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This tea was sweet like a baked good, hits you in the face with wonderful notes of brown sugar, cornbread, caramel, etc. The downside is it only survives 2 or 3 infusions. I can see why it has a cult following, especially among Westerners with more of a sweet tooth. (2016 harvest)

This is a review of the 2015 harvest from Teavivre. Not a bad Tie Guan Yin, but I don’t think this is better than their normal Tie Guan Yin so I don’t understand the “Nonpareil” qualification. This one has a more complex aroma, like buttered spinach compared to the straight-up buttered toast of the Tie Guan Yin. However, this oolong only lasted 2.5 steepings for me (the 3rd steeping was pretty watery, a thrown white flag). That’s pretty weak for a premium oolong.

Will try the other sachet before I put money behind this rating, but for now I’d wager that the 2014 harvest of this tea was way better than the 2015.

I suppose I can’t really rate this tea impartially because I didn’t heat the gaiwan and I used tap water for the first 2 infusions (apparently that works better for my partner when he brews tea) but the hard minerality of the water just ruined the tea for me.

Still, I could tell that it was a very buttery, divine-smelling oolong. The leaves were large and high-quality. It wasn’t quite as buttery as Teavivre’s 2015 regular Tie Guan Yin, but had more interesting complex notes besides the butter, and it was not bitter at all.

Will rate when I brew the second sachet properly (with filtered water).

Has the slight roasty bitterness of black tea or of smoky Tieguanyins, without the fragrance / fruitiness / floral notes / butteriness that I like in an Oolong. Nice that they stock it in my office fridge, but I would not drink this again.

My god, is this really Tie Guan Yin? I just brewed the 2015 Teavivre Tie Guan Yin and if you had asked me in a blind tasting, I would have sworn this was a Jin Xuan Oolong. The leaves are green, not darker roasted like traditional Tieguanyins I’ve tasted, and it smells super buttery and fresh like popcorn. (Update: I now realise after a bit more tea experience that this is what non-roasted Tieguanyins usually taste like.)

It’s also strange that this green oolong is brewed at 212˚F.

1st infusion: Beautiful, buttery, fragrant, clear.

2nd infusion: Still smells and tastes buttery, but subtle and a tad bitter.

3rd and 4th infusions: As the Chinese saying goes, 三道四道是精华。No bitterness this time, just a subtle floral butteriness.

This is such a gorgeous tea. It’s only my third Bai Mudan, but I’m in love with its floral perfume and elegant sweetness. Either I brewed it really precisely this time, or it’s more forgiving than the other White Peony I’ve tried.

Compared to the White Peony from Lupicia, Teavivre’s Premium White Peony has greener (fresher) leaves and imparts a lot more flavour and brightness to the tea. Both have the same delicious floral and plummy taste.

Pro tip: When preparing tea for a movie night in, brewing it gongfu style adds too much complication.

I received two sachets of these Dan Cong oolong leaves from Teavivre. They’re beautiful long, whole rolled leaves and really potent, only requiring 10s of brewing at 203˚F and then adding 5 seconds with each subsequent brew. (Then again, this is my first time brewing with 7g of leaves.) Hopefully I can give the second sachet the brewing it deserves.

First infusion: Slightly bitter, as to be expected from the first infusion of a darker oolong / black tea, but very fragrant with a smoky, woody scent.

The second infusion, unfortunately I burnt it but I could still taste the underlying fruitiness despite the charred astringency.

Fourth infusion has a nice earthy, fruity flavour like smoky cherries along with the perfumed wood.

The buttery, almost oily popcorn fragrance lasts through three infusions –– what a high quality tea! Absolutely gorgeous.

Note: The correct brewing temperature for this tea is 195˚F, in my experience, instead of the 200˚F specified on the packet.

Had this brewed at 205˚F and it was pretty astringent, had the smoky roasted and metallic quality but flat like the dull peal of a bell. At 200˚F it was also burnt, the leaves smelled like they were on fire.

At 195˚F it tasted like an earthy freshwater well, elegant and subdued. Very nice everyday dry (not sweet) tea.

Had the 2014 Heritage Golden Buddha at Sons and Daughters restaurant at the end of a 6-course tasting. Drank it out of a cast iron teapot so it’s going to taste different from brewing in a gaiwan.

Very smoky, dark-roasted tea, a serious demeanour housing an inner kindness and serenity. Not sweet at all but a perfect complement to desserts, presenting no bitterness against the bright young sugar, but instead calming it with sage groundedness. I tasted notes of smoke, toasted rice, nuts, and some undefinable iron earthiness.