This review is for the spring 2018 harvest. I bought this tea as a possible alternative to Yunnan Sourcing’s premium Tie Guan Yin. (I also bought their fancy TGY, which is a noticeable step down in quality.) I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 7, 10, 12, 16, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.
Dry, the tea smells like lilacs, orchids, cookies, and grass. The first steep has notes of grass, orchids, lilacs, other flowers, cream, cookies, and coriander. The taste is pleasant, but is grassier than regular TGY. The next three steeps have citrus and herbaceous notes, though again, the grass predominates. The profile is similar throughout the next few steeps until it fades into grass and veggies around the ninth infusion.
If I use a lot of leaf, this tea comes close to the premium Tie Guan Yin, but ultimately, it’s not as interesting or satisfying. I guess you really do get what you pay for, at least in this instance.
Flavors: Citrus, Cookie, Coriander, Cream, Floral, Grass, Herbaceous, Orchids, Vegetal
