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I first tried this tea steeped in a small gaiwan and it was overpoweringly bitter. Later, I tried it western style in an 8 oz mug and had a much more mellow result. The first post rinse infusion wasn’t bitter at all and I got some floral notes. There was also a pleasant aftertaste bite. I got 4 Western style infusions out of it. It can definitely be pushed to bitter easily though if brewed too long. At first I was disappointed in this tea but now I’m happy to drink it!

Probably not the best puer starting point, but got to start somewhere!

Hard to break apart. Leaves are pretty choppy. Actually I didn’t see a single whole leaf in the 5g I tried so far.

Single rinse. First step is pleasant but it’s easy to make bitter after that. Not sure if it’s my fault or the tea. I will use colder water next time; this water was close to boiling.

Even with the bitterness, it has a pleasant smokiness up front. At the end of the sip there’s a hint of a vegetal green tea taste, which I’m not the biggest fan of but that’s personal preference. There’s also a bite that lingers on the tounge.

I would like the smokey taste without the bitterness. I’m underwhelmed by this first attempt but hope that time and more brewing experiments will result in a nicer brew.

This is the first tie guan yin I’m trying. Used a gaiwan.

I was very excited to taste the baked goods quality to this tea. It tasted like a spice cookie to me early on, although I can see how that may be vanilla or apricot instead. I by no means have a refined Oolong palate.

Later on it gets a more vegetal taste and some astringency. Pretty good especially for something I can buy in bulk at a grocery store! Part of me wonders if ordering directly from Rishi would be more fresh. Not that freshness was a problem.

Update: I’ve had this tea twice cold steeped after failing to brew it hot. Without the bitterness, it’s quite lovely. It has a crisp but mellow veggie taste up front (also what it smells like) that I’m not the biggest fan of, but then transforms into something spicy floral and leaves a tart fruit aftertaste. I keep making it for the notes after the initial veggie punch and am going to attempt to hot brew it again.

First off, I think I screwed up this brewing. I tried out a gaiwan for the first time and didn’t start with something more forgiving. I didn’t use boiling water but think it was still too hot. Started at 15s.

My main negative is some bitterness and dryness which is the part I think I’m responsible for.

Otherwise this tea was vegetal, something hay like, a little bit of toastiness, and later on a little bit of fruity sweetness. I am completely uncalibrated for green tea tasting though.

Overall pleasant.