Tieguanyin

This is the tieguanyin that I brought back from Beijing. Again, I had a tasting of this one, and this is actually the middle-grade TGY that I tasted. I actually liked it better than the top grade! This is also the inaugural tea for my new Ru kiln tea set. No tea tray yet, so I’m not doing the whole ceremony of washing everything, etc, but I will get to chinatown to pick one up eventually. The woman at the shop packaged this tea into little “normal” sized gaiwan gong fu packets for me, so I wanted to brew this one gong fu style.

The leaves on this tea are tight little bright green balls, and even the quick rinse I did immediately released some amazing aromas, very floral and buttery. After a 10 second first steep a peak inside my tiny pot shows me that the leaves are already very well expanded. This is such a floral TGY, like fresh lilacs or maybe gardenias. It’s got a lovely, rich, thick buttery/creaminess to it, and oh my god so sweet! It is amazing.

Second steep, about 20 seconds, is a little more vegetal but also a little more buttery, I think. Still sweet and delicious. I’m not going to write about all the steeps because they are pretty consistant, it seems, and it’s mainly just growing in vegetal flavors. It’s a really, really nice oolong and I am so pleased with it. I bought more of this than I did the Tan Yang (it packs better!), so I am not quite so angry with the fact that I like it as much as I do.

Had this lastnight after Dinosara and I got tired of drinking the sticky rice puerh (on the 25th steep, or so!), and for the special occasion that I learned the purl stitch! It is clearly not enough that I’m a convert to her tea obsession, I must now also absorb her knitting obsession!
Anyways, this is a super lovely tieguanyin. On the first steep the florals are so spicy that they seem halfway to the Magnolia Oolong in intensity- from an unscented tea! Also, a very buttery mouthfeel.
The second steep presented a much more sugary taste, so, so, so sweet!
The third steep was a bit more buttery, but with all the previous flavors.
The fourth steep had a greener character, and the sweetness switched from plain sugar to rock sugar.
The fifth steep was even greener, with less rock sugar.
Overall a really fine, delicious example of a tieguanyin!