Tea Identification Please

I was given some tea by a friend over Christmas. It came in a lovely fancy bamboo box and it is labeled Tie Guan Yin top grade. The leaves are not rolled tightly, if at all, possibly indicating that the tea might be from a period when the rolling method was different; also, maybe the leaves have unrolled somewhat over time. The tea is dark in complexion, so it clearly must be aged, I would have thought: intentionally or unintentionally, I’m not sure, however. The tea was bought in Hong Kong. It was a certainly, originally, a good quality tea, I would presume, in that the general taste and aroma is very rich and complex; however, the main characteristic of the tea is that has a very distinctive peat aroma and flavour. I’ve never tasted anything like it before, and I was wondering if anyone could help me find something similar. Could it be that the tea was over roasted and I’m enjoying a tea that is spoiled? Even if this tea has not been processed correctly, I enjoy it very much. The problem is that I don’t know where I’d find something similar. Thank you for your help, in advance.

3 Replies
mrmopar said

Could it be an aged puerh or something similar? Could be a Lapsang as well but it would probably have some smoke still left over.

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I am not sure about the peat aspect, but maybe it is an aged traditional roast tie guan yin? The traditional tie guan yins can be more on the roasty side — an example is this one: https://steepster.com/teas/life-in-teacup/9712-an-xi-tie-guan-yin-traditional-charcoal-roast

Aged oolongs can also taste different than their younger counterparts. This is not a tie guan yin, but your description (except for the peat) made me think of it: https://steepster.com/teas/red-blossom-tea-company/10890-1980-aged-tung-ting#tasting-notes

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Brian said

i bet a picture would help

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