Banana Tie Guan Yin

Sipdown (248)

This tea is from January 2018, thus one of my oldest, along with Maple Marshmallow Treat and Banana Marshmallow Treat. As such, I have been working through the month to finish up mostly full packages of each. All three are good teas that for some reason have been neglected for so long in my cupboard.

This particular one pairs 52 Teas’ amazing banana flavor that we all know and love with a really nice oolong note. This cup has actually gotten ice cold since its been sitting for so long but the flavor is still as good as it was hot. The banana is creamy and sweet and ripe and fresh. The oolong base is floral and has the slightest twang to it, which I think is age but it still works here. It’s such a simple tea, and that may be why I overlooked it so many times, but its always a good cuppa.

My internet went out yesterday so a few teas to backlog. This is a really lovely tea – i love the banana blend with the tie guan yin – i’d love more banana flavouring, but even without more banana flavouring, i am still loving this one.

I did actually follow the brewing instructions this time (although, it did cool down a lot longer than 5-8 minutes before I drank it.. The tea was a much lighter color than I’d expected.

The banana is strong with this one. For that matter, so is the bitter. They clash, but at the same time, I’m kind of enjoying it. I… don’t really know what to think of this one. I like the banana, and I like the Tie Guan Yin… I just keep going back and forth on whether I like them together. It’s almost like I have two cups of tea, and I’m alternating taking sips from each one, and letting them mingle in my mouth. They’re just not coming together.

Note, if I take a giant gulp, rather than sipping at it, I actually get a more balanced flavor. In fact, the longer I drink this tea, the more I like it!

I think I’m going to try a second brewing at a slightly lower temperature, see if I can bring out the sweeter side of the Tie Guan Yin. I think that would go better with the banana.

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 54)

Note for the original 2015 (Kickstarter?) blending of this tea. I thought I’d had it recently and been ambivalent – but it’s hitting the spot tonight! Great green oolong, fresh and creamy, with some banana – I’d like more, but that might be age-related. However, the deliciousness of the case kind of makes up for that shortcoming. Lovely!

Also, I don’t think I’d realized this was reblended for the 2020 advent calendar. I probably should have tried to pick some up but probably didn’t remember how good it was. More reason to just blindly order the advent calendar every year, ha.

Backlog from October 7th:

This is such a unique tea. It’s the first banana tea I’ve ever tasted and I was amazed at just how authentic it smells. It’s not as much fresh, ripe banana to me as it is banana pudding. I actually get a sense of the vanilla wafers alongside sliced bananas and creamy pudding.

The blend is made up of tightly coiled tea with large pieces of real banana. Some of the pieces are as big as a butter mint candy. The tea brews up so lovely. It’s a light golden color with a faint banana fragrance. I’m not the biggest fan of oolong in general but this is really nice. The banana flavor is jut barely there but in the right way. It’s refreshing and delicate. Just really something special.

Second Steep
8 ounces water + 180 degrees + 4 minutes

After the first steep, the leaves have unfurled and now look like deep green kale. There are still a couple of chunks of banana holding strong. I’m not sure if the banana flavor is actually from the fruit or the natural flavorings, but it’s nice to see that the fruit hasn’t completely disintegrated in any case. I allowed this cup to rest for 6 minutes after steeping just as I did the first cup. Even with the same steep time, the color was just as dark as my initial cup. The banana flavor is not present for me in this cup. The aroma is more vegetal in both leaf and liquid and there is a bit of astringency now. Still a fine and flavorful cup.