Tie Guan Yin

The writing on the package is all in chinese which I can’t make head nor tail of, so I looked at how everyone else was steeping this tea. Since this is a green oolong I went for the lower end of the temperature spectrum and it seems to have turned out well.

The first steep was a very pale yellow shade with an extraodinarily flowery scent that made me think of lilacs after a spring rain. There’s some of that in the taste aswell, though the dominent flavour makes me think of honeysuckle blossoms instead. It isn’t all floofiness though, there’s substance to this tea that keeps it from being too light or perfumed.

You know, if you’d come up to me this morning and said, “Cait, how would you like to try a roasted zucchini tea?” I probably would have made one of those faces from the low end of the ratings scale. And yet!

I’m really enjoying this. I’m using mini-steeps, but they’re all coming out quite consistent: thick-feeling without being heavy, very smooth, smelling and tasting of roasted veggies, and showing just a hint of sweetness (it actually makes me think of squash blossoms).

Thank you for the sample, Jade Teapot!

Edited to add: Photography!
http://i945.photobucket.com/albums/ad296/cait_tea/Y29udGVudDovL21lZGlhL2V4dGVybmFs-3.jpg

I got my sample in from the Jade Teapot and Thanks Steven for sending this to me! I am not sure about much of anything about this tea only that it come from The Jade Teapot and that he sent it to me out of the kindness of his heart. The reason I don’t know much about it is because it is a sample from China and the sample pouch it came in is written in Mandarin. While I do not read Mandarin I do know that it is Tie Guan Yin (Which I know to mean Iron Goddess of Mercy) and it’s an Oolong Tea!

It’s on the green forum of oolongs and the smell is like (and I can’t believe I am about to say this) but smells like hairspray! And not like the great smelling Salon Selectives (of the 80’s and 90’s) but sadly more like AquaNet :P ewww but surprisingly the taste is not bad!!

I love greener oolongs this one is very vegetal in flavor and leaves my palate with the slightest whisper of jasmine flavor. (Patting myself on the back for ordering that Jasmine oolong from Adagio sample) otherwise I would not have been able to place the jasmine flavor in this cup.

Thanks The Jade Teapot! Aquanet smell aside this is not a terrible cuppa! :)

BTW the packaging says “The Famous Tea of China”

Finally getting around to trying this. It’s very pale—when I was pouring it it looked like just water. But it’s a very, very pale green. Based my steep temperature off of a general average of others I looked at on steepster, and did one half a teaspoon to three ounces of water.

Leaves didn’t really unfurl completely.

The taste is very light—sweet but vegetal. I actually like it. It’s green, but not extremely so. At least it doesn’t taste like just hot water. There’s an almost nut (not really nutty—maybe a nutty buttery) taste.

Second steep, the leaves’ve opened up a bit more. I think I need a smaller pot, to give the leaves room to open up a bit more, since I’m using such a small amount of water. The water’s maybe slightly greener in colour, and in smell. The taste’s stronger, more sharply green. Not much different from the top otherwise, I think.

Steeped for three minutes this time. The colour’s the same. Stronger taste, vegetal, a faintly nutty sweetness. Reminds me of Murchie’s magnolia oolong, but fainter and sweeter. I actually kind of like this. I could see myself sipping this in the evening.

Fourth steep—same colour, hasn’t gotten lighter yet. Three minutes again this time. There’s a stronger floral note. Overall it’s been sort of milky. It’s still sweet, but I don’t think I’m really tasting any changes with the steeps. Then again, I’m pretty experienced, so.

Fifth steep, I think it’s starting to get paler finally. Maybe? Hmm. Getting a slight ‘water’ tang taste now, less milky. I’m pretty sure I could continue drinking this for MANY more steeps.

Sixth steep, still not any lighter. The taste is less milky again, slightly more metallic/tangy.

I would go for a few more steeps to see how long it’d last, but I don’t really feel up for it. I decided to take a look at the leaves instead. The edges are a bit degraded, and there are some leaf-halves and stems. The smell isn’t spinachy, it’s just faintly vegetal in a nice way.

One of the great joys of being happily married nearly 25 years is getting to walk up, stick something under my husband’s nose, and say, “Smell that!” Which is what I did with this little sample because I couldn’t quite place the scent. I’m a teetotaler, so I couldn’t accurately place whether it was a beer smell or not. It wasn’t. One whiff and he said, “Honeysuckle!”

Which is intriguing, since there’s not a bit o’honey or suckle in this. But that’s IT. Nice, sweet, plant-y. Pretty gold color. Nice spring sort of flavor. Doesn’t get bitter after it’s set a while. Perfect for sipping under the cherry blossoms—-if I only had some to sit under.