A little goes a long way!
So, I got this Tie Guan Yin because I wanted to see how well it matched another Tie Guan Yin I’d had previously. I actually think What-Cha’s Ding Dong Oolong matches what I was looking for better, but not because THIS tea is bad.
The tea comes rolled into little dry balls. I made the mistake of adding too many to my teapot, and when I came back to look at it—leaves, leaves everywhere! Almost spilling out of my diffuser. The little balls had rehydrated into HUGE tea leaves. I felt a bit put-out I’d used too much, but I recovered the leaves and will use them for a second pot later…I’ll just use fewer of them. (Still surprised how big they are…two or three teaspoons of dry ended up being split between FIVE small teacups when I took them out to save for later.)
Anyway, the tea itself has a wonderful floral aroma. I steeped a little longer than I intended to…I was aiming for 2 minutes, I think it ended up 3 or 4. Didn’t harm the tea, it had no bad notes and no bitterness, just ended up stronger than I’d intended.
It’s a good tea. I use sugar with my tea, so I don’t know what it’s like without it, but it definitely matches the description—vegetal with sour finish. Not an unpleasant sour. And the floral smell/taste is great. It’s a bright, cheerful tea, if I can say that. :)
