Hand Picked Tieguanyin Spring Oolong (2011)

This was a sample from Verdant, how generous! thank you!
My first cup of this was lovely, rather light and leafy tasting. Like a lush salad! yum. Second steep however, was ALL Jasmine. Not really my thing. So… I sadly could not finish the cup. Anyone who enjoys Jasmine however, would love this tea. I plan on donating the rest to my Mumsies :)
Rating: first cup = 87, second cup = 60 for an overall rating of 76. I’m sure Mum will place it closer to 90 though!

It was as if David and Co. over at Verdant were reading my mind when I placed my last order for Sun Dried Jingshan…because I almost ordered some of this too. I’d tried and LOVED the Autumn picked variety so I was really curious to compare the two. Well, guess which sample turned up in my order!!??

This one is also fantastic! Very light and refreshing, the perfect tea to end my evening with. I’m loving the buttery/creamy flavor too. Clearly you can’t go wrong picking up either fall or spring oolong. I fear another order may be placed a little too soon! The bigger problem would be trying to hid it from my husband. ;)

GUH. This tea was like drinking GOD, if God were green and leafy and buttery and sweet and a little bit floral but not too much and GUH. Amazing. I steeped this three times and each cup had a slightly different personality, each one utterly delicious.

This is EASILY the best TGY I’ve ever had. I’m happy to have found Verdant Teas, for their teas are wonderful (and are getting pretty high ratings here on Steepster all around).

Brewing this Western-style (1 tsp / 8 oz. water), I managed to get 2-3 strong cups before the tea became significantly weak.

The first cup was yelling lilacs, to the point of being lightly perfumey. It was so good! I love those kinds of floral qualities, and the vegetal aftertaste complemented it extremely well. This tea is very smooth, making it even better for this time of year.

The second cup lacked much of the lilac power, but that’s when the umami and sweetness really jumped out. The vegetal aftertaste actually became stronger, which I personally appreciate.

The third cup, as I stated before, was when it started becoming watery. The vegetal qualities were still faintly there, but everything else had mostly died down. As per David’s advice (which, Verdant Tea’s customer service is better than most places you’ll ever go), I think next time I’ll try using more tea, and steep it for a shorter amount of time. One thing I did miss was the creamy-buttery flavor so many TGYs have, but perhaps with more tea next time I’ll be able to bring it out. Perhaps trying Gong-fu steeping would help as well.

I loved this TGY so much, I actually am dedicating a new Yixing I just received to it. If you even remotely like greener oolongs, you must buy this variety!!

I used more tea this time, about two even teaspoons for 12 ounces.

1st steep, 165F, 3 min
The flavors are like I remember from the last time I tasted this, but stronger (as expected). They made such an impression the last time I tasted this that the aroma and taste are like meeting up with an old friend. There is a new piquancy that bites the side of my tongue and back of the throat that I don’t remember from before. This steep has great floral notes that are strong and still larger than the green and savory oolong flavor. The floral notes are complex and clear. I still can’t decide what flower the floral notes remind me of, but there are a lot of them together.

2nd steep, 165F, 4 min
This is a darker liquor with a strong, savory oolong aroma. The floral aroma is secondary now.
The taste profile is different from the first steep. There is a definite fruity sweetness up front and a more moderate floral flavor. The savory flavor is stronger. The tastes are smooth with just a slight hint of an edge. There is a vegetal flavor that I don’t remember before. The floral notes come in late in the sip. I love the slight bite. I love the faint fruity ester aftertaste.

I think it’s better with more (enough?) tea. I love how many things there are to taste here. What a pleasure. Enjoying these two very nice cups of tea put my day in a sense-making frame.

I loved this tea! I received it as a sample from Verdant Tea. Thanks David! This is a relatively green tieguanyin, and not bitter, at all. It’s robustly floral, creamy and sweet. Not thinking, I used boiling water, and so I didn’t make it to 30 steeps (It was a long day, and I was pretty brain dead). However, it didn’t hurt a thing, and it was still quite excellent, and not bitter, at all. In fact, there was a distinct evergreen, sort of pine, flavor and aroma. It was most delicious, and a big part of why I rated this so high. After a dozen or so steepings, the floral and evergreen flavors started to taper-off, and the sweet, creamy flavor began to take center stage. After 15 or so, this started to take on more of a classical tieguanyin flavor. It’s very clean and smooth, and the beautiful color really held on, well into the later steepings. The sweetness lingers in my mouth, and keeps it watering. I can totally see this becoming a favorite!

This is easily the best Oolong I have tried from the new spring picking this year. Incredibly creamy and a fresh lilac that is amongst some of the most perfect Tieguanyin I have ever had. Though this tea is not perhaps the highest end in competition in China because of its creaminess, it makes it much more affordable and honestly, it is hard to tell if this is indeed inferior to some of the very floral Tieguanyin’s that are available.

Overall this has been my favorite tea of the new season.

Working my way through my Verdant Oolong samples and after three sessions with this tea, I have a handle on my feelings about this tea. First of all, the infused leaves are beautiful—I leave them on a white plate during the day to marvel at the size and brilliant green color with lightly bruised edges. The fragrance of the brewed tea reminds me of daylillies and cut grass and the first mouthful is nicely balanced between the vegetal (fresh steamed spinach or chard) and the floral. There’s a sweet fruity fizz that asserts itself after as few seconds—pleasantly so. This isn’t the kind of tea that is likely to have me writhing with pleasure—I tend to favor black teas and pu-erhs—but I can appreciate the unimpeachable excellence of its qualities and I defer to others who insist this is one of the best Tieguanyins available.

I received this as a sample from Verdant Teas so a “Thank You Very Much” is in order! I am so glad I got to try this. It is not something I would choose on my own mainly because of my “newness” to the world of tea. At this stage in the game my lack of “tea experience” really hinders me from identifying all the unique flavors that unfold with each steeping of this tea (that so many others can distinguish). But I do know I love the size and smell of these leaves!
Right now I can simply say I really really like this tea!

What a beautiful Spring Oolong! I loaded up my gaiwan and brewed just as David suggested, yielding a nice succession of cups almost exactly as described. Wonderful aromas, wonderful flavor and a really pleasant morning sipping on this tea.

Since I grow orchids, I didn’t get this as the most prominent scent. Instead I get the sweet honeysuckle, with a background of orange blossom and jasmine. The first two steeps give a slightly green flavor followed by buttery creaminess in the later brews and some even have a faint aroma of pine or fir trees behind the floral bouquet.

An outstanding tea, plain and simple. ;)