Fujian Ti Kuan Yin

floral ,sweet and smooth. just what I like in a friday morning cuppa.

Hrm. Thin mouthfeel. Woody. Green-ish. Hard to describe because there just doesn’t seem to be much there. Slurping doesn’t do much but a nice sweet, slightly floral note did show up in the aftertaste. Overall this is disappointingly bland. Not even normal. Bland. Maybe I’m just missing something. Meh.

Dry it smells like kale or at least what I imagine kale to smell like, since I don’t think I have ever actually smelled kale. Has a nice light emerald gold color and smells like wet dewy grass on a fall morning. Very light taste that is similar to a salad without dressing. Doesn’t taste much different to me then any only Ti Kuan Tin, though I don’t really mind.

This tea steeps up with a fragrantly floral aroma that makes me think of just-opened lilac blossoms. The first steep tastes floral and sweet with an oddly spicy aftertaste that linger on the tongue. The flavour has more body and weight to it than many other green oolongs I’ve tasted.

The resteep (@5 min) is mellower and significantly less floral. That perplexing spicy aftertaste is also absent, but the tea still has a full, pleasent flavour that’s sweet without being cloying.

This tea also came with another sample of spring Darj today! I knew I was in for a treat and knew that as much I enjoyed Darj this tea would make me day! It Has! The little sample was a mere 3 grams but comforting and full in every way. The smell of the tea is of a light smokey with a touch of boiled vegetables, the liquor tasted of (again)boiled vegetables much like dark green vegetables, with hints of ginger and soil. Bottom line: A tea that is fulfilling and worth every penny for those in deeply in love of rich, full bodies teas. A tea that won’t disappoint at all!

Earlier this winter I stopped by a local tea shop and told them I wanted a recommendation for a good oolong. The barista asked me a series of questions (whether I added cream or sugar to my tea, what kinds of flavors I liked, etc.) and then came to an oolong I will never forget. I was so cold that day with the temperatures hovering around -2º F that I didn’t pay attention too much as she told me the name of the tea. I remember sitting at the table, reading a book, and taking the first few sips of this oolong and absolutely falling in love.

Today, when I took the first sip of this Ti Kuan Yin from Adagio I was transported back to that tea shop, to that wonderful cup of liquid gold. I’m so glad I have found this oolong again. The flavors are complex: floral, sweet like honey and crisp like an apple. The mouth feel is silky smooth and the aftertaste is wonderfully astringent. The second and third steeps bring out the sweetness even more and move into more of a honeydew flavor. This tea is such an enjoyable experience. To witness the unfurling of the leaves as they transform through the steeping process is a wonderful visual experience. I highly recommend this tea to oolong lovers and to those who would normally add sugar to their tea. This may be the leaf you need to stop sweetening the tea and to truly start enjoying the flavors of the leaves.

I took Adagio’s recommendation for the first steep. 3g leaves/8oz water, 185º for 4 minutes (the label said 3-5 so I shot for the middle). The second steep I added 1 minute to give the flavors a chance to continue to develop.

This is a really nice oolong. The smell has slight floral notes. And the flavor is smooth, slightly green, and flavorful. The tea does well with multiple steepings. Very enjoyable!

I’m someone who generally prefers oolongs, and this “Masters Collection” Ti Kuan Yin is my favorite yet.

The tea looks fantastic – hand rolled leaves that range from forest green to a deep emerald. It smells fresh, like an earthy green tea with a very very slight hint of spice. Most of the leaves remained in tact, and there are only a few little broken pieces that I wouldn’t have even noticed if this weren’t one of the “masters” teas. Honestly, those small broken bits could easily be from the shipping process.

The brew looks rich and syrup-y, with a deep yellow/gold color and a glistening sheen on top. The floral smell is instantly apparent, with some earthy undertones.

This tea has a very smooth mouthfeel, and though it’s on the greener side, it’s very forgiving. I have yet to encounter any bitterness with this tea, even when accidentally over-steeping for 10+ minutes – though some astringency is present sometimes if I use too much of the leaf.

The main flavor from this tea is a floral taste that stays prominent through repeated steepings – even at 195-200F, I can get 4 steepings out of this. Sweetness is present throughout as well, but diminishes slightly after the first couple steepings. After the first steeping, more a more buttery flavor and feel emerges.

There’s also a savory umami aspect that seems to come and go at random, adding some more depth and making it a substantial treat. I can’t find any pattern to when this occurs! Sometimes it’s right off the bat, sometimes it will show up on the 4th steeping, sometimes it alternates on and off… very sneaky!

Overall, for lovers of greener milky/buttery oolongs, I can’t recommend this enough. I haven’t gotten Adagio’s standard Ti Kuan Yin to compare, but this tea really does seem to deserve its spot in the “Masters Collection”.

I had such a good time with the Formosa Pouchong last night I decided to do another green oolong tonight. This is also from the maestro sampler set.

The leaves do an amazing job of expansion. They essentially tripled in size during multiple steeps. Whoa.

I love the Iron Goddess, but somehow this one wasn’t as magical as yesterday’s pouchong. Perhaps I still had too much left on my palate from dinner, so I won’t rate this just yet. It has a very similar buttery, creamy, floral aroma and taste, but the pouchong is lighter and oddly, I think, at the same time more complex and flavorful. This one has a flatter aspect, and doesn’t morph as much from steep to steep as the pouchong did. It’s still quite nice, though, and perhaps if I’d had this first after my long green oolong drought I would have preferred it. Who knows. There’s enough similarity that it’s at least possible. This one doesn’t have the amazing sugary finish, though.

I want to try it again soon, though.

I really enjoyed this, but didn’t think it was necessarily worth the steep price. It held up to many steepings, and I had to quit well before it seemed to. But it just tasted like a standard oolong that has grassier, greener notes than some. Tasty, but not repurchasing considering the price.