Hand Picked Summer Tieguanyin

It’s been a brutal summer for my tea drinking habits. I simply don’t drink as much when it’s 95-100+ degrees out here, so I have to wait till night when there’s a slight chilly breeze going on to actually enjoy tea the way I like it. Anyways, when this tea was announced I immediately placed on order (me being a huge fan of TGY) and waited eagerly for my order. I did not try it until tonight simply because of the previous stated reasons. So here it is.

>Dry Leaf Apperance/Aroma
Small tightly curled deep jade green leaves with a very nice gentle aroma. not as aromatic as others.

>Brewing Method
Gong-fu style closely following verdant’s instructions, using a yixing pot dedicated to TGY.

>Liquid Appearance
Bright golden green.

>Taste/Aroma
My first cup had a somewhat muted floral aroma, with a unique fresh “sparkling” mouth feel and a slight gentle sweetness. Not as floral in taste as other TGY’s, but grassier/greener in a good way. The second cup became slightly more aromatic, taste remained mostly the same but crisper. The 3rd and 4th were also very similar. Texture became thicker and smoother with very defined crisp sweetness and clean mouth feel. My favorite steeps were the 5th and 6th, where the tea became thick, velvety smooth, and slightly juicy. The 7th and final steep I made was light in flavor, this TGY was all about mouth feel anyways, with texture remaining mostly the same.

Throughout my session, I never really felt a strong after taste, more of a lingering note. Verdant describes this similar to almond, but to me, that small note left me with an almost mineral sensation, similar to that of a wuyi. Very light and mostly noticeable in late steepings, but still there.

>Wet Leaf Appearance
Mix of broken and unbroken leaves, some stems, varying sizes of leaves.

>Overall
While not as good as its spring/autumn counterparts, this tea was quite interesting. What amazes me the most is how each picking season can create a vastly different experience in taste. Taste wise, this tea was mostly very light and concentrated more on mouth feel, which had a very unique texture compared to other TGY’s. I found it a bit lacking in the aftertaste and couldn’t really taste/feel most of the hints verdant describes about this tea.

I’ve been avoiding Oolongs lately. Not because I don’t want to drink them though!! Oolongs are my favorite. However, I have found that too much oolong upsets my tummy. Especially Tieguanyin or other floral Oolongs. It’s so VERY, VERY sad.
I’m taking the plunge today and steeping this out. I’m using my little yixing teapot that I use for floral green Oolongs. I’m really not sure about this little pot. I bought it ultra cheap. I can tell its cheaply made as the lid doesn’t fit well, but mostly I wanted a yixing to experience the seasoning aspect and the subsequent flavor differences. I just hope it’s not ‘fake’ yixing, which I didn’t realize existed until I bought a cheap pot. >_< Oh well.
This tea is wonderful. Floral, obviously, and green and creamy and full. I’m currently on the third steep. The leaves smell super complex at this point, almost savory. The taste has morphed a little- not quite as floral with some of that extra “savory” thrown in. Buttery. It absolutely coats my mouth; the aftertaste is pleasant.
Because of the tummy issue and a needy toddler, I doubt I will make it through 18 steepings, but I know I will do several!

Mmm. When I read Verdant’s brewing instructions, I was somewhat incredulous. 2 seconds? Most oolongs I drink need 15-30 seconds, at least. Much to my surprise and delight, the minute the leaves touched water, they exploded with an amazing fragrance. Maybe something like a gardenia garden during a warm rain? And an incredible smooth flavor, sweet, floral, is this even tea? On my fifth steep now, the aroma is still there, with a hint of coconut. The flavor, while not stronger, has more punch, as if to say, “yes, I am actually tea.” Normally, I’ll happily wear my tea leaves out, enjoying them too much to really make notes. But this tea deserves a good study. Thanks Steepster, for introducing me to Verdant. My poor wallet…

Thank you Kasumi no Chajin for swapping this sample with me.

I only had about 2g of this tea of this tea to taste with, so I decided to brew it for a minute each time in a gaiwan with about 2oz of water. I really wanted to get a sense of the full flavor profile of this tea. I found it had an odd sweetness that I didn’t think complemented the floral notes, and the mid/back-palate flavor reminded me of overcooked green vegetables. Although this hasn’t been my favorite tea I’ve tried, it was a really interesting experience- my first summer harvest Tieguanyin.