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This is a free sample with my teaware purchase. Woot! The dry leaf aroma is heavenly. I love green oolongs. The leaves are tightly furled and dark green. I’ve only ever had Tieguanyin brewed Western style, so I am going to make this in my gaiwan!

I did a quick rinse and then a 3 second steep. The liquor is a pale yellow. The brewed tea aroma is salty. It’s so hot it’s hard to taste. It tastes slightly salty too but mostly it’s green and a bit grassy. It’s naturally sweet. I probably should be straining this because little bits of leaves are getting in my cup. I’m also finding it difficult to handle because it’s so hot. I’m wearing a rubber kitchen glove to hold the cups. :P

The second infusion is a bit more floral. I’m getting lilac I think. The leaves have unfurled quite a bit and some have long stems attached. Third infusion is a lot more developed now. I’m getting a lovely sweet grass flavor that’s surprisingly similar to Long Jing. The lilac is more pronounced as well. No longer a pale yellow, the liquor is getting progressively darker with each infusion. There’s also a bit of a metallic tang to it that I’ve tasted in past harvests of Verdant Tea’s Autumn Tieguanyin.

I’m still making quite the mess with these Gongfu brewing sessions. There’s just no easy way to do this without getting water everywhere. This is a lovely tea but I don’t think anything special is added to it by Gongfu brewing. I think I’ll stick to Western style brewing in the future. In fact, I think these leaves have a long way to go. I’m going to switch over to Western style brewing now! I seem to recall getting as many as four Western style infusions out of it in the past.

This really is lovely! I enjoy floral green oolongs, although maybe not as much as I used to. This one is less creamy and more metallic than some others I’ve tried. Not to say those are negative things, but they are worth mentioning. I actually don’t think this is creamy at all. I’m sure this tea would have been even better when it was just picked. As it is, these leaves are from the Autumn 2014 harvest and I’m enjoying them in Summer 2015. Phew, someone hit me with a tired stick! I’m off to bed!

Flavors: Floral, Green, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 2 tsp 5 OZ / 147 ML
Tealizzy

Sounds like you need a tea table! The messy part is fun with one of those. I love mine!

CHAroma

I do! They seem to be pretty expensive though. :/

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Tealizzy

Sounds like you need a tea table! The messy part is fun with one of those. I love mine!

CHAroma

I do! They seem to be pretty expensive though. :/

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Entering the sweet blissful world of tea aromas!

Having discovered this website at the end of July 2011, I’m so excited to share my tea adventures with all of you! I grew up with my grandmother serving Twining’s English Breakfast with cream and sugar.

But on a trip to Seattle in 2010, I stumbled into a Chinese teashop and tried my first oolong tea. I was forever changed! I embarked on a startling new love for green and white teas.

With a world of teas to discover, I was inspired to keep a tea journal to record my thoughts and new favorites. Let’s get brewing!

My ratings are completely subjective and 100% my opinion. All ratings are given in relation to each other (ie. teas are rated in the order of my enjoyment of them). Therefore, my ratings will constantly change as I try more teas.

I love swapping!!! If you see something in my cupboard you’d like to try, just send me a message. If you’d like to trade, anything on my shopping list will do or feel free to send something else entirely. I’m willing to try almost anything (although I’m not really a fan of honeybush, red rooibos, pu’erh, Lapsang Souchong, & banana-flavored teas).

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Maryland, USA

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