Tie Guan Yin “Iron Goddess” Oolong Tea

I really love oolongs, especially strong and highly oxidised ones, so I was excited to try a few of Teavivre’s.

The Tie Guan Yin has very green leaves, a strong grassy scent (very much like a pure green), and a very solid aroma unsteeped.

Brewed the aromas become very light and airy with lots of floral notes. The brew becomes pale yellow in color. I only steeped for 4 minutes, as I did not want to risk too much astringency.

I was very impressed and surprised by the flavor. I expected the tea to taste much more like the dried leaves smelled, but it was quite herbaceous and fruity – and just lovely all around. It would have still been delicious had it been stronger, but this was perfect for what was craving at the time.

I will be steeping this a couple more minutes next time to see if I get the stronger flavors without too much more astringency. I might also add a tiny bit of honey to go with some of the fruity notes of the tea.

All around, this was an exemplary tea that I will certainly be drinking again. As someone with a higher oxidation preference, I was delighted at how much I enjoyed this very green oolong.

Oh noes, my sample is running out.

I complete forgot I already reviewed this, so when I drank this yesterday – nearly after 7 months I initially reviewed it – I drank it as if it were completely new to me.

Brewed semi-Western style with a gongfu glass tea pot. No Rinse. Steeping times: 15, 10, 20, 20, 30, 45, 60, 75.

Time didn’t seem fair on this at first. Considering it’s been more than half a year, the dry leaf smelled soapy. Got a little worried. But the wet leaf aroma and everything after was just fine: a garden with flowers of numerous varieties of flowers. It only takes two steepings for the leaves to completely unfurl. The liquor is pale yellow, clear, and full-bodied. The texture starts out as thin but becomes thicker as the session goes on. The first infusion tastes like the wet leaf aroma and of summer air. It also has a stonefruit aftertaste. Infusions 3-5 are more basically more flavorful and more leaf-like. The floral note returns in the last infusions.

I still think this isn’t terribly complex – even less so seven months ago (tropical smoothie??) – and that it’s very nice to drink on any given day of the year, especially shortly after the summer solstice to set up a mood. A good beginner oolong, and a beginner Tie Guan Yin. I’m not changing the rating, though if I were to, it would be 80-81.

This is the other oolong I ordered from Teavivre and it is also quite good. It has tightly rolled, dark green leaves that smell very floral. The color of the brewed tea is a spring green and very floral. There is also a strong mineral component to the taste with a buttery background, finishing with just a tiny hint of spinach. Initially, there is a creamy mouthfeel feel only at the finish, but the creaminess builds as you sip until it is both more intense and present throughout the sip. Another great green oolong from Teavivre, although I do slightly prefer the Anxi Monkey King TGY

The dark green gnarled nuggets of Teavivre Ti Guan Yin Iron Goddess reminded me of a couple of milk oolongs I’ve tried recently—both in appearance and scent, so I was naturally looking forward to a scrumptious pot. The liquor brewed golden yellow, and the taste was much less creamy than Milk Oolong, but still very smooth. Initially I thought that I preferred the Iron Goddess to the Monkey Picked Ma Liu Mie, but then I changed my mind.

I noticed the difference in texture especially in the second infusion. Still, this Iron Goddess tastes good. I probably need to drink some more of these oolongs before I can decide which ones I need to stock…

(7/29/14)

This was a sample included in a Teavivre order.

In general I prefer darker oolongs to the less oxidized ones, but this is quite alright. It reminds me very much of a green tea. I rinsed the leaves for 10sec before brewing. The first steep was 55sec and was very vegetal. It made me think of buttered peas and spinach. A strong umami flavor was present. The end of each sip was floral and buttery, with a silky smooth finish. A second steep (1min 40) yielded a more flowery, buttery cup of pale yellow tea. It was a bit sweeter with that characteristic TGY flavor. A sweet, vanilla cupcake taste clung to my mouth after each swallow. Lovely flavor, and quite strong with such short steeps. (I couldn’t imagine steeping for 3 minutes!) I think if you have a preference for green oolongs or TGY you would really enjoy this tea. As for me, not so much. I could have kept steeping the leaves for several more infusions but two cups were enough for me!

The Leaf: Nice dark green and light green mixed leaves. The scent is quite strong and very nice; sweet, slightly flowery, and fruity. well curled and rolled up.

The Brew: The liquor is a nice whitish-green, but crystal clear. The aroma is quite apparent with fresh sweet notes and almost a melon character to it. The taste is not strong, but not light either. It’s almost as if I’m drinking very light, less sweet, melon juice, maybe with a hint of cucumber.

I drink all of my teas cold.

Yet another tea I forgot I even had. This is starting to become a trend. Not sure how I missed the giant bag! this was in…but whatever…

I hadn’t opened these little suckers from their vacuum-sealed packages since I got them. And that was back in 2011. So, in theory, they’ve been accidentally “aging” since then – airtight. Three years ago. That’s a long time to forget about a tea.

The results?

Straight butter and lotus blossoms. I’m not usually a fan of the Iron Goddess, but given three years to cool down and she’s as sweet as the rest of ‘em. I should forget about teas more often…but I don’t think I’d have the patience for it.

Picture: http://instagram.com/p/lspFDtkneC/#

Light Oolong that is yellow in color and has a steamed veggie and floral aroma. This tea has a complex flavor that is sweet and floral with a pleasant aftertaste.

I’m addicted to Tie Guan Yin. The first sip is always hard, especially if you brew it more than 6 minutes.
The second sip, mild. but afterwards it will gets hard again.
I’m not preferring sweet inside this tea since it will spoil the tea itself (note this is my opinion).
oolong has quite enormous amount of caffeine.
Tie Kuan Yin is always best served hot.