Hand Picked Autumn Tieguanyin (2012)

Floral, relatively light, and fruity sweet with a little tang at the edges. Nice stuff. Not as climactically sexy as the early spring batch—egads, what could be?! A gongfu session of that gave me a glowy buzz for the entire rest of the day, ha—but I like how this is a zesty-floral, more subdued but still beautiful thing, the ideal denouement.

Yesterday I finished the last of my stash of this beautiful Tieguanyin, reveling in the light delicious flavor. I prefer the Autumn version of this tea because of the way the leaves progress so nicely through multiple steepings. Creamy citrus tones become slowly sweeter, moving from orange blossom to key lime pie. A fresh lingering crispness on a creamy base. And now I see they have a bit left in their online store, so it is off to make a purchase to restock!

I received this as part of a Verdant sampler pack.

Really yummy oolong. This is a light oolong, almost like a green tea.

It has a wonderful complex flavor. Some vegetal, green-tea like notes, definite floral notes (jasmine?), and ending with something a bit stronger, somewhat piney.

Verdant says it has strong citrus notes, which I didn’t get (unless I was interpreting them as floral?)

Delightfully silky, brothy mouthfeel.

I didn’t have much success with re-steepings, but maybe I was doing something wrong. Verdant recommends many re-steepings. But the first steep was good enough.

apologies in advance: i maybe be somewhat foggy as i am only 2 days post op. (ie: there may be more spelling mistakes than usual).

this is a striking tea. after my steep time had expired the first thing i noticed was colour… the tea is milky, pale, not deep in colour. hmmm.

the next thing i noticed was the smell: it doesn’t smell like tea! it smells like fall, and for me it smells like memory. when i was young i remember my mother showing us how to press flowers and leaves in books… i remember finding those pressed items years after i’d forgotten them. a dry, warm, flowery smell. that is how this tea smells.

the taste absolutely embraces the autumnal spectrum. it is light, flowery, and pure enough that (as i frequently do with verdant) i do not add milk or sugar.

excellent.

I was planning on brewing one of the samples that TerriHarpLady sent me, but then I received a newsletter from Verdant about their clearance sale on Hand Picked Autumn Tieguanyin, so I opted for a session with this sample I hadn’t yet opened, just in case I liked it enough to want to order some more.
I don’t normally like floral teas, but this Tieguanyin is barely floral. The first steep (in my green oolong yixing teapot, brewed gongfu style) brought out gentle lemony, zesty flavors, with only a faint hint of floral background. It brought back fond memories of the lemon tree in my late grandmother’s house, and the lovely smell our hands would get when picking fresh lemons.
In the second steep the lemony flavors took the back seat, and the floral tastes took a step forward. They came with a gentle but insistent warning – if you over brew us we WILL grow bitter. At this point the leaves had filled the pot to capacity, large and shiny green.
The third steep was where the two flavors met and came together, in a zesty, creamy floral celebration of spring, not autumn. My cat jumped on the tea tray, to see what all the ho ha was about, as he and my little tea pet purred with enjoyment

I put some dim sum on to steam for dinner tonight, and was choosing a tea to go with it. I don’t have a lot of straight green teas, was looking for something greenish to go with it. I decided to go with this. I think that was a mistake. Not that the tea didn’t go, or I seemed to enjoy it all together, but between the sweet chili sauce, sriracha, and goyza, I can’t really tell you what it tastes like. I think I burned my taste buds with the sweet, hot, salty of the sauces.
I think this tea probably deserves better than I treated it tonight. Will reserve judgement until I can give it a fair tasting.

We’ve got a video review for this one: http://snooteablog.com/2013/05/21/snooty-tea-review-verdant-teas-hand-picked-autumn-tieguanyin/

This tea is tender and elegant with no bitterness, no dryness, and no harshness. The tiny, tightly rolled leaves are a delight to watch unfurl in the hot water. The tea brews up a beautiful amber color with a vegetal, sweet aroma. The liquid is vegetal and a bit creamy with a lovely natural sweetness and a hint of citrus.

The complexity of the tea allows it to stand up well to multiple infusions. As suggested by the comments from others, this one is delicious and a definite keeper!

My first successful experience with using my gaiwan! I still have a lot to learn, and I can’t yet pick up on the little, subtle flavors and changes, but I’m learning. The first steep of this was very weak, I’m guessing I didn’t let it go for long enough. The second, however, turned out really well! It was very creamy and floral. The third was a bit too long, and ended up bitter. The fourth was floral, though weaker. Overall, I really enjoyed this tea, and I know I still have a lot to learn

This is a very light tea that tastes almost like a green tea, but still has all the lovely subtle oolong notes. At first sip, it seemed almost weak but the flavor really came alive in each successive sip. Lovely.