Competition Grade Tie Guan Yin Oolong tea of Gande Village

Disappointing for a supposedly “Competition Grade” tea. I got the Spring 2022 harvest of this tea from my recent YS order, and it’s decent but I expected much better. Beautiful leaves, the most vibrant green leaves of a TGY I’ve seen, rich wet leaf aroma, and beautiful liquour. Flavour was decent, reminds me a lot of vegetable soup with a punch of florality and minerality here and there. Texture was outstanding, verdant and smooth. Character was average though, with little steep variability and a unidimensional profile. Finish & aftertaste was average to decent, smooth and juicy with a lingering vegetal note to the tea. Cha-qi is almost non-existent and steep longevity is poor to average.

Overall, the tea isn’t up to par with its title really. I’d recommend it only by the basis of objectivity when it comes to the standard of the tea, but in relation to its price and its given prestige, sorry but this doesn’t cut it.

I don’t think I’m the only one who’s happy that 2020 is ending. Like many of you, I’ll be spending the holidays alone. I was going to get together with my family, but the widespread lockdown and rising case counts in Ontario made us change our plans at the last minute. With things feeling less than festive, I’ve decided to dip into my tiny stash of pricy, aspirational teas that I’ve been hoarding for several years. I always worry that I won’t appreciate these treasures, or conversely, that they’ll ruin me for all the good but not great tea I can afford to drink regularly. Nonetheless, I’ll be sampling some of these teas throughout the holidays.

This green Tie Guan Yin is from spring 2016. I steeped my entire 7 g sample in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 7, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma of these still green leaves is of citrus, orchid, cream, baked bread, and apple. The first steep has notes of orange, apricot, orchid, baked bread, cream, violet, lilac, honeysuckle, grass, apple, butter, and herbs (Eastkyteaguy says parsley, and I agree). The second steep adds honey and a pungent note of zucchini. The third gives me more lilac and orchid, as well as gardenia, sweet pea, custard, grapefruit, peach, melon, peas, spinach, and minerals. (That peachy aftertaste alone is enough of a reason to buy this tea!) I love how the fruit, florals, and veggies are so balanced.

In the next few steeps, the tea gets less fruity, with the florals, veggies, umami, herbs, and creamy sweetness balancing out. However, I still get those apple/melon/stonefruit notes if I look for them. I also get some pepper and metallic notes, with a lemon-like tang. There’s a pleasant sourness by steep seven. The tea keeps becoming more pungent and vegetal, but is still surprisingly balanced and enjoyable until the end of the session.

This is easily the best Tie Guan Yin I’ve had the pleasure of tasting. At $29 for 50 grams, it’s expensive but not out of reach. I’ve paid $15 per ounce for Li Shan and Bai Hao teas from Taiwan, though admittedly, I usually get only one ounce. I won’t wait another four years to buy more of this tea!

Large quantities of this tea do not fit with my budget – alas, because it’s very good. Fortunately, it comes in a small sample size. Faintly floral, with heavy but not overwhelming vegetable flavours. It has some bitterness, but in a way that fits perfectly with the rest of the taste; everything balances very well.

I’m finally getting around to trying this sampler I bought from Yunnan Sourcing. It wasn’t cheap but as I got about multiple steeps out of my session, I’ll call it even.

This is probably my top 3 TGYs I’ve ever had. It’s only 7 grams, and upon opening the tightly rolled tea balls have a smack-in-your-face aroma. When you brew it, the leaves open up like a pond lily, so plan accordingly.

I used 5 grams for a hot brew then 2 grams for a 350 ml cold brew. And I’m glad I only used 5 grams! The fully opened leaves were overflowing my 160 ml gaiwan after the first two steeps!

Flavors are a nicely balanced but complex set of flavors that border on the delicate — sweet grass & vegetal (asparagus/spinach), sweet butter/cream, and a touch of umami & minerality . No astringency at all.

First few steeps are sweet balancing out the umami / mineral finish. Later steeps, the balance shifts with the start of umami/mineral followed by a lesser sweetness of vegetal flavors. The liquid is crisp & clean, with a medium body /viscosity. Cha Qi is mild but very pleasant. It was a warm & humid day but this tea hit the spot.

Brew spec: 200 deg F at 30 sec, 60 sec, 90 etc. this tea can take the longer steep times and I will push the time out for later tastings. (The initial 30 seconds was not enough time to really let the leaves open and give enough flavor. )

I also did a cold brew on this tea with the 2grams with 350ml cold water . And it is absolutely wonderful!!

Out of the bottle, it looks like a white wine. It’s thick & viscous. The texture reminds me of the texture of Gewurztraminer — rich, silky, and with a hint of honeysuckle nectar

However, it’s flavor pulls no punches. There’s sweet grass/spinach, the predominant aroma & flavor of roses, with an aftertaste of umami/minerality. It’s balanced, it’s smooth, it’s incredibly decadent. This is the tea version of a dessert iced wine. I’d drink this by itself or pair it with grapes.

Autumn 2018 harvest. Brewed at boiling — let’s see what this tea is capable of.

It’s so thick — like an unset jelly. Try it grandpa style for the best effect.
It’s sweet, most awesomely tangy, mineral and pleasantly metallic, hint of custard.
Intensely yet softly aromatic with an expansive, lingering perfume. The aroma and tea fill my mouth.
The leaves expand like a dry sponge wetted, escape my teapot when brewed gongfu and instantly settle to the bottom of my grandpa brewing jar.

Floral — magnolia to the max, lilac, sweet pea, gardenia

Vegetal — bok choi, green cabbage, zucchini, sugar snap peas, English peas, green bell pepper

Spicy — musk, white pepper, black pepper

Fruity — golden apple, lemon, golden melon, ripe peach and apricot

Umami — white mushroom broth

Nature — pine forest when clouds break after a spring rain, moss

All in balance.

Wonderful calm and alert cha qi that is non-interfering.

This tea has completely changed my unfavorable perception of tieguanyin oolong. Wholeheartedly recommended.

Thanks, Togo <3

Song: MEUTE — You & Me (Flume Remix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKFbnhcNnjE

[Autumn 2018 harvest]

I am treating myself to a special tea today, a competition grade TGY. Straight after opening the pouch, I can tell it’s a great one. It is the strongest smelling ball rolled tea I have encountered. The aroma reminds me of a conifer (spruce?) forest after summer rain, with some extra hints of cabbage. It is very “green” smelling. In a preheated pot, I get an unreasonably strong asparagus aroma, followed by apricot, apple and custard. Once the leaves open up, they exude a mixture of cooked vegetables (carrots predominately), lemon skin and later on throughout the session also cannabis.

The taste is very delicate, mineral and sweet. The first infusion has flavours of custard, cream, warm grass, spinach and fish broth. Second steep gets more metallic and vegetal, while the third one has a stronger umami flavour mixed with notes of melon and grape skins. I pushed infusions 4 and 5 a bit more and found them to be a little flatter in the flavour profile, but more spicy. Steep 6 is more grassy and has a new flavour which reminds me of courgette.

The aftertaste is slightly biting and quite crisp. It is floral and has a nice sour touch to it, nothing abrasive like so many of the lower grade TGY I have had. There are notes of seaweed, vanilla ice cream and moss too in the aftertaste. The sensation is warming at first, but becomes cooling in the throat after a while. The mouthfeel is generally very soft, velvety and lubricating with medium body.

As for the cha qi, it’s mild and very pleasant I’d say. It is quite body warming and mind focusing, as well as elevating.

This is undoubtedly the best TGY I have ever tried, it’s not even close. Now, the question is: Is it worth the price? I am not sure. I think maybe yes, as long as I haven’t found a comparable tea at a more competitive price. I don’t drink TGY often, but when I do, I would like to be able to drink this one. The 7g yielded about 1.3l of tea in 8 steeps, which is about what I would expect from a high grade TGY.

This is for the Spring 2017

first steep. strong spinach and iron. slight flint. friend says mushroom.
more floral with cooler water
lingering minerality
I wanted to try to see what good unroasted TieGuanYin ‘should’ taste like

Drank Jun 29. Spring 2017 release. Will review later.

I ordered this tea as sample (Autumn 2016 version), as it’s very expensive. My initial impression was disappointment that the color wasn’t as green as what was pictured. I steeped it at 185F and gave it about a minute. The color of the liquor wasn’t strong at all and my expectations really lowered after these two things. However, I was blown away on the first sip. The liquor has primarily a sweet orchid taste, bringing back memories of Hawaii, which eases into a subtle seaweed aftertaste. It has salty (“mineral”) notes as well. There is amazing complexity to it – what one would hope for in a tea that costs this much. Furthermore, it has an amazing cha qi – I felt a sudden clarity and giddiness after consuming the first cup. I was so impressed with this tea that I infused it several times. I think this would make a fantastic ‘social’ or ceremonial tea. This can’t be an every day tea for most of us, but worth having a sample or two around for special occasions. If I’m in the mood for something elegant and refined this is what I will go to.

Yes this is special. Aromatic and clean, fragrant and pleasing. Leaves expand a lot and they are very green.