Aged Traditional Anxi Tieguanyin

Trying this a second time (paying more attention), and am definitely enjoying it. A 30-second infusion (with no rinse) gives a very caramelly brew, kind of like a toasted caramel sort of flavour. Very tasty. I was tempted to let the first infusion go for a full minute, but am glad I didn’t – I’m getting a bit of astringency at the end of the sip which is bothering my somewhat-sore throat. I had been craving this tea (inexplicably, as I didn’t really know what it tasted like!) since last night, so my palate is finally satisfied. Hopefully I’ll get to additional infusions tomorrow; it’s past my bedtime!

ETA: Honey, caramel, a bit of chocolate…. this second infusion (30s) is truly delicious. The third infusion (45s) is definitely a bit more watery, and could probably have either used less water or a longer infusion (it also could be that I’m comparing it to this unbelievable second infusion). Either way, this one’s a treat. I’m not getting “tea drunk” the way that other perhaps have, but I’m quite enjoying actually getting these tasty flavours here. There is definitely a dark chocolate undertone and aftertaste in that second infusion for me. Glad I picked up 2 oz. of this stuff, so I’ll be able to enjoy it for a while. Now, I just need the light roast version to produce some magic for me…

ETA again: Whoops! Apparently the fourth infusion can be oversteeped! Yikes! It’s not terrible and I’m getting some interesting notes in here, but it’s kind of bitter. Not sure how long it was left for (5 or so minutes?) but given the relative lack of aroma of the leaves, I assumed they were almost done. Apparently I was wrong. I’m getting a bit of the “ice wine” flavour that I’ve had from Butiki’s Gui Fei oolong, so kind of a rich, dark sweetness (but not really sweet), plus a bit of floral? And a woody/dark kind of background, as previously. Hrm. Maybe I won’t throw those leaves out yet, although I would really like to empty out all my infusers… gotta start reviewing all my Butiki straight teas!

Sipdown #31
Some teas are hard to let go of. You know you can only drink it one more time, & then it’s gone forever…sigh…
I listened to “Time to Say Goodbye”, sung by Bocelli & Brightman, on youtube while drinking some of the steepings of this tea, tears streaming down my face because the song is beautiful, their voices are so beautiful…sigh…farewell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohXI3po8hK0

Ohhh wow.

I have never had a Tieguanyin that tastes so chocolatey! With each sip I take I make sure to breath in deep with my nose. Oh the senses! All my senses are touched and tingling (oh my!). And a touch of caramel! I’ve only just begun with this tea, but it was so good I had to come start writing it down. I never want to forget this experience.

ooo I just smelled the wet leaves. So roasty and smokey, hints of cigar in the smell but not the taste. I could smell this all day – the aroma is hitting the back of my throat and reminding me of my trip to Cuba. Sipping wine and puffing back the most sweet and delicious cigars I’ve ever tasted. I’m also getting some sort of citrus fruit in the smell, like a smokey lime almost. Something spunky.

The taste is all lush though, definitely some floral notes are playing with my buds but it’s like a creamy french dessert. I’m intoxicated! I’m in love.

EDIT: A few (maybe more) cups later and I’m with HyBr1d – I think this is the first tea that has given me a real sense of ChaQi. I’m going to have to try a little more leaf with my puerhs to see what other teas can make me feel this good. To be honest – my face is flushed, I’m feeling an overwhelming sense of calm, but heightened awareness as well. I don’t want to put it into words or over analyze too much, in case it goes away! I’m perfectly content to stay here forever.

Yup this is GOOD! I am totally getting a very light Lime note in the background. I like that.
Its like a cleansing of the palate after the smoky, roasty, caramel flavor hits your mouth then this light zing of a lime flavor comes in and does a little clean up for the saffron and floral after taste to take over!
Have you ever eaten a flower?
I get Spring Mix salad from the store and it has some violets and orchids in it YUMMY! This tastes exactly like that! Fresh and springy yet dark and roasty at the same time!
Perfection!

Second review of the day!

I actually prepared this astounding Tieguanyin in my new Finum brew basket, whic greatly simplified the process of making tea. This first infusion was steeped for 15 seconds in near-boiling water, which resulted in a rather weak infusion, since I didn’t wash the leaves first. This is pretty typical of Tieguanyins that I’ve tried before, so wasn’t discouraged. The flavor was very sweet, a bit like caramel, but since the leaves haven’t really started to open up the flavor is pretty muted. The texture of the tea is very smooth and creamy, which lingers on the tongue for a good three whole minutes, which is also amazing. My other aged Tieguanyin is similar, but this tea just takes everything to a whole new level.

Second cup, 10 second steep. The thing of note here is that the leaves have started to open up, so there falvors are much more intense, with caramel and something akin to chocolate dominating the palate. The texture of the tea is decidedly creamy now, and it lingers for at least three minutes now. I actually can’t resist taking another sip after three minutes, so that experiment is pretty much a bust now. Also, it should be noted that the caramel is actually stronger than the chocolate, resulting in a very sweet cup of tea.

Third cup, I actually lost track of time, so I don’t know how long this one steeped. Even though it’s provbably oversteeped, it’s still sweet and creamy, which is a pleasant surprise. The chocolate flavor is a bit stronger now, which is expected, so there’s no reason to mourn the loss of the caramel flavor, since I’m pretty sure it will be back. All in all, this cup wasn’t the best, but it’s still far better than my other one.

Fourth infusion, 30 seconds. This, this cup is pretty much perfection. Warm, sweet caramel flows through my mouth, leaving behind interesting flavors that are starting to emerge from beneath the chocolate. The delightful flavors dance across the tongue, then move up to the hard palate where they linger for three minutes, after which I can’t tkae it any longer and I have another sip. This, this is like the Platonic ideal of an aged tieguanyin.

Fifth infusion, 1 minute. This is where the flavor is really starting to get complex. There are a bunch of things muddled together, and it’s really hard to make out what everything is. The creaminess is fading, only peaking through at the very beginning of the aftertaste before it wades away into a pleasant tingly sensation on the hard palate. I think there is something a bit citusy present, but I can’t quite put my figer on it…

Sixth and seventh infusions were let to steep until I felt like they were done. They were both very complex, with subtle flavors that never really asserted themselves. There was a hint of citrus, a touch of spice, but other than that, I can’t really say. Regardless, this was an amazing tea, and I’m really glad that David actually sold it to us instead of keeping it to himself. I don’t know if I could have done that…

Music of the Day #2 – Mare Nostrum directed by Jordi Savall

I’m a sucker for good historically-informed perfromances, and this is by the same people as the previous album. This album actually focuses on the Mediteranean Sea, after which the album is titled (Mare Nostrum is the Latin name). The pieces on this album come from as early as Classical Antiquity and as late as 1690, and follow the themse of Mediteranean culture.

Sample – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bIoe8JXhQk

Many thanks to David and the folks at Verdant Tea for including this as a complimentary sample with the Dragonwell pre-order. This smells amazing, there is no mistake that this was charcoal roasted but it smells so much more appetizing than the few I’ve had recently. Also the taste on this one is immediately sweet, like the leaves have been caramelized. This cup evokes chocolate covered raisins (though not the texture) and spinach pies, the good kind with the thin pastry layers and creme brûlée and scotch and smoke and everything that is good in this world!

This is a connoisseur’s tea and blows everything that I’ve recently been drinking out of the water. By all that is holy if Verdant gets a hold of more of this tea, buy it! I wish I had more of this to share and yet I am taking a break in my brewing right now. Do you know how sometimes when you get a new tea you cannot rush to the kettle to reinfuse it fast enough, either because it is so amazing you must have another steep or because it isn’t quite what you expected and you are hoping the next infusion give you something more I’m having the opposite problem with this tea, it is amazing and is giving me exactly what I want but I find myself super satiated by it’s decadentness. I will have to come back to it later this evening as I do want to get to the middle and late steepings to discover more. But oh my goodness so full and satisfied!

This will be a short review, with a more detailed tasting coming after Oct 14th. It’s the end of the season where I work, and that means I’m basically on every day :( Luckily I have 5 months to recoup, and will be drinking TONS of tea!

This is my favorite tea from Verdant. Don’t get me wrong, I have loved all the teas I’ve tried, but this aged TGY is a stand out in my mind. #2 would be Laoshan Black, and while its not fair to compare an oolong and black tea, my preference lies with this aged jem! Subtle, but profound…it may be oxymoronic, but this tea has a subtle, yet very complex taste, one that builds over multiple steepings, and lingers on the palate for longer than anything I’ve tried, short of puer. The tea is somewhat floral, but not overtly so, it’s balanced by a caramelly, roasted flavor. Also, I taste a mineral, yancha taste that I normally get from wuyi oolongs, interesting since this is an anxi oolong!

But the most memorable quality of this tea is chaqi. To be honest, before this tea I really had no idea what it meant to be “tea drunk.” I knew what it meant after my 3rd gongfu type 4oz steeping! Hello clarity! Hello calm! It was so noticeable, that I’m surprised I’ve never had the feeling before…and so pleasant, as well!

Well, I’ve rambled a small post into a long post…all without having this tea in front of me! It was that memorable! Long live my 4oz of aged TGY, you are by far my favorite, and will be heartbroken when you are gone :(
That is, until David finds another…

I got a sample of this with my last Verdant order, and had trouble describing it. Very different from an un-aged Tieguanyin! If I were tasting this blind, I probably would have thought it was a roasted oolong, but a very rocky/mineral tasting one. It did give me a little bit of the happy energy that pu’erh often does though. A very interesting experience, certainly :)

Sipdown (145)!

This is a queued tasting note.

Finished this one off more than a week ago; I had my Dad over for tea so we shared the session. It was nice ‘cause it meant I got to use one of the larger gaiwans I own that’s just gorgeous but doesn’t get frequent use because of its size.

He actually picked out the tea we drank as well; just through listening to me go on and on about tea and through my sharing samples with him over the last three years whenever I’ve visited he’s actually kind of honed in on an area that fascinates him and which he sort of explores on his own now too; aged oolongs!

Anyway, we drank about eight infusions total although there were a couple in the middle that only he drank and some near the end that only I drank so neither of us got to experience the ‘full’ flavour evolution as this was brewed out. I’m too lazy to write paragraphs right now – so here are the jot notes. Thankfully I took relatively detailed ones this session…

- Starts off roasty, woody, nutty, sweet/honey
- This is the primary flavour for infusions one and two
- Almost a light caramel tone?
- Floral undertones develop after initial infusions
- Grassy finish which became stronger in later infusions
- Latest infusions had soft peach notes
- Rich, full bodied, and smooth
- Flavour deteriorates gracefully and quite gradually as the tea is brewed out

Yeah…this one just tastes roasty to me. I don’t understand…it’s like whenever I try aged oolongs, they just end up roasted. And everyone’s tasting notes are seem to have all the flavors in them. How do I not get any of those teas? XD
I have no idea…Oh well…Maybe they are just not for me.
Thanks for the sample, Darby!