Heng Xin

Finished this one today as well. I think I’ve been a little too adamant on finishing teas in preparation for moving. In truth, it’s going to be a very simple, short-distance move, so really there’s nothing wrong with having a few more teas in my cupboard!

This tea strikes me a little differently every time I have it. My first impression of it, after being used to stronger Tie Guan Yin teas, was that it was very subtle. But there is a complexity to it, floral notes as I noted before, and vegetal but not grassy components as well. The best I can describe it is that it’s very reminiscent of a garden or tree-lined avenue in southeastern China after a late spring rain. Fresh, very vital, with more going on than is evident at first glance.

I’m hoping to get a few more of these basically unknown or even unnamed teas this year. Hard to find or input on this site, but definitely worth trying.

Revisiting this old friend for an afternoon cup. I’ve finally realized what the fragrance of this tea reminds me of—Aglaia odorata, or the Chinese perfume plant. It’s one of the scents I remember strongly from my childhood, very delicate and reminiscent of summer.

On closer inspection, the leaves in this batch are of rather inconsistent color and quality for a TGY, and fairly broken up. It’s probably not the best they have produced, since it came in small packages marketed for gifting. If it’s already this good, I imagine a better batch of this tea can easily be a personal 95, if not 100.

One of the lightest Tie Guan Yin teas I’ve tried. The liquor comes out almost colorless, and the tea aroma/flavor itself is very subtle, but by no means weak or lacking. The typical TGY fragrance is very pure and consistent with this one, even vibrant.

It’s friendly toward a lot of variations in steep time, water temperature, volume, etc. More mellow and vegetal on the second steep.

The bad news is, I was gifted some of this in China and have no idea where to get more.