Master Zhang's Top Grade Traditional Tieguanyin

I cold steeped this. Really. But it was totally worth it. I love a slightly roasty green oolong in cold steep and this was no exception. Delish! I find them particularly refreshing. YUM.

The month is over, & nobody has reviewed this tea yet? Sometimes I feel like I’m the only actual member of the TOMC. This is one of the Reserve TOMC selections for July.

When I initially opened the packet, there was initially a stale aroma, like grains that have been sealed in a jar for awhile, but that quickly subsided & was replaced by the smell of sweet lightly roasted stone fruit & a light incense.

Following the suggested steeping parameters, I put 4 Grams in my porcelain jingdezhen wide lotus Gaiwan,
com/teas/jingdezhen-wide-lotus-gaiwan/
steeped it 5 seconds & strained it into my glass test tube steeper (because my Rishi glass pitcher has a crack in it, whine),
and I’m sipping the tea from a Jingdeshen Red Lotus cup
http://verdanttea.com/teas/jingdezhen-red-lotus-tea-cup/
BTW, verdant has their teaware on sale this week, for those who are interested.

Since this Gaiwan & cup are porcelain, I can drink any teas from them, but I’ve officially dedicated them to Tieguanyins because… well… because I can! It just seems right. The shorter wide Gaiwan gives lots of room for the leaves to expand & they look so pretty & happy swimming around in there.

So this tea is a little incense-like, very savory, but also a little sweet & slightly roasty. There is a fruitiness to it of dried peaches, a little bit of a grassiness to it, & a nice tongue tingling sensation as well. After several steepings the incense taste became a gentle floral, & the sweetness continued, with a creamy texture.

2/28/14 5g/waterchestnut yixing/190F Toasty goodness! Many many steeps of roasty nutty good tea.

‘Traditional Tieguanyin’ is one of the categories to fill in my fantasy tea collection, and this one will be tough to beat. I may not even try, at least until this variety goes away and I have to! This being my first year not in a northern state, I think I’ll absolutely have to try Dinosara’s cold steep on this, as I can imagine it will be terrific.

I’m enjoying this one much more then I thought I would. Somewhat eartjy. A bit of hay. Creaminess here and there. Woodsy. A perfect tea for this beautiful fall day.

I can’t “like” anyone’s tea notes. This is irritating me. Whatever browser I use, I can’t “like” anything. GAH.

Back to tea …

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @90C, rinsed, steeped 3 minutes, then steeped 4 minutes.

Both infusions gave me an exquisite tieguanyin, with sharp florals, a touch of cream, faint vegetal notes, even, I thought, some faint and light musk, a light toastiness that just coaxes everything else out a little more, and so much oolong beauty that I have trouble writing about it. This tieguanyun needs, and will reward, your full attention.

Great roasted tieguanyin. It is quite smooth and even a bit creamy in the first cup. Others have noted the smell of incense on the wet leaves, which I detected. I don’t think it carries over into the flavor. There is a slight cooling sensation in the aftertaste. Since this was called a traditional tieguanyin I think expected something a bit toastier. I for a roasted tieguanyin I prefer Rishi Tea’s version.