Premium Grade Tie Guan Yin

This is truly such a surprising tea. It smells like lilac. I have never had tea that smells quite like that. The taste delicate and yet flavorful and buttery. It is a must-try.

Yet another great tea from Mandala.

It’s very sweet and floral with hints of butter and caramel.

Lilacs, lilacs, lilacs. Butter and green peppers. Lovely.

One time when I was a kid, my dad cut a whole bunch of purple and white lilacs off the bushes in our backyard and put them in a big jumbled pile. He asked me to take them up the hill to my mom. I looked down and I’d somehow managed to pick up all the purples in one hand and all the whites in the other. It blew my little mind that this miracle had occurred.

Very pleasant and fragrant. It smells like Easter lilies. Infusions after the first start tasting more and more like cooked spinach, but the fragrance remains.

Ovetime, I’ve become skeptical when tea companies list oolongs as buttery; when I see “buttery” I expect a flavour and texture explosion evoking all the oily, salty-sweet richness of life. Butiki’s ambiguously named “Organic Sparrow Tongue” Oolong always delivered. Some batches of Shan Li Xi deliver (with jam like a delicious, fully loaded scone). This Tie Guan Yin delivers too and its glorious.

I’m internally squeeing right now. I want to yell and to curse all the other Tie Guan Yin oolongs I’ve had, which will now and forever be deemed insufficient. It’s like, after years of being indifferent to Chardonnays, stumbling upon a “butter bomb” Californian Chardonnay and realizing life could be beautiful (I’m sorry Chardonnay purists, I know this preference is wine sacrilege of the highest order). This is a Lilac butter bomb and it’s even better.

Anyways, I’m so grateful for this free sample. I would’ve never ordered this on my own because I thought I was done with Tie Guan Yin varieties. You did right, Mandala!

Now I’m off to play with the rest and see how it holds up to multiple steeps and sessions.

Steep Count: 3 + Rinse. Subsequent steeps taste of lilac cream.

(2017 harvest)

I got this as a sample in my recent order and I am plesantly surprised. I’d tried a Tie Guan Yin from another company and didn’t care for it, but this one is very nice. It has the most pronounced flower smell of any oolong I’ve tried yet,and that comes through in the brewed tea, too, along with an earthy flavor. I haven’t noticed the creamy taste that others have mentioned, but it’s definitely a smooth tea. Looks like I’ll have to give Tie Guan Yins another try!

Thanks, JakeB! I wasn’t really paying attention to how this one was steeped, but it was my first and last of the leaves, so I thought I should make a tasting note for it anyway. Not too much flavor that I noticed, even though it is stored in a nice pouch… and I did wait a while to steep on the first steep. Steeped a teaspoon and a half of the leaves. Hints of peach, I suppose (and I’ve had some fantastic grocery store peaches lately. :D) The second steep isn’t very distinctive either, so I don’t think this is a very worthwhile tasting note.

The leaves were a vibrant green. I brewed in the gaiwan, just under the boil with first two drinkable steeps at 40 secs. Beautiful flowery scent, I think lilac. A mild vegetal taste and buttery. Lovely. The liquor was a pale green. This was a sample included with my order. I’m glad, otherwise I wouldn’t have known about it. I nice surprise. Curious to see how the taste evolves over subsequent steeps.

Floral light tea, perfect for a spring morning or summer evening. Complex floral flavors with each sip.

i thought this tea was good. Thanks for the trade, curlygc!!! I acquired lots of oolong in the trade and TGY was one of them.

It tastes like cocoa butter and lilac. Yesterday, I loved it. This morning when I had my fifth steep (still strong) I didn’t like it as much, but I don’t blame the tea.

Overall, it’s a solid tea that is still strong on the 5th steep, so I look forward to the bit that I have left and how many steeps I can get.