TieGuanYin(Iron Goddess Mercy)-Oolong

Thank you to Zen Tea for this sample! This and the Monkey Picked I drank last night are like night and day! This is a green, floral oolong like I’m used to, nice and smooth (though not quite creamy) and very spring like. None of the dark cloying charcoal. In fact if it was up to me I would switch the names, the dark roast has more “iron” conotations to me. And yet, this one still created a slight buzzing sensation on my tongue like I’ve been experiencing with the medium roasts… hmm perhaps it’s just something I’m starting to tune into. Personally I would prefer something in between the two and will continue to seek the light and medium roasted traditional style tieguanyins.

Edit: Enjoying the second half of the sample today, following the company’s brewing parameters rather than gongfu style. I didn’t care for the first infusion so I tossed it but the second was very nice, I actually got the vanilla and gardenia notes. The third starts off with a bit of umami then turns… fruity. That’s interesting.

This is a very enjoyable tea, the dry leaves were bright and pretty, slightly broken(may have just gotten smashed in shipping) with a slight green tea like aroma, 1st steep was very light with a nice floral aroma, 2nd steep lost a little of the floral aroma and a very nice green taste to it with a nice “buttery” mouthfeel, 3rd steep was perfect the leaves had opened and the aroma went from floral to a more grassy type aroma with even better mouthfeel, the flavor was at its best also with a nice green tiguanyin flavor that we all love followed by a grassy vegetal aftertaste.Nice Tea :)

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This was my first tea I broke into from my Zen Tea sampling! When I took my first sip of this my initial thought was, “Wow this is silky and smooth!” I’m still not used to getting smooth from my teas, but it’s definitely something that I like!

While I was steeping this I did not get much of a scent out of it at all, granted my sense of smell isn’t the greatest either. When I drained it into my cup though I got a definite light and invigorating scent from it.

Picking out what this tastes like is a bit hard for me, because like the description says, the taste is complex and layered. In fact I only have a sip left and I’m still not sure what is exactly that I’m tasting. Definitely getting some floral and almost.. grassy taste from it. The grassy-ness kicks in in the after taste I think.

Overall, I think this was really enjoyable and calming. I’m excited to see how this handles a second steeping.

Thank you Cavocorax for sending me this! I’ve never had an oolong specifically labelled as a Tieguanyin. I’ve wanted to try this since learning about Avalokiteśvara in my Asian religions class and reading the back story on the tea name.

Before this I thought I knew what a floral oolong was. Then I tried these little balls of joy…and the oolong ball soared out of the park! floral tea with a home run! Yeah… Breathtaking.

Truly though, I was shocked by this oolong’s floral body. My roommate said this reminded her of a jasmine tea from Teaopia (interesting). I can’t believe it isn’t flavoured either. It just goes to show I’m still a newbie with tea and there’s still a lot out there to try.

The sweet vanilla notes and milky richness make for a heady experience that would prevent me from drinking this regularly. I can think of a few occasions where I would want to pretend I’m in a gigantic garden filled with heavy bodied flowers, however. Like right now. This is the perfect tea to take my mind off personal bloopers and failings.

A Feast For Crows and Once Upon a Time, on the other hand, are NOT particularly cheery, and are lacking the overzealous flowers I crave for. I clearly need to find more euphoric forms of escapism! (Rumpelstiltskin is entertaining to watch, Cersei is not)

And sipdown! I will have to replace this, either with the same or a similar oolong as it is just so tasty. Floral notes. Fruity notes. Very light and perfect for spring.

I wonder if there is a different between this and other TieGuanYin Oolongs. Are they basically the same?

I must say the main reason i choose that tea was because i love the legend that go with it ( the Wei legend ) ans because i always wanted to taste it

The dry leaf: look like uneven small pearl ( seeing that i should have made it in my perfect steeper and not in my perfect cup they quite expend and maybe use less leaf so they could expend more i put that mistake on another cold coming since i get 1398129387 colds by years that normal ) It as the grass smell of green tea and some flower fragrance too i can’t say which im no good with flower smell and flavor yet for my re-steep i will transfer the leaves in my perfect steeper.

Once steeped the water get a pale green color that look wonderful in glass mug the aroma is still grassy but a smooth grassy i can’t detect any other smell in it no bitterness at all in the taste some astringency that one taste better when hot as he cool down i find that the taste become bitter ( mostly i like my tea when they become a little cooler i suppose everything need a exception lol ) for now i really like that one it’s goes on my maybe keep in stock list will taste it more before giving it a note

Updates: For the second steep i transfer the leaves in my perfect steeper and just WOW some much leaves no surprise they did not expend well in the perfect cup half my steeper was made of leaves lol 3:30 steep this time
Already a more strong green color appear it still really taste like a green tea it’s so smooth and buttery

This is a very dependable Tie Guan Yin, buttery and floral. It doesn’t have any roasted flavor like some tie guan yin’s and the buttery brothy flavor is more subdued. Like others have said this has a strong grassy taste, it’s not bad it just reminds me more of a green tea at times. Further steepings lost the floral aspect and added a little more buttery taste followed by grassiness. I think I’ve had more tie guan yin’s then any other kind of oolong and I love the myriad variations that can be found among the different companies or even the same company but different times of year. There is something nice in the unevenness of quality among tea from purchase to purchase. It reminds you that tea is produce and not like other dry goods that are replenished without any change.

very strong floral and honey notes just as is noted in the description.

Not a huge fan of stronger floral flavors but this is still fairly enjoyable considering that

I’m experiencing a green Tie Guan Yin shortage, and while I know I should wait until the spring 2018 harvest comes out in June, going several months without one of my favourite oolongs seems dire. This is the second-last reasonably sized package of green TGY in my cupboard, and it’s pretty good. I steeped 5 g of tea in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 120, and 240 seconds.

The first steep seems slightly more oxidized than a typical green Tie Guan Yin, with notes of orchids, butter, grass, honey, and miscellaneous florals, which become violets in the second steep. Nectarines and vanilla appear in steep three, making the tea much more interesting, but also more perfumey. The fruit leans more towards apricot in the fourth steep. The next few steeps maintain this balance of flavours before petering out into grassiness.

This is a nice Tie Guan Yin that hits the spot. It has few surprises and fades faster than I’d like, but it’s pleasant while it lasts. I hope Zen Tea continues to carry it in the future.

I had to try this Iron Goddess, as this type of oolong has been a favorite in the past. The bundles of this oolong are very green and have the scent of fresh grass somehow. I was expecting the flavor of flowers… lots and lots of flowers. But I must be spoiled with floral oolongs that are REALLY floral, as this had a typical oolong flavor for me… a flavor that I can’t put into any of the oolong categories: floral, butter/milky, peach, pineapple or charcoal. I guess there were hints of ALL of these flavors. Both steep sessions I’ve tried resulted in the same. It’s simply a solid oolong, but I like when they are distinctly one or two of the flavors I mentioned.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 14 minutes after boiling // rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 5 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 2 minute steep