Weston said

Best low/non-roasted Ti Kuan Yin?

I’m fairly new to loose leaf tea brewing and I became hooked after tasting many different samples of Teavana’s “Monkey Picked” oolong. After some research I have found that it is a TKY and I am looking for something with a very similar taste profile but not $25 for 2oz.

I have been looking online and Adagio, Teavivre, and Yezi Tea all look like they have something similar. I am trying to avoid a heavy roasted or smokey flavor as I have read that some TKY’s can be heavily roasted.

Does anyone have experience with the three companies above in regards to TKY or any other goos sources of a low or non roasted TKY.

Thanks

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8 Replies
Shelley_Lorraine select said

My favorite TKY comes from Verdant. It’s not roasted. Usually a roasted TKY will be identified as “traditional” tieguanyin. From my experience, if it just says TKY, with no other specification, then it is a green one (though I can’t be certain that this is always the case.)

Adagio has some neat flavored blends, but I wouldn’t go to them for the best of straight teas. I haven’t tried TKY from Teavivre yet, but I have a sample waiting for me to try. Teavivre has high quality straight teas, so I am willing to bet it will be a good one :)

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TeaNecromancer select said

Teasenz has a really great green TKY that is probably the best I have ever found (so far)

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Dinosara said

I am a bit of an unroasted TGY afficianado, haha! They are my favorites. I second Verdant, and confirm that Teavivre has really nice unroasted TGY. Right now they have the Anxi Monkey King (Ma Liu Mie) Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea, which is really lovely. Also it looks like they have a new fall harvest Nonpareil Anxi Qing Xiang TieGuanYin Oolong Tea that is unroasted, and though I haven’t tried this particular harvest I am sure it is very good.

I would stay away from Adagio, or any large company that doesn’t work directly with the farmers making the tea. With a thing like TGY, it makes all the difference.

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Weston said

How can you tell that it is unroasted? Am I missing something in the description or is it observed in the image of the tea they post?

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Weston said

Wow, thank you all for the quick responses. I’ll check out your recommendations and see which I think I will enjoy best.

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Javan said

I recently picked up some very inexpensive Ti Quan Yin from Harney & Sons. Normal price was $8.00 for 2 ounces. (On sale for $2.99). I quite liked the tea – not the best quality I’ve ever had, but very good for the price and enjoyable. Seemed not very roasted to me. Has the advantage of being in grocery stores as well. Let us know what you find.

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Weston said

Wow, where did you find it that low?

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Javan said

At my local grocery store (Murphy’s Market, Trinidad, CA) in the closeout basket. I bought some, and went back for more the next day. People recognized a great deal because almost all the tea was gone when I returned. I did manage to get one more.

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