I haven’t reviewed on Steepster in a bit, so I figured I’d write a new one.
This Master Grade Tie Guanyin has all the makings of a Tie Guanyin, the buttery vegetal quality, the foresty and floral notes typical of Taiwanese high mountain oolong. As Tie Guanyins go, this one registers on the softer and more mellow side of the scale. There’s a gentle (and I really mean gentle) honey sweetness to it and a really soft vegetal flavor, reminding me slightly of spinach and zucchini. It is definitely floral. I can see the ideas others have offered of orchid or honeysuckle, but they are not quite on the mark from what I’m getting. Anyway, it’s hard to attribute other flavors to a tea in any case, so those are probably close enough, maybe a bit of a jasmine-like quality is there too.
What’s odd to me about this tea is that it is the Master Grade variant Tie Guanyin that Yezi offers, and it has less prominent and memorable qualities to me than the High Grade Tie Guanyin, which is a step down in grade and pricing. I’ve drank both today, so I have them fresh in memory to compare. Where the High Grade had the unmistakable scent of holiday spices and hints of camphor, the Master Grade is more round and no flavor or scent sticks out to me distinctly. It does seem more buttery than the other.
If it comes to personal recommendation though, I actually prefer the High Grade to this one as I think the “spiced” quality and camphor notes are what make that one really wonderful to me.
Flavors: Butter, Floral, Forest Floor, Honey, Vegetal
