Hand Picked Autumn Tieguanyin (2012)

Tastes of late summer in the woods and remains relatively consistent over multiple steeps. Gradual change from very green and leafy into a darker flavor, but keeps buttery notes. Good for six or more short steeps. The leaves unfurl nicely.

This tea made me love Oolong teas! This tea is so fruity and has a flavor that stays even after 4 or 5 steeps using the western method.

I personally use one even tablespoon and rinse for about 5 seconds. From there I steep the first brew for 25 seconds and every other steep after for 20 seconds.

Mixed with about a 1/4-1/2 of raw organic honey you cant get a better flavor.

This tea is very floral and fruity tasting.

Brewing this gungfu in a gaiwan. I was surprised by how short of a steeping time this works with. I started with 3 seconds and started working my way up. It has a floral, citrus like flavor that sticks to the back of your tongue. I’m enjoying this. I may still like a certain oolong better (Vermont Liberty Tea’s Quangzhou Milk Oolong) but I’ll see. This is a tasty light tea, which seems to get better the more you steep it.

It was definitely interesting to watch the flavor develop in this one. I picked a bad time to drink it the first time, as I was rushing to get ready for work and only got one steep out of the leaves before I left. :S Last night I sat down to follow through with my tasting. I started with a 15 second rinse and a 1 minute steep in pre-boil water, increasing the time by 15-30 seconds in subsequent infusions. Wow, wow. I honestly was not expecting to like this tea. It’s the light, creamy floral side of Tieguanyin that I love, so the description given by VT threw me off. First steep was very tangy and citrusy, with a very subtle hint of cream hanging onto the very end. It was mostly tangy. The kind of tangy that makes your mouth water. I was reminded of limes. Second steep, WHAT a change. The citrus notes are paired with equally strong notes of cream, and what’s this? Buttery, graham cracker crust? It tastes JUST like key lime pie. Oh my goodness. It left a pleasant sweetness in my mouth after drinking. Third steep, the cream and graham notes become a bit more prominent. Every flavor becomes more rich and full. I only followed through with three infusions because at this point I was exhausted enough for bed. Well, off to make another cup now! (:

Dry Leaf Nose: Creamy and buttery. Just as vegetal as a green oolong should be without being over powering. There is even a hint of sweet/fruit

Liqour: Light and creamy

Flavour: Bright and tangy with that great vegetal taste of a green oolong. Not overly roasted but just enough to make it an oolong.