drank Tan Yang Jing Zhi by TeaSpring
1112 tasting notes

Oh my goodness! I’m getting quite a bit of rose on the mid to end of these sips. Rich, grainy, roasty, chocolatey… then rose. Musky earthy true rose, too. I’m in love. If I could put my best loved flavors together and wish for a tea, this would be IT! Fancy that it also has a rich history, winning awards all the way back in 1915 and everything! Millions of hearts to this one.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec
ScottTeaMan

I love a really good Panyang Congou! Did you resteep the leaves at all?

JacquelineM

I’m on my second steep presently. It’s sweeter than the first, but remarkably similar in character. Mmmmmm! I will most likely do one more, then let my leaves sit in cool water til the afternoon for a rag tag “iced tea” :)

ScottTeaMan

Do you think it is worth the $$$?

JacquelineM

I do. I only bought the 50g size this time around, but I’m going to reorder a bigger one. Angrboda would disagree with me, though :)

ScottTeaMan

Have you tried any other Congou teas from TeaSpring?

TeaBrat

They have some great looking black teas there!

JacquelineM

Scott – just their Tan Yang Te Ji which is the rough and tumble version of the above. It’s very delicious but I didn’t taste any rose in that one. I taste more of a gong fu black esque taste. Chocolatey and toasty.

ScottTeaMan

Amy, I really like their quality, sometime in the future I’ll order again.

ScottTeaMan

One of the Congou’s I tried from Upton’s had berry nuances.

JacquelineM

Scott – I’ve had pastry flavors from an Upton one but never berry. That sounds goooood.

Angrboda

Gosh, a third completely different experience with this one. What is this, chameleon tea? :D

Yes, I absolutely agree that I disagree with JacquelineM above. :D I find the Jing Zhi far too … polished is a good word. Polished. Yes. The Te Ji has more spirit and is a little more rough around the edges. I like that. It adds some wildness which I find more interesting. :)
I’ve noticed that I’m the same way about Keemuns. I tend to prefer the lower leaf grades because they’re more smoky in character rather than floral. I think it has to do with me not really being a fan of those floral aspects at all and it seems that the higher the grade, the more likely they are to be there.

I thought the Jing Zhi was fun to try and I did very much enjoy it when I did, but I prefer the Te Ji out of the two.

Scott and Amy, definitely look into TeaSpring. They offer some really nice things and it all seems to be of a good quality. It is somewhat expensive, most of it, but shipping is so low it barely matters. :) I never have trouble getting my order up to the point where I get free shipping. I have more trouble controlling myself once I reach that point. :D Of course half of that amount is usually taken up by stocking up on as much Te Ji as I can get away with. I have promised myself to explore other parts of China next time though. There is a Sichuan one in particular that I have my eye on, but I can’t remember the name of it right now.

LadyLondonderry

Angrboda, I can relate. Since I began exploring Ceylons last summer, I have realized that I prefer the “low-grown” ones to the high-grown Ceylons that connoisseurs seem to go for. And I even prefer the lower grade of Kenilworth (just OP) to the slightly higher grade (OP1). I am a woman of simple tastes.:)

Angrboda

It’s so practical though, because it’s much cheaper for us than it is for them. :D

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Comments

ScottTeaMan

I love a really good Panyang Congou! Did you resteep the leaves at all?

JacquelineM

I’m on my second steep presently. It’s sweeter than the first, but remarkably similar in character. Mmmmmm! I will most likely do one more, then let my leaves sit in cool water til the afternoon for a rag tag “iced tea” :)

ScottTeaMan

Do you think it is worth the $$$?

JacquelineM

I do. I only bought the 50g size this time around, but I’m going to reorder a bigger one. Angrboda would disagree with me, though :)

ScottTeaMan

Have you tried any other Congou teas from TeaSpring?

TeaBrat

They have some great looking black teas there!

JacquelineM

Scott – just their Tan Yang Te Ji which is the rough and tumble version of the above. It’s very delicious but I didn’t taste any rose in that one. I taste more of a gong fu black esque taste. Chocolatey and toasty.

ScottTeaMan

Amy, I really like their quality, sometime in the future I’ll order again.

ScottTeaMan

One of the Congou’s I tried from Upton’s had berry nuances.

JacquelineM

Scott – I’ve had pastry flavors from an Upton one but never berry. That sounds goooood.

Angrboda

Gosh, a third completely different experience with this one. What is this, chameleon tea? :D

Yes, I absolutely agree that I disagree with JacquelineM above. :D I find the Jing Zhi far too … polished is a good word. Polished. Yes. The Te Ji has more spirit and is a little more rough around the edges. I like that. It adds some wildness which I find more interesting. :)
I’ve noticed that I’m the same way about Keemuns. I tend to prefer the lower leaf grades because they’re more smoky in character rather than floral. I think it has to do with me not really being a fan of those floral aspects at all and it seems that the higher the grade, the more likely they are to be there.

I thought the Jing Zhi was fun to try and I did very much enjoy it when I did, but I prefer the Te Ji out of the two.

Scott and Amy, definitely look into TeaSpring. They offer some really nice things and it all seems to be of a good quality. It is somewhat expensive, most of it, but shipping is so low it barely matters. :) I never have trouble getting my order up to the point where I get free shipping. I have more trouble controlling myself once I reach that point. :D Of course half of that amount is usually taken up by stocking up on as much Te Ji as I can get away with. I have promised myself to explore other parts of China next time though. There is a Sichuan one in particular that I have my eye on, but I can’t remember the name of it right now.

LadyLondonderry

Angrboda, I can relate. Since I began exploring Ceylons last summer, I have realized that I prefer the “low-grown” ones to the high-grown Ceylons that connoisseurs seem to go for. And I even prefer the lower grade of Kenilworth (just OP) to the slightly higher grade (OP1). I am a woman of simple tastes.:)

Angrboda

It’s so practical though, because it’s much cheaper for us than it is for them. :D

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Bio

I love to cook, bake, read, paint, knit, do needlework, and garden. I need my coffee, but I LOVE my tea. I work at an Art School, and attend a large public university doing post-bac work (my BA is in English). I’m interested in the liminal spaces between art and craft, the academic and the practical, the individual and community, and the old and the new. I’m currently exploring these ideas through the disciplines of education, literature, history, and psychology.

I enjoy writing tasting notes, but have decided not to numerically rate teas as of 9/14/10. For an explanation, see my looooong tasting note about Mountain Malt from the Simple Leaf.

My favorites:
Chinese black teas
A good “milk and sugar” English style black
Earl Grey (classic, and in all variations!)
Vanilla teas (classic, and in all variations!)
Jasmine, Rose, Violet and other froofy, flowery teas!
An Occasional Oolong
Flavored Rooibos
Herbal Tisanes

Location

Collingswood, NJ

Website

http://jackiemania.wordpress....

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