This tea gives off a gorgeous floral aroma when it’s steeping. It makes me think of orchids in the rainforest or a field of wildflowers or something. The flavour is equally fragrant and floral, and it slides along the tongue smoothly and sweetly without tasting too cloying.
The second steeping (@ 2:15) has more body and fullness to it with perhaps a hint of fruit in the beginning of each sip. It’s all very fresh-tasting despite the sweetness.
The third steep (@ 3:15) is a bit less floral and bit more fruity. There’s a hint of greeness coming in, particularly noticable when the tea was hot, and overall I think it’s a bit less sweet than it was in the previous steepings.
The 4th and last steep (@ 4:30) tastes considerably lighter, and I think I’ve reached the tipping point where the quality of each new steep starts being less than the last one – though I could certain still get one or two more half-decent cuppas out of it if not for that fact that it’s bedtime for me.
This is a great Tie Guan Yin, maybe not the very best I’ve tasted, but it comes close. The first two steepings were maybe a bit too floral for my personal tastes, but despite that I can tell that this is a wonderful, high quality tea – it’s in the leaves, the scent, in the flavour, everything.
I got to try this tea thanks to the Travelling Teabox and it’s tempting to keep it. But there’s not much of it left and the teabox is a bit short on oolongs, so I only took the one teaspoon and I’ll send the rest on down the line for the rest of you guys to enjoy it.
