Dark Roast Tieguanyin

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Oolong Tea Leaves
Flavors
Almond, Apple, Dry Grass, Floral, Hay, Honey, Mushrooms, Roasted, Toffee
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Erik Dabel
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 15 sec 11 g 17 oz / 493 ml

Currently unavailable

We don't know when or if this item will be available.

From Our Community

1 Image

0 Want it Want it

6 Own it Own it

6 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I drank this tea a few days ago but got distracted and didn’t take good notes, so I drank it again today, with my family, and took better notes. Prepared with 6g of tea to about 5 oz. 195 water. 1...” Read full tasting note
  • “Gong fu: Hay and white mushroom (enoki — really delicate, not fungal) in the first steep. 2-3 were grassy; I picked up a tiny floral or light fruit, like apple. Some astringency in the fourth;...” Read full tasting note
    70
  • “Dry dark emerald leaf ball with a scent of fresh mowed hay. Brewed up to a dark amber with scents of butter and gardenia. Soup has a full nutty, caramel flavor with a hint of florals and sweetness....” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “Finally got through the loads of tea sitting on my shelf, at least to the point I could finally warrant a new order. (down to 5 greens, 2 whites, the last bits of a Pu-erh, and some samples is...” Read full tasting note
    88

From Red Blossom Tea Company

Our Dark Roast Tieguanyin is a testament to the rewards that come from restraint and patience. It’s also a brilliantly delicious tea.

Harvested in Anxi County, Fujian Province in Spring 2011, the leaf is 30% oxidized, first by bruising the leaves in a bamboo drum and then allowing them to rest and gradually wither. The rest time enables the conversion of catechins into bioflavonoids while enriching the color of the liquor. We then asked the tea maker to finish the tea using a traditional loose roll and roast the tea in a way that does not leave too strong of a final impression.

Once in our hands, we give the tea its finishing roast – tuning the temperature and roast time to impart an extraordinarily robust character to the tea, but doing it in such a way to highlight its natural honeyed character. It takes quite a few patient hours to roast the tea to perfection. But the end result – rich nuttiness with hints of stone fruit, caramel and honey – is worth every minute.

About Red Blossom Tea Company View company

Company description not available.

6 Tasting Notes

14 tasting notes

I drank this tea a few days ago but got distracted and didn’t take good notes, so I drank it again today, with my family, and took better notes.

Prepared with 6g of tea to about 5 oz. 195 water. 1 minute infusions after a 5 second rinse.
First notes on the nose were of a pleasant campfire and a bit nutty. Strong floral.

The first taste of this tea and I remembered what I liked so much about it. A smooth long finish that tastes like toffee. It’s what inspired me to buy this tea and sure enough, it was there!
Second cup was very grassy and somewhat bitter. I let the infusion go to about 1 1/2 minutes by accident so I wondered if that is why the bitter tannin taste came out.

Third cup was even more bitter. I found myself with an internal struggle on wether or not to drink my cup as I LOVE the aftertaste of this tea but I wasn’t sure it was worth the bitter tea to be drank to get it. I ended up drinking the tea and have been rewarded with a lingering aftertaste that is still present while I write this.

So now the question is, do I recommend this tea? I’ve stopped using the number rating system for a couple of reasons. 1, it’s hard to use on an iPad. I can’t get to a specific number, only a ballpark and that doesn’t seem fair. 2, I don’t want my wacky newcomer opinion to skew teas ratings AND in situations like this, I’ve got no idea what to go with. I can’t give it 90 for the fabulous finish and 50 for the bitter grass all in the same review so better to just write out my experience and let the reader decide how and if to be influenced.

That being said, I decided to be my polite American self and recommend it although, I’m really 50/50 on this one.

I’d welcome any suggestions on how to avoid the grassy bitterness if it’s possible. Without that, this tea is wonderful in my humble opinion.

Leafhopper

Some roasted teas are just bitter and grassy, or you might not like this flavour profile. (I tend to avoid roasted teas because they often taste one dimensional to me, though others get more out of them.) You might try shorter steeps of 30 or 45 seconds or so to see if that mitigates the bitterness while retaining the pleasant aftertaste.

Cameron B.

I would say if you’re using gongfu parameters in terms of tea:water ratio, your steep times seem quite long. Generally after the rinse you would start with quite short steeps (10-15s) and gradually increase the length with each steep.

PamelaOry

Thanks Leafhopper! I came back to this tea a few hours later and tried again and the bitterness had subsided! Had two more infusions with the pleasant aftertaste and no (or very little) bitterness. It must be magic tea. I will try the shorter infusions too.

PamelaOry

Thanks Cameron. I’ve been a bit confused as the sellers seem to be recommending 1-2 minute steeps and so I’m trying to follow directions but am figuring out that they don’t always work. Yesterday, I shortened my steeps but today I was preparing for family so wanted to make it “correctly” so it would be good. Lol! That back fired. I will try much shorter steeps next time.

Cameron B.

That’s interesting, obviously if that’s their recommendation for this tea it makes sense to follow it. But I would say if you’re finding it bitter, shortening the steep is a good thing to try.

Kaylee

You could also try cold brewing it – sometimes that can cut the bitterness of a tea as well.

Leafhopper

I’m glad the tea worked out for you! I’d still consider experimenting with shorter steeps to see if you like that profile better.

PamelaOry

I’ve been confused in part because I think they are putting western style brew instructions on their teas but in the product videos etc. they are promoting gong fu brewing? I’m starting to get more comfortable following my instincts and suggestions from the group. It makes total sense. This is the second tea I’ve had bitterness with and was brewing longishly.

Kaylee, I hadn’t thought of that with this tea, great idea! I’ll try it.
Im definitely going to shorten my brew times and try again. I think I’ll dig out the honey orchid and give it a go again too. Thanks guys!

Martin Bednář

I try to follow vendor’s instructions at first too, but if it is too bitter — shortening time of steep certainly helps. Leafhopper says they taste onedimensional to them and yet I have to disagree greatly. But of course, as others said, you might not like this flavour profile or tea itself. There can be “same-same, but different” teas as well. Consider my head-to-head ratings of Uva teas for instance.

PamelaOry

Martin yes, I see what you mean. Teas can be very similar and still somehow different. Maybe a different harvest, or different finishing or processing. And it can be the difference between yay, or nay.

Michelle

Tea ratings are so subjective; I would rate them on if you would purchase again or not. Or if you are happy just to try it and would swap it with another tea that someone else might enjoy more. There are certainly some beloved teas here on steepster, but there are plenty more that some folks like and some do not!

PamelaOry

Good point Michelle. I should start noting if I’d like to swap certain teas, as I’m itching to get to swap in general!

ashmanra

The Teahouseghost on youtube talks about letting the tea tell you the time and temperature it likes, judging by the aroma when you first start preparing it. I use that method sometimes. When the water hits the leaves, I check the aroma and if ti is super strong or bitter smelling, it gets less time and lower temp. His videos are pretty helpful. It is So Han Fan of West China Tea House.

Cameron B.

I’ve gotten lazier and lazier with my gongfucha ha ha, now I don’t time anything and just judge when to pour based on the color. XP

PamelaOry

Ashmanra- that sounds super interesting, I will have to check out his videos. It makes sense though as even within the same type, it seems the tea has varying preferences.
Cameron- lol! Is it laziness or just your mastery of the process coming through? ;)

beerandbeancurd

What a great conversation. I am quite new to gong fu but haven’t really embraced the scientific method… I know my first few steeps generally fall out as guesstimates of immediate/10secs/15-20 secs/30ish… if something starts washing out, I start increasing time more generously, etc. There are so many teas and temperatures and times that it makes my head spin. I’ll be off now to check out Teahouseghost and justify (er… refine!) my willy-nilliness. :D

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

70
391 tasting notes

Gong fu:
Hay and white mushroom (enoki — really delicate, not fungal) in the first steep. 2-3 were grassy; I picked up a tiny floral or light fruit, like apple. Some astringency in the fourth; everything is so subtle and washed out, I’m a little surprised this is red label. I keep getting fruit on the nose when I let it sit for a minute, then it flutters away in the sip. More astringency and some grass on the last steeps.

Thoroughly “meh” for me. Most everything I’ve had from Red Blossom so far tastes very watery right out of the gate. Maybe this is the “clean” they describe in their mission…? I don’t know, I’m just not falling in love.

Western brew:
The elusive almond was more present in the nose here; nutty like boiled almonds, not amaretto. There’s some honey also, which rounds out the bottom of the nose… much easier to detect here, even though everything is still quite subtle. Hay, brown grass in the mouth; I don’t taste the almond and honey so much as I smell them. This feels like an everyday restaurant drinker, not a red label adventure. White mushrooms again.

Eh.

Flavors: Almond, Apple, Dry Grass, Floral, Hay, Honey, Mushrooms

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80
188 tasting notes

Dry dark emerald leaf ball with a scent of fresh mowed hay. Brewed up to a dark amber with scents of butter and gardenia. Soup has a full nutty, caramel flavor with a hint of florals and sweetness. Very smooth and a long finish would lead to this being anyone’s every day tea.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 2 min, 30 sec 7 g 6 OZ / 180 ML
curlygc

I need to try this one! I sure do love a dark roast TGY.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88
240 tasting notes

Finally got through the loads of tea sitting on my shelf, at least to the point I could finally warrant a new order. (down to 5 greens, 2 whites, the last bits of a Pu-erh, and some samples is just not enough to live on…)

So, here we go, the first in a new order from the good folks at Red Blossom Tea Company!

I love a good Tieguanyin. A student of mine went to China and brought me back one of the best teas I have ever tasted, so this tea does have a bit to live up to.

Following the directions on Red Blossom’s website, I used 14 grams of leaves in my 32 ounce Bodum Assam teapot, rinsed, and then tumbled 200 degree water and steeped the brew for 2:30.

The scent is the first thing that hits you, and it is a good one. Just a bit of a roast sensation topping off a great, dark, malty base. The color is a bit deceiving, it looks lighter than it tastes and feels.

The taste… Damn. Nice and malty, with hints of almonds and toffee. The website says honey as well, thinking about it, yeah, it’s there, not sure I would have noticed that if it wasn’t on my mind.

This will make an EXCELLENT late autumn tea, sipping as the air turns brisk and the temps start to drop. If I have any left by then, of course!

Overall, this is a damn good Anxi Oolong.

-E

Flavors: Almond, Honey, Roasted, Toffee

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 30 sec 14 g 32 OZ / 946 ML
scribbles

Love dark roast oolongs. This sounds really good!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

65
3 tasting notes

Sweet, nutty, garden with wild grass and lemon finish.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.