“Only had gongfu and was definitely better in the clay gaiwan than the porcelain pot. The clay muted some of the roast, though by now, several years after I bought this tea, it is mellow. Dry...” Read full tasting note
“At last! An oolong that can stand up to my barbarian abuse! Early a.m., western style, time around 3:30 ish, maybe, while I was rummaging in the fridge for my work lunch—-and delicious all the...” Read full tasting note
“This is another tea from derk! I wanted something to go with a blueberry croissant from a local bakery. It was almost more like a Krispy Kreme doughnut with blueberry filling. They are delicious...” Read full tasting note
“I have to be about the worst promoter ever. If not the worst, I am certainly one of the most easily distracted. I received several free samples from Totem Tea quite a few months back that I was...” Read full tasting note
Tie Guan Yin is perhaps the most famous of oolong varieties because of its complexity and resilience. That resilience is one of the reasons it was chosen for heavy roasting, which is one of the most traditional preparation methods. This tea is as pleasant as a cup of coffee on a weekend morning.
Tei Guan Yin was one of the transplants from China that thrived in Taiwan. No single variety will grow the same and with the same characteristics in two different places. This Tie Guan Yin is from Nantou County in the central mountainous region of Taiwan. Quality heavy roast Tie Guan Yin is hard to find in China these days, as they tend to roast them much lighter.
The Taiwanese are master roasters, and the traditional longan charcoal roasting process used for this tea lasted for over two weeks. Walking into a room of roasting tea leaves is like walking into a room of flowers and earth being warmed by a hidden sun.
In the roasting process, most of the floral properties of a high mountain oolong with be given up in favor of the warming and mellow properties of roasting. This Dark Roast Tie Guan Yin was chosen for heavy 80% roasting because it had a strong vitality and qi. Therefore the final product became two-dimensional: both strong roast and strong body.
Brew this tea longer to bring out the depth. I recommend 200 degree water with at least a 1 minute infusion. There is no astringency in this tea, so feel free to experiment.
Company description not available.