Tie-Guan-Yin Oolong First Grade (ZO80)

Finally got it right! Don’t give up people. It is hard to get it to taste right (at least it was for me), but when you do, man is it good! A slight nutty taste and milky. Love it.

If anyone is curious, Tie Guan Yin Oolong is by far my favorite tea. I first discovered it my freshman year of high school when I worked at a coffee and tea shop, but at that time it was sold as Iron Goddess of Mercy Oolong and it took me a year or two to realize they were the same tea. Tie Guan Yin has the amazing properties to soothe my spirits and body whenever they are off, which is perfect because today I am certainly not on top of my game.

When I find a new tea store the first thing I do is look at its Oolongs ‘does it have Tie Guan Yin…does it have Tie Guan Yin I can afford?’ are the questions I ask. Alas I am but a poor tea lover and Tie Guan Yin is the most expensive tea in the world. Today we are exploring the ins and outs of Upton Tea Import’s Tie Guan Yin First Grade (not to be mistaken for their second grade, special grade, seasonal, and black) from China (and I am assuming Fujian). One of my biggest complaints with a lot of tea companies (Upton is sadly included in this one) is lack of information, what time of year was this picked? What region? Traditional or Green? It is the little things that my information obsessed mind craves and without these facts I have to try to solve the puzzle on my own.

The aroma is wonderful, a mix of orchids and chestnuts mixed with a gentle warmth and spice. The spice is not strong and is more of a memory of an aroma after the others have faded. The chestnut aroma gives the tea a sweet and roasted quality that is intoxicating when mixed with the floral notes. Overall the aroma is heady and lulls me into a relaxed state.

Once brewed the aroma just fills up the area…and I was sitting outside when I brewed this tea! In all seriousness I popped inside for a moment and when I came back the whole porch smelled of roasting chestnuts, orchids, honeysuckles, sweetness, and a hint of almonds. The roasted notes gave it an almost Hojicha quality. The liquid smelled much the same with more floral and less chestnut, and the liquid is beautiful.

The taste is ever so slightly honey sweet with a gentle floral touch. There is also a very vegetal taste to the teas as well, especially as it cools, similar to the way green bean water tastes. Only very mildly roasted tasting which was a tiny bit disappointing since I prefer my Tie Guan Yins to be roasty more than green, but the teas is still very good! It is also noticeably mild and relaxing, which is perfect for me at the moment. I think my biggest over all opinion is it reminds me of late spring time with blooming flowers and the air is warm, giving everything that sun kissed taste. I certainly recommend and look forward to trying all the other Tie Guan Yin Oolongs from Upton Teas.

The dry leaves smell wonderful! Sort of a plum/berry and green tea. The wet leaves smell of barley.

Steep 1 (5min):
Color: Light yellow/green.
Taste: A bit of honey like sweetness, fruit like back note (sort of apricot and apple), also the toasty barely-like note I like in oolongs (Da Hong Pao), but lighter. Crisp finish, though not dry.

Steep 2 (8min – distracted by work):
Color: Deep yellow/gold
Taste: Very forgiving to oversteeping. The fruit/honey note is now just a background note. Wonderfully toasty though. Very good TGY oolong

Steep 3 (5-6 min): Lighter toasty. Maybe one more steep in the leaves.

Steep 4 (6-7 min): Little bit of the sweetness back because the leaves are about done. Quite good.

From the dry leaves, I got a whiff of raspberries along with the mossy and mineral, it smells really delicious. The brewed tea smells a tiny bit toasty, a bit vegetal, and a bit spicy with the mineral-y in the first steep. Forgot to time the second steep (oops). Still good. After the third steep, the leaves smelled entirely of spinach, but the brew was less vegetal in flavor. Mostly sweet and spice.

I don’t know what chestnuts taste/smell like, so I cannot comment on that. But there was a more nuttiness that came out for me after the first steep.

I’ve put this tea head-to-head with the similarly priced oolongs from the company, and this one is my favorite for the price.

Smells pretty vegetal, like boiled greens. I don’t detect a lot of that on taste though. Kind of roasty and rich compared to other similar oolongs I’ve had. One of the better ones in fact; I’m really enjoying each sip. It is reasonably priced at the time of this review. This is something I could drink on a regular basis…note to self: I need to revisit this now that it has been several years since I wrote this review and my taste has been refined.