Organic Zheng Wei Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea

This is yet another review from either July or August of 2019. It’s also probably going to be the last review I post today. I recall this tea being just a little past its prime when I got around to reviewing it, but it was still a very nice offering.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing 6 grams of the rolled tea leaves, I steeped them in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 8 seconds. This infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of apricot, peach, orchid, orange blossom, golden raisin, straw, and honey. After the rinse, I picked up new aromas of roasted almond, cream, vanilla, pastry, sesame, and custard. The first infusion introduced aromas of plum, violet, rose, lilac, and baked bread. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of apricot, peach, rose, orchid, honey, roasted almond, plum, vanilla, and orange blossom that were balanced by hints of lilac, baked bread, cream, straw, golden raisin, violet, butter, and tangerine. The subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of tangerine, dandelion, grass, and orange zest. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of tangerine, cream, baked bread, violet, and butter appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals, Asian pear, white grape, orange zest, grass, watercress, and dandelion. There were also some pleasant hints of sesame, mint, pastry, and custard. As the tea faded, the liquor settled and emphasized notes of minerals, butter, cream, grass, baked bread, and orange zest that gave way to delicate impressions of vanilla, violet, apricot, dandelion, sesame, honey, peach, tangerine, and orchid before a cooling mint note kicked in and filled the mouth after each swallow.

This was a very unique and approachable Tieguanyin that also displayed tremendous depth and complexity. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out exactly what I was detecting with each sniff and swallow. I can only imagine how much more powerful and enjoyable this tea would have been had I tried it while it was fresher.

I cleaned out my online cupboard a bit today as I have sipped down a few teas recently. I am also shocked at how many teas I have not added to my cupboard and I just don’t feel like doing it right now, but this is one that I need to finish soon but had not been added, so here we go.

My husband and I had one of our gongfu cha sessions on the floor tonight with this. I used one teaspoon for my little pot, which holds about seven ounces fully topped up with no leaves in it, but about five ounces with big oolong leaves taking up space. We used boiling water.

The first steeps were very floral, had a wonderful aroma, and a mild taste. This is bery green with none of the charcoal baked flavor of strong mineral notes of some. As the steeps progress, the taste becomes even lighter and fades to notes of hay with soft greens.

I think next time I will use more leaf and see if it can make the floral notes grow and last longer.

I used to have mixed emotions about gongfu cha, but tea is changing me in a lot of ways. Instead of viewing the preparations and clean up as a chore – is it really worth it? Ugh! – it has become a peaceful part of the process and I enjoy the process from beginning to end as much as the actual tea making/drinking part. Filling the kettle, carrying the tray to the spot we have chosen, setting out the teaware, and choosing the tea, all are an integral part and bring me quiet contentment in my task. Washing the tea things, drying them, and taking my time carrying each piece back to its resting place instead of rushing to finish the job, is a pleasure. I am trying to carry that mindset over to other things that I must do, as well.

It is a perfect tea to sip slowly while doing some work on the computer or reading a book: it does not distract but adds some background depth and color to whatever you are doing. It is a humble tea that will not try to make a big splash and become the center of attention but instead is deeply content to be friendly, useful and quietly helpful.

Flowery, perfumey, light milk aroma. Sweet and super light vegetal notes compared to other TGYs. More of a floral taste instead of green, no real fruit notes that I can detect. Subtle buttery notes in the early steeps. Very slight bitterness, some astringency on 2nd steep but not overwhelming. It makes it work, makes it interesting and delicious. On the 6th steep, cut green grass notes came out, with a slight vegetal aroma and the floral taste subsided a bit, became a little tart. Although light bodied, its complex, as it changes on each steep.

7g Tea, 212℉, 110ml, 7 steeps: rinse, 20s, 40s, 60s, 80s, 100s, 120s, 180s

I took advantage of the free sample promotion that Teavivre was running a while ago to pick up three Tie Guan Yins, with the aim of choosing one to get me through until 2019. (Thanks, TeaVivre, for the free samples!) I steeped 7 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 120, 180, and 240 seconds.

The first steep is fairly vegetal, with notes of orchids, florals, and grass. The slightly bitter aftertaste probably means that I used too much tea. In the next few steeps, the orchid gets more pungent and notes of butter, lilacs, and violets show up. The aftertaste is long, with no bitterness after the first couple infusions. The tea holds steady for about eight steeps before it starts to fade.

This was a very floral-heavy Tie Guan Yin that hit most of the right notes for me. However, I didn’t get any of the fruit that other reviewers mentioned. I didn’t find it all that complex and while it’s clearly a good tea that gives lots of steeps, there might be more interesting TGY’s out there.

This super floral tea has soft notes of lilac, violet, orchid, and other sweet and mild flowers. Second steep has an aftertaste of mint that I quite enjoy. A tart note crept into the third steep; it has a “fresh” tang that makes me think of rhubarb, with maybe a hint of strawberry. As the cup cools the tart not fades and notes of butter and cream creep in.

Side note to self: don’t start a gongfu session at 10PM. It’s a waste of good tea. Things were just starting to get good too.

Steep Count: 4

(2016 Fall Harvest)

This tea is a light oolong that is yellow in color and has a floral aroma. It tastes light, sweet, and has the flavor of flowers. If you like flowery TGYs you will probable like this tea.

I am so behind on tea reviews! Honestly, all of my time has either been spent at the office, or out playing Pokemon Go with my husband and friends. We’ve worn blisters on our feet and every muscle in our legs is sore. We literally climbed a mountain yesterday to get to Pokemon at the summit. I’m going to look like a goddess by the time we finally catch them all!

Anyway, I think I’ve said it before, but Teavivre changed the way I see oolong. Their stuff is truly great. This tea is another very tasty example. The dry leaf smells sweet and fresh, with notes of springlike grass and vegetables. The little green nuggets hang out at the surface of the water before absorbing it and sinking to the bottom. Steeped, they are long and almost all whole.

The water comes out to a light yellowy tan, sort of like straw. There is that distinct oolong pungency in the aroma, but I know it will be more in the smell than the taste. After five minutes, the flavor is light but complex. I get sweet notes of flowers, grass, and a garden right after it rains. It’s very satisfying and light, with a tiny hint of creaminess. The floral taste reminds me of gardenias, but it’s subtle. Basically, this is something that would really cheer me up in the winter when I was missing spring.

Thank you for the samples Angel at Teavivre!
This was an incredibly smooth cuppa. It was fairly green with lots of vegetal and buttery notes. It is very floral but not cloying or soapy in any way.
It is delicious of course.
The resteeps are possibly even more enjoyable than the first cuppa

Sipdown! I had one more packet left from Teavivre (thank you for the sample!) and passed it down to a friend. Hope she’ll enjoy it too. I wouldn’t personally buy this one but it was a refreshing, green oolong.