Hand Picked Autumn Tieguanyin

I’m doing this with multiple steeps with hot water and 3-6 second steeps in my beautiful little frog yixing teapot (after rinsing the tea) according to Verdant tea’s instructions. The first steep has a wonderfully floral nose but the taste itself is very light. The liquor is a shimmery golden straw color. The leaves open up into large beautiful leaves.

Second steep: The floral bouquet is considerably muted now. The taste is stronger with a slight salted artichoke flavor mixed with the flowers and a slight walnut sensation at the back of my tongue. Nice.

Third steep: A hint of walnuts and butter pastry.

Fourth steep: The surprising scent of freshly shampoo’d hair. The flavor has retreated a bit and is back to light floral.

Should have reviewed this one when I first got it. I like a good Tieguanyin and this one met all of my expectations-another solid performer from Verdant Tea.

I usually read the description at the top of the page with a little heaping of disbelief but this tea truly grows and transforms as I continue to resteep. It’s probably the best greener oolongs I’ve ever had. The first steep was vegetal and spicy and further steeps became thicker with a more buttery aftertaste, it also does have that thirst quenching biting into a peach feeling. I also pick up the roasted marshmallow or more of a burnt sugar/caramel essence. I’ve had teas that resteep nicely and lend new flavors to each cup but this tea is different. It’s actually getting richer around steeps 3 and 4. This is a fantastic tea and I can’t wait to try the spring one.

Once again, a TGY from Verdant has stolen my heart. I really loved the sample from spring, and this was also a delight. I love how green it tastes. I certainly prefer this style.

This is the second Ti Kuan Yin I’ve ordered online going solely on the reviews posted here on Steepster. I ordered one ounce of the tea packed in the gift box (I was curious to see how it looked) I received the tea inside a very nice carton box while the tea itself was inside a small plastic bag.

As I opened the plastic bag, I could instantly smell the aromatic floral essence of this tea. I grabbed a few leaves to check on the dry leaves. I noticed the that curled up tea “balls” were smaller than any TKY’s I’ve ever seen or have.The tightly rolled leaves were fragrant, slightly oily to the touch, and have a dark green jade color.

I prepared the tea using a gaiwan following the suggested brewing guidelines of 205F water and 3 min steep time.

The resulting brew gave me a clear yellow-green cup with a gentle floral aroma. I brewed this tea 7 times and as I kept brewing it, the flavor profile had subtle but noticeable changes.

My first cup was pretty straight forward. It was floral, sweet, smooth textured, and slightly aromatic aftertaste. The second cup remained pretty much the same. On the third steep, the brew became slightly creamy. I could say the best cups were the fourth and fifth steeps, as the tea became deliciously creamier and smoother tasting while retaining its floral aroma but with a slight seaweedy smell. On the sixth steeping I noticed a loss of the creamy texture and floral aroma/flavor. The seventh steeping gave me a very light green cup with floral hints still there, but almost no creaminess and no aroma.

Upon analizing the wet leaf, I could tell they did indeed use smaller leaves. Perhaps the small size indicates only young leaves were used in the production of this tea? Anyways, I enjoyed this tea especially in later steepings. I found the first cups pretty unintresting but later on, this tea becomes literally mouthwatering (my mouth would salivate few seconds after I had my last sip, this was more noticeable during the 3rd-5th steepings). Flavor-wise I think this is a great tea but found it a bit lacking in the aftertaste I look for in Ti Kuan Yins. I was also a little disappointed that after the fifth cup, the tea began to lose its flavor. Overall this is a great TKY and for the price/service(free shipping) verdant tea offers? hard to beat.

This is my second lightly-oxidized Tie Guan Yin, and it was very different from my Spring picking. The aroma is very subtle, with hints of grass and orchid. The taste of the first steeping was very interesting, with a touch of grassiness and something a bit spicy.

As the infusions continue the grassines that was present in the first infusion quickly dissipates, and a certain spiciness (as in peppercorn or perhaps cardamon) starts to assert itself a bit. The flavors gradually fade, and around the forth infusions they harmonize perfectly to create a unique and interesting cup of tea. I got seven infusions out of the tea, which was a bit unexpected from a light Oolong, but was still a wonderful surprise.

In the end, this is a very unique tea and it upholds the high standards of Verdant tea. I’m really considering getting more of this tea, as all I have is a sample pack.

The tightly rolled nuggets smell grassy and sweet. Slightly buttery, a little like a green tea.

Brewed according to Verdant’s western brewing method. Rinsed with 208 degree water and then steeped for 25 seconds.

The wet leaves smell very grassy and clove like. The light yellow liquor scent on the other hand is absolutely amazing. I have never smelled a tea so complex. Granted, I’m still new to loose teas, especially oolongs, but this is blowing my mind. I can smell butter, grassy scents, citrus and then a super sweet floral scent hit me. Really caught me off guard. I haven’t even taken a sip yet because I can’t stop smelling it.

Alright, here we go…

Wow. The feel of this tea in my mouth is very wet. It’s so smooth. This is going to be so hard to describe. As soon as I take a sip its like a light buttery grassy taste. A few seconds later it starts to change before I swallow. It starts to get sweet and flowery tasting. I can’t really describe it. The after taste though… It tastes so much like citrus. It’s convincing me that I have just ate some type of citrus fruit.

2nd steep (20 sec):

The scent of the 2nd steep is even more floral smelling than the first. I could smell this tea all day. The mouth feel is so good with this tea. It’s tasting sweeter this time around. Maybe a more buttery flavor at the initial sip, but this cup is tasting so close to the first (and I have no problem with that ;P). The after taste is still very similar, but now, beside the citrus I’m tasting a green bean flavor. That’s probably just my untrained palate though. Haha.

3rd steep (20 sec):

I’m going to call the floral scent of this tea honeysuckle. That’s what it smells like to me. So sweet smelling. The third cup has a bite to it. Still delicious though. I’m kind of getting a vanilla flavor. Very nice.

This has been one of the most complex and memorable teas I’ve ever drank. I’ll definitely be ordering more soon. I urge anyone and everyone to try this. I’m very new to tea and this has showed me something I’ve never experienced before.

Cheers.

Backlogging from several days ago. Amazingly complex tea— floral, buttery, and reminds me of freshly mown grass. Sweet, sugary aftertaste. Will steep and write a more detailed note once I have time.

I can only describe this tea as transcendent. Beautiful, delicate, floral, buttery smooth transcendence.

Caveat theae potor – overcooking this one makes it lose its delicacy. The leaves are also huge, so you need to give them lots of room to expand.

Making it western style in the Breville, though convenient, just isn’t the best idea. The basket just isn’t big enough, and the minimum 500 ml makes it difficult to rebrew and take advantage of the evolution of the flavour. Gong fu that baby, you won’t regret it.

I’ll post again with more details in a couple of days, as I somehow lost my tasting notes for this. But yes, it’s beautiful and I love it so much!

Okay, I was drinking this tea wrong. That’s all on me, Tieguanyin!! I decided to give it another try at work today in the late afternoon, after being high on Laoshan Black all day. While it was steeping (in a tea ball, because I got a tea leaf stuck in my throat yesterday) I completely forgot about it when I got an idea and started typing away. I remembered later, not sure how much later (but the tea was still warm), and it tasted AMAZING! I think I wasn’t steeping it for long enough! I was so impressed with the taste after a long steep that it gave me an idea.

I noticed the tea leaves had greatly grown in size inside my tea-prison of a tea-ball. I remembered reading on the Verdant website how Chinese farmers have a hot cup of water and simply put the leaves in the glass. I was inspired to liberate my leaves and I am so glad I did! The dry leaf looks, well, scrunchy. It greatly expanded in my glass and looked a little like seaweed — I could almost imagine a little seahorse curling his tail around a leaf in there. After fully expanding it looks green and delicious, like a liquid salad.

The taste continues to be amazing, even into my resteepings. I was going to go home, but I had to log this experience! Also, drink more of this tea. The smell and taste continues to be delicious, though somewhat diminished of course. I have to dodge tea leaves a bit as I drink, but the visual effect is worth it. I heard tea leaves are good for you — perhaps I’ll even munch on one.

Another win for Verdant! I love you guys.

This tea is very warm and yummy. It’s not that aromatic but it does have a bit a flowery flavor. I like this because it’s nice and savory with a tiny bit of sweet. Very good overall.

Edit: As it cooled down it became a little bit more open and airy. Quite nice.

Yet another tea from my swap with Dinosara.

This is Verdant’s autumn tie kuan yin from 2011. Its funny how their packaging is totally different! I got some really great fruity notes from this one.

I drank this with two other people, and everyone agreed it was fresh and floral tasting (for me in particular it is pretty lavender-like). I’m also getting some notes in the background that remind of basil, and maybe even a hint of cinnamon that comes through once in awhile. A little bit of sweetness in there as well. Good, complex tea.

Worth buying for the dry smell alone, this tea starts off with delicious sweet juicy vegetal and sour green apple flavors with hints of citrus, and in later infusions transitions to an intense overwhelming floral aroma

We have tasted Tie Guan Yin Wang handpicked from Xiping, Anxi, from autumn 2012. Simply perfect. Smells like orange blossom while tastes like acacia blossom. Spring has come in winter! It keeps its flavour untill the eigth infusion… its leaves have a precious shape, one leave one pick. It has an emerald colour and a fresh aftertaste.

Gongfu-style in yixing pot. No rinse, brew times: 1m, 1:30m, 2m

Delectable! The color was bright yellow, the taste sensation was cleansing and light. The smell is sweet, like a flower in the morning.