This tea impressed me. I think my previous experiences with Wuyi teas have been with poor quality tea. Instead, this has a fantastic texture, little to no astringency, and only the slightest bit of sourness in the mid-steeps. There’s a long, incredible returning sweetness with hints of plum and spice. Delicate and floral in aroma, but robust, caramelized and sugary in flavor. I used Wrong Fu Cha’s “Brewing Rock Tea” (http://chahai.net/brewing-rock-tea/) as a guide and it helped me produce some really fantastic tea. Great tea.
Tie Lo Han Iron Arhat
Tie Lo Han (Iron Arhat) is named in honor of Buddhist men called Arhats who once practiced their spiritual meditations in the caves of the Wu Yi Shan area. The first time we tasted Tie Lo Han was during our visit to tea producers in the Wu Yi Shan, and the flavor of this tea knocked us out.
This dark oolong is big and powerful in the cup, but creamy and smooth rather than astringent. The flavor over the course of multiple steepings has a long, lingering finish and variously suggests burnt sugar, apple cider, tobacco, kale and peaches amidst a backbone of mineral and stone.
This is a tea to linger over and ponder. Tie Lo Han is big, and it can easily yield upwards of 10 infusions.
When we received our sample of this excellent batch of Tie Lo Han it took just one sip to remember how impressed we were with it when we first tasted this oolong varietal in the shadows of the Wu Yi Shan. We are thrilled to have Tie Lo Han among our offerings now for our tea enthusiast customers to discover and enjoy as well.
