From the world of many tea enthusiast terms like “Cha Qi” and “Umami” (although not solely about tea) comes another term: Yan Yun, or Rock Rhyme.
What is Yan Yun?
Similarly with Cha Qi, as many GongFu-ers that exist, the many definitions of Yan Yun you may hear.
In Chinese, Yan means rock, which is also where the name Yan Cha comes from — Rock Tea.
Yun, on the other hand, is much more abstract and is more of a feeling, or a knowing, than it is anything of the physical realm.
In music, the term Yun refers to a rhythm that leaves the listener in delight.
Yun is indeed a very poetic word, and when it comes to the feeling we get from tea the best way to describe it would be a gracefulness that all of the qualities exhibit, tying together taste, aroma, mouthfeel, and the feeling we get after sipping the tea.
What Determines Yan Yun?
Yan Yun comes first and foremost from the environment where the tea bushes are grown.
Yan Yun is closely linked to where the bushes grow. The most prized Yan Cha comes from the rocky Zhengyan (正岩) core area of Wuyi, where tea plants grow in cliffy, mineral-rich ravines. Teas from this core terroir are considered most likely to show strong Yan Yun.
Check out our article What Is Rock Tea? to find out more.
Yancha grown outside the rocky Zhengyan core – for example, in more conventional garden plots or lower, flatter areas – tends to show weaker or different Yan Yun. Banyan (半岩 – “half-rock”) teas can still have some ‘rock rhyme,’ but it’s usually less pronounced than in Zhengyan teas, while Wai Shan (外山 – the outer area of Wuyi) teas are considered to lack true Yan Yun.
How Does a Wuyi Yancha With Yan Yun Taste?
- Long-lasting. One essential factor of tea with Yan Yun is that it can produce a steady gong-fu style brew of multiple infusions without losing its color, taste, or aroma.
Yan Yun can be described by the mouthwatering sensation we get after drinking the tea. The Rock Rhyme entices, inviting us to keep drinking as each infusion releases more of the tea’s layered flavors and sensations.
- Mineral. This common term is often used to portray an outstanding Da Hong Pao. A good Wuyi tea often has a distinct ‘mineral’ impression – a stony, structured taste that many drinkers connect to the rocky, mineral-rich soils where the bushes grow.
Yan Yun does not disappear shortly after we are done drinking the tea. The essence of Yan Yun stays with us for hours or even days, nurturing us with its qualities.
To see if you can spot the Rock Rhyme in your Wuyi Oolong tea, try this exercise:
After drinking a sip of the tea, inhale and exhale deeply. Do you feel the tea’s essence lingering all the way from your nose, mouth, and down to your throat and chest? This is Yan Yun.
Have you experienced tea with Yan Yun before? How would you describe it?