Tie Guan Yin "Special Edition"

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Oolong Tea Leaves
Flavors
Bread, Butter, Cream, Custard, Floral, Gardenias, Grass, Hay, Jasmine, Mineral, Orchid, Saffron, Vanilla, Violet, Wood
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by eastkyteaguy
Average preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 6 g 4 oz / 118 ml

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From Tealyra

Tie Guan Yin Oolong tea is one of the most revered and sought after type tea in China. It’s produced from old trees, and is grown naturally (without pesticides or chemical fertilizers) around Yao Yang village, Xiping, Anxi.

This version of Tie Guan Yin is unique, when it was harvested, they left the leaf and bud attached to the stem! It comes with many large stems! This gives the tea a stronger fragrance and it tastes fuller. The characteristic floral, honey-like notes in the aroma and flavor are substantial, and build elegantly the same way that a fine perfume might. Try multiple infusions of our Tie Guan Yin “Special Edition”, for a delicious and unique tea taste experience.

About Tealyra View company

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2 Tasting Notes

85
1704 tasting notes

I finished off of what I had of this tea. To think that I raved about how Guanyin visited me the first time I tried it in a delirious slew of gong fu and grandpa brewing in my dorm room. I’ve graduated from MSU with a degree in Social Studies ed. with a history ed. minor, and I wait for placement for student teaching.

Guanyin needed to visit me again. I brewed this in a triangular tea pot and brewed it over and over. I did not time it precisely, but I sprinkled a little bit of water in my tea cup to test it, then decided when to pour it based on the color and taste of the liquor. I went for a fragrant aroma and a very light, lemon chiffon yellow. The florals were popping and so bright that it made me think of cucumber and hops, and they changed with every brew. I believe that this tea is also used for Spirit Tea Co., which used “Notes of Honeysuckle, Cucumber, and Fresh Hops.” in their description. I happen to agree with that description for the most part, but the honeysuckle was more of a strong background with a different floral in the front. They did not mention the watercress refreshing quality it also had, nor its heady lightness. It’s somewhat creamy in texture, but it has a rising green quality that was almost eucalyptus-ish for me-though I would not said it had that flavor. The cucumber thing got stronger over time, almost becoming overwhelming at brew 8 after three minutes.

I’ve come far and have so much farther to go. I wait anxiously for placement so that some semblance of a career can finally begin as I wait for a new gaiwan and two new oolongs from a company that has intrigued me. I’m also very close to trying THE O DOR, but I also need to save what money I have left over for a good daily drinker oolong. I know now that Tie Guan Yin is not the daily drinker I am looking for, but it is one that I will never shun if it comes my way.

Crowkettle

Congratulations, and good lucks with placement! :)

I keep eyeing THE O DOR too, but those bulk prices

Daylon R Thomas

Yeah, I know. If only I could at least sample the Blue Oolong Lotus, The De Loup, and the T.E. Milky Oolong without the hefty price.

Fjellrev

Awesome, Daylon, congratulations! I hope you can snag a placement with a snap of a finger.

hawkband1

Congratulations on graduating! And good luck with placement.

Evol Ving Ness

Congrats, Daylon! Here, placements are a long long slog of contract work. Hopefully, things are a bit easier there.

Also, I can just picture you in a delirious slew of steeping in your dorm room. It made me smile.

Daylon R Thomas

Thanks guys! From what I heard, a lot of the schools that MSU has contracts for in Southeast Michigan have yet to decide on their interns. My friends in Lansing/East Lansing have the process done for them by March, whereas the schools contact me directly and I pick the placement from the options that call me. I know of cases that are as late June. Here’s to the waiting game. Meanwhile, I’m gonna sub around home and drink LOTS of tea over the summer.

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84
1048 tasting notes

Continuing with my recent oolong obsession, I decided to give this tea a shot. I was intrigued by the idea of a Tieguanyin with stems and wanted to see if the inclusion of intact stems added anything to the flavor of the tea. Well, the stems did indeed add a little something to the flavor.

I chose to brew this tea gongfu style. In order to maintain a consistent brewing method, I brewed this tea using Verdant’s suggestions on their gongfu outline. The only thing I changed was the water temperature. I followed Tealyra’s suggestion with regard to that. I steeped approximately 6-7 grams of loose tea leaves (and stems in this case) in 4 ounces of 195 F water. The initial infusion following a quick rinse was 10 seconds. I followed this with 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, and 26 second infusions for a total of 9 infusions.

The early infusions provided a buttery, creamy aroma underscored by floral (orchid, violet, saffron, gardenia, jasmine) and woody characters. Notes of butter, cream, vanilla, sticky rice, custard, wood, jasmine, violet, orchid, saffron, gardenia, and fresh baked bread filled the mouth. Traces of minerals, hay, and grass were evident on the finish. Later infusions emphasized wood, cream, butter, custard, sticky rice, bread, and vanilla notes, though the floral aroma never fully disappeared. I also noted that the mineral and vegetal flavors became slightly stronger. The last 2-3 infusions emphasized cream, custard, butter, hay, grass, wood, and mineral aromas and flavors.

This is an interesting Tieguanyin, but it is not quite as robust as I would prefer. The inclusion of stems produces a somewhat woodier tea, which is kind of unique, but this is still very much in the style of a contemporary green TGY. That means curious drinkers should expect lots of cream and flowers. I like the aromas and flavors here, but this type of tea is nothing new to me, and I find the layering of flavors to be a bit rudimentary for my taste. What I mean by that is that I get a rush of flowers up front, then lots of creamy, bready, buttery notes, and finally a little vegetal and mineral character. If the floral character lingered a little longer and the floral notes separated a little more, I would have no qualms giving this tea an exceptionally high score. As is, this is still very nice and very approachable for a contemporary TGY. Just don’t expect something really different if you are familiar with this type of tea.

Flavors: Bread, Butter, Cream, Custard, Floral, Gardenias, Grass, Hay, Jasmine, Mineral, Orchid, Saffron, Vanilla, Violet, Wood

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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