visiting dignitaries as a classic representation of what the varietal is capable of.

Rou Gui is quickly becoming one of the most popular Wuyi Oolongs across China for its intense concentrated aroma, and the textural cooling tingling sensation called yun that it shows off at the highest levels. Li Xiangxi and her family’s Rou Gui has been winning gold and silver medals at competition for years due to their incredible skill at coaxing the best aroma from each leaf through slow subtle roasting. This year, they set aside enough of their award-winning harvest for us to share.

The Qilin is a mythical Chinese creature associated with wise benevolent rulers that has been compared to the unicorn, and the giraffe. This year’s harvest is remarkably spice-forward with incense aromatics and a tingling quality that builds up on the tongue over multiple infusions. The spice and complexity of the varietal and the tremendous microclimate within the Wuyi Ecological Preserve are heightened even more by Mr. Li’s generous hand-firing in the finishing process.