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“Haven’t really been able to browse Steepster for a while due to storm recovery, so it’s nice to be back! Didn’t get to tea much during that time, either, but I do have a few things from the past...” Read full tasting note
“[PLEASE SEE SECOND REVIEW BELOW. KEEPING THIS REVIEW UP TO SAVE INITIAL THOUGHTS AND FLAVOR NOTES] Dry leaf (NUT, HERBAL): roasted peanut and peanut shell, dill, bitter green Smell (SMOKE,...” Read full tasting note
Take a heritage strand brought to Taiwan from the hills of Fujian more than a century ago which has evolved to be one of defining style of tea from the surrounding hills of Taipei. Bring along the near-secretive craft of deeper oxidation and firing of these leaves into multi-layered, generously complex teas that has made Muzha famous and transpose all of this further south in central Taiwan; inside our own workshop/house, to be specific. Tie Guan Yin bushes were planted in one of our relative’s garden in the world-famous Alishan tea district where the leaves were produced into tea according to the northern tradition. Without requesting it, some of this tea’s spring 2015 production arrived at our house last Fall. Wondering what to make of it, we called the said relative to inquire. A long discussion about baking and firing techniques emerged from the casual chit-chat. In the end, our resident Tea Master felt challenged by the exchange and, as a deservedly proud tea finisher, put her skills to the test. Several rounds of baking sessions over several months and comparative checks with the relative results in this small Lot of tea. It has everything one must expect from a good traditional Tie Guan Yin: a smooth, layered complexity that challenges the palate but never aggresses it. The dried fruits are there, the roasted nuts, the caramelized sweetness and the spiciness. Everything is there in a perfect harmonious balance. This tea has body and persistence. This is often the sign of a well fired tea showing the skill of its maker. This tea is already good, it will become a stellar one if allowed to age, if you can resist not drinking it now… We’ve been drinking some everyday since last October 2015 and saw it evolve since then. We still can’t tire from it. This is a very limited release. Let us know what you think in the comments below and tell us if we should make it a regular catalogue offering.
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Taiwan Tea CraftsHaven’t really been able to browse Steepster for a while due to storm recovery, so it’s nice to be back! Didn’t get to tea much during that time, either, but I do have a few things from the past few days that I have taken notes on.
I opened this up this one up this weekend to test out a new pot. Opening it up, the aroma was a little tropical fruity, a little sweaty, a little nutty and a little creamy. rhinkle commented that it smelled like an island.
I found the taste to follow the aroma more or less. That nice, baked creamy nuttiness with that distinct, sweaty tropical fruit note on the nose.
Flavors: Creamy, Fruity, Nutty, Sweat, Tropical
[PLEASE SEE SECOND REVIEW BELOW. KEEPING THIS REVIEW UP TO SAVE INITIAL THOUGHTS AND FLAVOR NOTES]
Dry leaf (NUT, HERBAL): roasted peanut and peanut shell, dill, bitter green
Smell (SMOKE, MEDICINAL, VEGETAL): antiseptic, burnt toast, baked rolls, bitter greens; notes of buttered green beans; hint of apricot
Taste (MEDICINAL, BAKED, VEGETAL, FRUIT): burnt toast, baked rolls, cinnamon-raisin bread; pleasant bitter greens, buttery, green beans, cilantro. Aftertaste is thick and fruity – stonefruit (apricot) and tropical fruit (pineapple and mango)
Not quite sure where to place this one. The leaves are certainly “deeply baked.” By the end of the session, you have black – BLACK – leaves. The real question, I think, is does this baking improve the standard tieguanyin experience?
I’m going with no. The baked flavor is weird. It is noticeably antiseptic-like and medicinal, with some burnt-toast thrown in. I don’t mind char or smokiness when it works, but this just didn’t. It wasn’t awful or unpalatable, but just weird and sort of flat. The bake/roast/char flavors did not carry other flavors and develop complexity.
That said, there were some nice TGY flavors happening. The aftertaste, in particular, was thick and fruity. A very nice treat. So, overall, certainly not a bad tea. It was an interesting experience, but not one I’m going back to.
As a final note, I’m not ready to write off roasted/baked TGY just yet. Thinking of trying another vendor to see if different processing makes a difference. But, frankly, I’m missing the rich experience of a green TGY. A lot of the complexity, I feel, was killed or overridden by the bake.
