Monkey Picked Ti Kuan Yin

I am quite surprised at how good this tea is. I picked up a 7 ounce tin at a local store for 8 dollars and wasn’t expecting much. Tastes just as good as more expensive versions I’ve tried and at a fraction of the cost. It has the usual caramel and fig undertones this type of tea offers and re-steeps well. In a gaiwan the 2nd infusion is the best (the 3rd if you count the rinse).

Found this in the “Foojoy Gold” foil-packaged lineup at T&T Ginseng here in Las Vegas. I like this one quite a bit. Fig and caramel notes for sure as mentioned in a previous review, however for me the floral elements play a much more prominent role, with what I would describe as the “orchid” aroma/taste standing at the fore. Similar to the orchid note I find in many Keemun teas but in a lightly roasted and mostly green balled oolong. Very nice. At $16.50/100g it is comparable to other TKY oolongs you might find in the $60-$70/lb range. Not a super exceptional version of this tea, really, but it is a style that I really like, and definitely quite a few grades above the budget boxed version of TKY Foojoy also offers (which I also tried and it has its merits, but no comparison to this). Nice to have the option to buy only 100g and get roughly the same pricing ounce-for-ounce as if you purchased a 1-lb bag.

The aroma is very mild and lovely, a mixture of green, roasted, and honeysuckles. It reminds me of the way my kitchen smells after I make my own Hojicha.

The taste is mild for a Ti Kuan Yin and more green than floral. The initial taste is a toasty green with hints of floral, as the taste fades you are left with sweetness. Delightful. I would not say this is my favorite Ti Kuan Yin, but I could certainly be content drinking this every day when I am craving the really pricey stuff.

As you can see it is a beautiful orange color that is not too far off from the color of the table we have in the living room. Warm and inviting, the Ti Kuan Yin is somewhere between a green tea and and a black tea.

It smells brisk and strong with musky undertones. After the tea has been poured out of the aroma cup the cup still smells kind of bitter. I’m a little worried I may let it brew a little too long. As the bitter smell quickly fades away, a fruit smell replaces it. If I close my eyes I can see myself in the middle of a fruit orchard. There are green apples, pears, red grapes and it smells like there might also be lychee. Coming back to it one more time, the smells have once more dissipated and changed and the aroma cup now smells like fresh baked apple pie, with lots of butter and no cinnamon or other spices to muss up the taste of the pie. I could probably keep this up all night on the one brew, so I am going to stop here and move on to the actual tea, but remember when drinking this to regularly check in on the smell of the tea as the smells in the cup will change.

The tea is rather brisk and sharp, but not necessarily in an unpleasant way. Next time I will let it brew for a little less time. This tea has a distinct taste of baked red apples. If anyone has ever done this before, some of the apple caramelizes as it bakes and makes it a little sweeter than normal, there are definitely caramel undertones to this tea. Taking a large mouthful gives a slightly different taste. It has a rich, nutty taste.

For the full review go to my blog: http://teasnobbery.com/2010/07/23/tea-review-foojoy-monkey-picked-ti-kuan-yin/