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We first studied Tieguanyin under Wang Huimin, a lifelong lover of oolong who grew up as her farmer friends were all switching from roasted Tieguanyin to the newer greener tieguanyin. Wang Huimin remembers that this switch was made with great deliberation as more and more farmers realized how much natural flavor their tea had without extra processing The creamy floral notes were celebrated as the natural reflection of the soil in Anxi.
This Five Year Aged Tieguanyin is an exciting and unique offering in that it manages to preserve the entire spring flower and fresh grass essence of the original leaf, all while tempering the flavor with darker, more grounded notes. Most aged Tieguanyin is pan fired again and again to bring out dark caramel notes. This is not a dark roasted tea in any sense.
The aroma of the dry leaf hints at both licorice root and ginseng, with potent wheatgrass notes that evoke early summer. The wet leaf takes on a potent and tangy quality, like ruby port wine.
The port wine notes are a perfect prelude to the dark lotus florals, and the muscovado brown sugar sweetness. It is miraculous to see the florals preserved so wonderfully throughout aging and tipped towards the more quiet and grounded side of the flavor spectrum. In later steepings, creamy texture builds in the body and a rounded lychee fruit profile dominates and shifts towards an intense juiciness. The aftertaste lingers with peppery notes of Tuscan olive oil and slightly bready malt qualities, asserting the complexity that age has brought to this tea.
This was in the Tea of the Month box for February, & I’m really glad it was. It’s delicious!
The flavor is sweetly subtle. It tastes kind of like banana peel a little at first, with some light florals. After awhile a really nice herbal undertone that reminds me of oatstraw came through, with a creamy texture.
This Tieguanyin had nothing special to it and it was frankly no better than TGYs that cost 1/2 as much. I love Verdant but this one didn’t quite hit the spot for me and rating reflects cost as compared to other comparable TGYs.
Love at first sip!
This tea brews surprisingly light (almost white tea light), so I was worried at first that it would be light on the flavour side too. Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about.
The tea is floral – but mellow. It isn’t a perfumy floral that assaults your senses. It’s a delicate, sweet floral, that still has great depth and a never-ending malty aftertaste. When I first smelled the dry leaves I thought that there was something of the milk oolong in their scent. This note remains in the surprisingly thick and creamy texture of this tea.
There’s also an elusive, more full-bodied flavour that’s lurking in the background, giving this tea more body. Perhaps wheat? straw?
2nd brew – floral notes are still there, but they are even more toned down. Other flavours emerge. Some tanginess, some pepper, some olive oil – this tea requires too much concentration to define in one sitting. Decided to quietly drink it, and leave reviews for later. A wonderful tea
Got my first tea of the month shipment from Verdant and figured I would try this one first. The dry leaf is delicately rolled and lightly oxidized….still a lot of green color their. I gave the leaves a quick rinse with 190 degree water and got started.
First infusion(5sec.): Very pale in color with light berry and possibly currant notes. Taste is sweet and mildly creamy with berry in the background….looking forward to the next infusion and having that berry come through more.
Second infusion(5sec.): Color slightly darker. The berry is still hanging in there and now there is a predominant toasted character. Flavor is stronger berry with sweetness giving way to light olive. Mouth-feel is creamier.
Third infusion(5sec.): Sweeter still berry but creamy mouth-feel is more subtle. A dryer spiciness is coming through in the finish.
Fourth infusion(5sec.): More floral in the nose. Berry is gone from nose mainly to toast. Sweetness falling back. Vegital coming into the picture still with pepper spice finish.
Fifth infusion(5sec.): Rotated leaves as per instructions. Mostly vegital with the spicy finish. Sweetness is pretty much gone.
I will probably do a couple more infusions to see where it goes but overall a very nice tea with complex subtle flavor. I will double the steeping time next to if it intensifies or just makes bitter.
Wow. That’s all I could think when first tasted this tea.
Having never had an aged tea I wasn’t sure what I was in for, but when I opened the bag and smelled the woody aroma I knew I was in for something I’d never tasted before. That dry smell left me a little unsure, but the wet smell is wonderful. You’d swear you’re walking through a freshly rain-soaked forest.
First steeping for 25 seconds the liqueur looked really pale. I was worried I hadn’t used enough tea or read the wrong directions, but the strong floral scent that wafted up in the steam told me otherwise. The flavor of the first steeping is richly fruity, with a mouthfeel like biting into a succulent peach. The sweet taste lingering on the back of my palate leaves my mouth watering for more. But, thankfully, there’s a soft vegetal undertone that mellows the whole experience and keeps it from being too sweet.
Second steeping for 20 seconds is when the leaves really start to unfurl and the liqueur darkens slightly to a bright champagne gold. The flavor is quite similar to the first fruity infusion, but things are starting to become more floral with a hint of olive oil developing in the flavor to further mellow it out.
The third and fourth infusions (each for 20 seconds) is when the tea really starts to evolve into something else. The flavor mellows and takes on a more buttery, vegetal influence than early steeps. The mouthfeel smoothes out and doesn’t make your mouth water so much. It’s still got a floral quality but it’s a really tame and relaxed one.
I can’t recommend this tea highly enough. My girlfriend doesn’t normally like oolongs (and is generally a coffee drinker) but even she thought this tasted smooth and delicious!
I received this as a generous sample from Verdant.
The dried balled leaves are a dark olive green, not black and not overly manipulated. The whiff of dry leaf from the bag is vegetal and tobacco-like, withholding it’s true character until steeping.
The cup yields a beautiful flower essence (somewhere between Jasmine & lily) balanced with warm green hay and round brown sugar notes which linger on the tongue.
The floral is decidedly there but not cloying or overpowering. Truly in balance with the other notes. I’m not a fan of (overly) floral teas and was worried I may tire of this one. It’s the underlying balancing notes which tease the palate to yearn for more. The best Tieguanyin I’ve had to date.
