Tie Guan Yin “Iron Goddess” Oolong Tea

I drank myself half silly with this one all day yesterday at work. Six (12oz) mugs I think – kind of lost track. I came in this morning and the leaf was still lush and green. I thought what the hey, let’s give it a try. The leaf just took right up where it left off. Multiple mugs today. Anyone else notice how hefty this leaf is once it unfurls? It’s like twice as thick and heavy as anything else I brew.

First of all, I’m going to start off by getting a little personal. For about three and a half years now, I’ve been battling severe addiction and depression. But for the past few weeks, I’ve been clean and I started taking medication and it’s made A WORLD of difference. I share this with you for two reasons: 1. To feel as good as I do right now compared to how I was THRILLS me, and I feel like I have to share it with the world. And 2, one of the things I’ve noticed in feeling better is that my senses are so much more clear now. I taste and smell things I couldn’t detect before. Everything tastes/smells so much more vibrant now, and that is how this whole rant relates to this tea. I knew it was good before, but now it’s a whole new experience. Still floral, sweet, and refreshing-but now I’m truly EXPERIENCING it. I hope my streak continues.

My second sampling of TEAVIVRE samples arrived today!!! So excited! Thank you Angel and TEAVIVRE so much for your generosity!!
This was my first sample to try.
I used only 2tsp of leaves instead of 3-4 because it looked like way too much, I am glad that I did because there was hardly enough room in my infuser.
Dry, this tea smells very vegetal, I was a little worried at this point, I am not the biggest fan of really vegetal teas.
Steeped, the leaves also smell very vegetal, but then when you take out the leaves, it smells much sweeter and more floral….weird, but good!
1st steep: very fresh, earthy, vegetal, with notes of floral and nuttiness (not the usual butteriness I am used to in oolongs). I also get a little sweetness and a very full mouthfeel (I like that!)
2nd: 3minutes, sweeter and possibly creamier, less vegetal, my favourite steep for sure
3rd: 4 minutes, not vegetal, but the creaminess and sweetness is starting to deteriorate, still a good steep though
4th: certainly weaker, but still maintains a good mouthfeel, and light enough to have in the evening without being up all night, hopefully….
Overall, I really like this, a very different green oolong than I am used to.

A really great tea! I was feeling down and so this is my late night pick-me-up. I really appreciate how much information was given on this tea package. I think that it was nice to have exact information about the distributor/steep times/etc.
Something that I was reading on another forum about was an idea that I’m trying to encompass. I know that some teas can be steeped over and over again, but at some point they really do loose that pizzazz. I think that I’m going to be more cautious with steep times and temp. so I can narrow down when I should continue re-using leaves.

Ugh, my computer froze and I lost my note on this one. I have had it before so it’s not too big of a deal, but still annoying.

Mainly I am trying to figure out some of my gongfu brewing issues. No matter what I can’t seem to have a good gongfu session. Maximally I get one good first steep, a decent second steep, and after that it’s all meh, regardless of the tea. I thought maybe I wasn’t using enough leaf so I went crazy with this one. It’s actually less good than the last time I went gongfu on this one and used half the leaf. Still don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve obviously enjoyed the gongfu sessions I had at tastings that other people ran, and I have even successfully gongfu’d tea myself before (a jasmine green), so I don’t know what my problem is here. I think I cannot seem to figure out the optimal leaf amount for my pot. Maybe someday.

It has been a long day at the office. No particular reason, just very very long and I am ready to go home. To accompany me on this long slow Monday there has been this Oolong in my cup. Also, throughout the day I have been greeted by chocolate chip cookies, edamame, sushi , and graham crackers. I am sure they are all having a great party in my stomach right now… Wish I could join them.

This tea is very good, but it isn’t quite great. Please do note that this is only my opinion. I tend to judge my oolongs by the sweet aftertaste that lingers after each sip. That tends to be my favorite part of drinking an Oolong.

The dry leaves of the tea are marvelous. They are large and emerald green. The scent is mouth watering, bit of mineral and a bit of sweet, the perfect mix for an oolong in my opinion. For some reason (and don’t get me wrong, I love Oolongs!) the smell of Oolongs has started to remind me vaguely of the smell of balloons and surgical gloves. Strangely, this isn´t a bad thing… Odd…

The first steep of was golden and delicious looking, also delicious tasting. The flavor consisted of a strong mineral component and a bit of pear and edamame. The aftertaste was a bit more sour than I would have liked and the sweet was a little more subtle than I usually want in an oolong. Still, delicious.

The second steep was a bit milder. The mineral played down and the pear stood out. The sweet aftertaste I enjoy so much was much more evident. It rolled across my tongue with every sip. By far my favorite of the three steeps.

The third steep was a bit too vegetable like for my mood in the late afternoon. Sadly, the sweet aftertaste was more of a faint memory than actually there in this cup. It was not bad at all, but it wasn´t quite what I wanted at that particular point of time. I feel like it could have benefited from a slightly longer steeping time (I only steeped it for 2 minutes).

Overall, I enjoyed it. I like having it handy at the office to accompany on “one of those Mondays”. Yum… Definitely worth a try.

Have you ever been away from home and wanted to be back so bad you fantasize about having the transporter from Star Trek? That’s how I felt today as we drove ALL OVER Moore County.

We picked up Chinese buffet takeout and I called youngest to prepare some tea. This one. And oh my goodness, it was so amazingly good it made it twice as nice to be home. Smooth, rich, and so flavorful that I could plainly taste all of its goodness even with the food, and I am so grateful that there is a bit left in the big ole pot to keep drinking because I am exhausted but I want more more more!

My daughter told me that this finished the bag. I told her that I would be lying in the floor crying if that were true. I have more Teavivre TGY’s waiting!

I may have had to much tea today, I know that this is technically impossible but to much caffeine is not. Just hoping I don’t screw up my sleep rhythm. Nonetheless today was an exciting day, I compared this tea to two other TGY’s that I had in my cupboard. An interesting experience nonetheless.

I did come to on important revelation however, I really dislike this tea. Because now I realize what I have been missing and have to toss my other TGY’s cause I could never be happy with them again. This is indeed disturbing news.

But I will say it wasn’t even a contest, this tea blew my teas out of the water in every way. This tea is clean, crisp, beautiful and refreshing. The color is a beautiful green whereas my others had a nasty yellow tint to them, and the scent and taste didn’t even compare. Vegetal, buttery, smooth, crisp, clean, floral, refreshing. All things that pop into my head as the liquor hits my palate.

All in all a very nice tea, I am quite certain that there is probably better but this definitely ranks in the upper echelons. I will be keeping this one on hand for a while, at least until I find a better one that doesn’t cost me my friends firstborn, I am really running out of friends this way.

I wanted a fresh bright oolong, so this was the one I went with in my three tea order (with $15 discount with coupon and reward points!) The leaves are such bright green little bundles! Ages ago I had the Iron Goddess with honey from Teavivre, that they don’t sell anymore. I had to get this one because I was amazed when I had a sample pouch from two years ago that was already opened (and in a sandwich bag) and it still tasted SO fresh… like the leaves had just been picked!
Teavivre’s instructions: 212 degrees – 2-3 teaspoons – rinse 1,2,3 min

Steep #1 // right after boiling // rinse & 1 min steep
I used two teaspoons of leaves because three teaspoons would be pouring out of my infuser basket! The dry leaves smell AMAZING – like many different kinds of flowers – orchids, a bit of gardenia (and I don’t really like gardenia but it sure is lovely here.) It’s also kind of grassy and spinachy (I like spinach more than gardenia.) The flavor is less grass & spinach but a ridiculous amount of these flowers! It’s like a garden in a cup! There is a TINY flavor that is off, like it shouldn’t have been boiled, but I’m still shocked that boiled water doesn’t ruin oolongs. Note to self: Wait around ten minutes after boiling next time. This is such a lovely oolong though – one of the most floral I’ve had. Exactly the oolong I wanted in stock!

Steep #2 // right after boiling // 2 min
As expected, the leaves are taking up the entire basket! I might try this one with three teaspoons at some point anyway, just to taste the difference. This is a nice cup, but it doesn’t have the super-florals that the first cup had. This is actually a light oolong. I kind of was looking for a strong flavored oolong, but the floral aspect of this oolong makes it special, so I don’t mind if it doesn’t have a stronger flavor. This one still doesn’t taste burned at all. This cup, I’d say the flavor is a very mellow lemon.

Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
This cup went back to the florals a bit! I don’t know what happened with the second cup. This cup is also very buttery. Only a hint of that flavor that the leaves have been steeped three times. I’m very happy with this oolong!

Revisiting this today, so that I can compare it with the honey version. Many thanks to Angel for the free sample, which has already sparked a purchase of 100g in early April : )

First steep: 2 little-bit-heaping tsps., with honey for 2 minutes at boiling. The brewed leaves smelled very vegetal, like boiled peas. The first sip is very flavorful and strong, not totally vegetal like many greens would be, but similar. Have tried this before sans honey, and it is not sweet on it’s own, so the honey plays nicely in the brew. Floral undertones, yes, but can’t distinquish which. As it cools, it becomes more vegetal. Fell in love with this tea with first sip.

Second steep: My notes say that it was a bit weaker at 2-1/2 min, so upped it to 3 this time. The “wow” factor goes to the leaves after the 2nd steep (lots of full size leaves, mostly opened up now). What started out as a small pile of hard pellets at bottom, now takes up half my 16 oz. IngenuiTEA. First sip: The 3 minute steep time helped, as this is just as strong as the first steep (in flavor). Second steep seems less vegetal, a little more floral, but I can’t detect much of a difference between the 2 steeps. Love this tea : )

This is the only Tie Guan Yin that I have tested/tasted, but would recommend. Teavivre’s customer service and selections are outstanding.