Tie Guan Yin "Special Edition"

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.

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.