Hand Picked Autumn Tieguanyin (2012)

Tea type
Oolong Tea
Ingredients
Oolong Tea Leaves
Flavors
Butter, Cut Grass, Honeysuckle, Orchid, Apricot, Bread, Cedar, Cream, Flowers, Honey, Mineral, Orchids, Berries, Fir, Grass
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by CHAroma
Average preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 1 min, 45 sec 11 oz / 316 ml

Currently unavailable

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

From Our Community

1 Image

3 Want it Want it

27 Own it Own it

  • +12

65 Tasting Notes View all

From Verdant Tea

"A unique and tangy batch of Gande Tieguanyin with notes of apricot and key lime pie…"

The most sought after flavor profiles in Tieguanyin tend to be creamy and floral, but on our last trip to China, our Tieguanyin expert Wang Huimin was lamenting the rarity of tangy Tieguanyin. When she was younger, more farmers were working to coax a potent tangy edge from their leaves. We asked Wang Huimin if she could find an example we could share before the floral spring harvest comes in and she was ecstatic.

This Gande village (Anxi) Tieguanyin has a rich, tangy smell like fresh-baked apricot bread. The first steepings have some of the spicy citrus notes of heicha (dark tea), complimented by creamy undertones. The initial burst of citrus leaves a sweet and cool aftertaste.

The tea really picks up in the second and third infusions with a thicker body, tangier orange notes, and a candy-like sweetness similar to key lime pie with graham cracker crust and whipped cream. In later steepings, a darker woody or nutty flavor begins to come through with fruity apple notes.

This is a departure from our usual saffron-cream orchid profile Tieguanyin from the Bi family, meant as an intriguing counterpoint to demonstrate the diversity of flavor even within a single Tieguanyin-producing village. Take the opportunity to try something different before the late spring and early summer bring back the rich florals for which Tieguanyin is so well-known.

About Verdant Tea View company

Company description not available.

65 Tasting Notes

70
27 tasting notes

This is it: The last tea in my Verdant sampler. Having never had a Tieguanyin, I left this one languishing in the box for last. The other styles were familiar; this one was saved as the capstone.

Dry leaves smell like alfalfa and resemble rabbit pellets (either the kind they consume or the kind they produce). And that’s where the strangeness of this tea begins.

Having spent the last year drinking almost nothing but green teas, I expected there to be at least a hint of vegetation in my first cup. It’s almost never that a tea smells that strongly of grass and doesn’t brew up with some kind of a grassy note. But the Tieguanyin? Nothing. The initial 25 second steep yielded a cup of apricot and lime. And while I don’t enjoy apricots at all, that flavor is actually quite satisfying in the context of this tea. Perhaps I’ll go buy some apricots and see if they’re better than I remember.

A second steep at 30 seconds causes the leaves to expand to their fullest, exploding into an indistinguishable mass of greenery. The aroma while pouring off the tea is strong orchid. The flavors shift a little here; the apricot note becomes strong, punchier, briefly disappearing under a layer of heavy cream before re-emerging and mellowing out into lime and toasted graham cracker. (I avoid reading Verdant’s notes before tasting, but as weird as it sounds, it’s quite clear where they came up with “graham”. It’s impossible not to identify.) There’s an initial meatiness to the flavor profile when sipped that I can’t quite put my finger on. We’ll go with the generic “brothy” and “buttery.” Don’t care for that note, no matter how brief? Slurp and bubble. Continuing this tea’s strange complexity, that note disappears entirely when well-aerated, and orchid instead appears out of nowhere.

Unfortunately I ran out of filtered water before I could make a third cup. I’ll definitely be enjoying more of this after a trip to the store.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

77
417 tasting notes

This was a nice tea to end my day with. Maybe I just don’t have a real taste for Tieguanyin that is this green. I find that the floral tastes are too overpowering for me to have this tea alone. I do, however, love this tea with a granny smith apple.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 30 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

95
23 tasting notes

This tea is incredible! It’s fresh, sweet, floral, and creamy. I brewed it gong fu style for three people – one of whom had never seen loose leaf tea before, let alone a gaiwan. (She converted to loose leaf tea after drinking this – yay!)

The tea brews up golden and smells a lot like honeysuckle. Drinking it brought back memories of tasting the sweet nectar of honeysuckle for all of us. I look forward to future gong fu sessions with this vibrant tea.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88
152 tasting notes

I’ve had this a while and enjoyed it, brewed again to review. Delicious tea, creamy, young greens and orchid-honeysuckle. The orchid isn’t punchy, it’s soft, but still highly flavorful. I like the process of searching for flavors, but even more I enjoy when it’s all right out there and you can just relax and enjoy the cup without too much work!

I love a good floral tieguanyin and this is among the best I’ve had the pleasure of drinking. Gracious sample from Verdant, thank you!

Flavors: Butter, Cut Grass, Honeysuckle, Orchid

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

77
333 tasting notes

Another tea from my ancient Verdant sampler. I can tell this is a good tea, but light TGY is emphatically not my thing. Those honeysuckle notes send me running every time, and this is no exception. I pretty much knew this would be the case going into it, but I couldn’t resist trying just in case. At least my curiosity is satisfied now, right?

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

652 tasting notes

I drank this, it was good but I’m definitely more of a black tea kind of girl. It’s a little delicate for brash, in yo’ face ol’ me!

I spent the entire time trying to remember if tieguanyin was oolong or green, haha.
It’s a bit floral.

Courtney

It took me a while, but I always come back around to black. Now I’ve just accepted it and my cupboard is almost all black teas haha.

Terri HarpLady

I’m with you on the preference for black teas, although I like a variety of greens & oolongs too, including tieguanyin, which I think of as a green oolong.

ohfancythat

I figure my justification for “trying all the teas!!!” Is to eventually reach such a conclusion:)

I definitely prefer blacks! There’s a place and time for oolongs and greens but black is the easy choice for me

Courtney

Yes, I have a few greens in my cupboard but I’m also all about “low maintenance” teas AKA steep at boiling haha!

ohfancythat

Exactly! Default setting!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

1711 tasting notes

I’m not 100% sure I have the right year for this tea, but I’m reviewing it here anyways!
When I opened the bag and smelled this tea I thought “Whoa, green and super grassy!”. It wasn’t really a good omen since I’m really not in the mood for super grassy right now, but I decided to try it anyways. Once steeped it was really mellow! That green edge is gone and the tea is nice and mellow. It is light, slightly sweet with no green tang to it. The aftertaste has the faintest tingle on the back sides of my tongue like anise would leave, but much less intense. At one point in the aftertaste it is similar to the aftertaste of having had swam in the ocean. It is the point where you are back on the beach laying down, listening to the sound of the ocean and birds, relaxing and the faint taste of the ocean is still lingering. Then the taste is gone and I’m brought back to the reality of standing in my kitchen reviewing a tea on my computer on an overcast day… far from any ocean. Oh reality, you cruel beast!
My preferences lay with flavored teas, but if I was in the mood for something more basic yet still complex, I would reach for this tea!

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 1 min, 45 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80
172 tasting notes

good, normally do not like oolong.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

89
49 tasting notes

Really pleased with this one. Tasted fresh and vegetal in a good way.

Preparation
Boiling

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

76
53 tasting notes

Among the tastier TGYs I’ve had. Resteeps really well, and those leaves expanded tenfold! Must remember to write more notes later. I want to use more leaf next time, but these mightymorphin leaves might push the lid off.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.