Taiwan Muzha Ti Kuan Yin from Nuvola Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Nuvola Tea

Tea Description:

The saffron-coloured Muzha Ti Kuan Yin Tea has a light fruity aroma and a melting creamy mouth-feel. The flavors are strong and long-lasting even after several infusions, which leaves a sweet lingering sensation in the mouth.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

What a lovely Ti Kuan Yin.  This Ti Kuan Yin is a bit different than what I typically envision when it comes to Ti Kuan Yin Oolong, usually, I expect a very green tea with more of a floral/vegetative tone.  And while I to taste hints of flower and vegetable within this cup, this tea has a stronger toasted nutty kind of taste, which suggests to me that these leaves were roasted.

But my first hint was the dry leaves themselves.  Instead of the deep, forest green color that many Ti Kuan Yin teas possess, this one is darker in color, a shade that is more brown than it is green.  And then, the aroma also offered a toasty scent, a scent that filled the kitchen as I brewed the tea and enchanted my senses. 

The flavor, as I mentioned, is that of toasty nut.  But there are hints of flower in the distance, as well as hints of vegetation.  Sweet, caramel-like tones please the palate.  A really wonderful flavor.  In this first cup, which is the results of my first two infusions, I find the flavor overall to be somewhat delicate, light and uplifting.  However, even though there is a softer flavor to this cup, it tells of stronger flavors to come … begging me to infuse these leaves again … and again!  So, that is what I shall do.

This second cup (infusions 3 and 4) is indeed more flavorful than the first cup, with notes of charcoal peeking out from the roasty-toasty taste.  It has one of those “warm and welcome” kind of tastes to it, evoking thoughts of home and hearth and autumn.  (Autumn is my favorite month and always speaks of home and time for family to me.)  With these increased toasted flavors emerges a flavor that was very subtle in the first cup – a sweetness that tastes of caramel and honey.

My third and final cup (infusions 5 and 6) was not quite as strongly flavored as the second cup, but, even so, I think that this third cup is my favorite.  The roasty-toasty notes seem to have softened somewhat, allowing for some of the floral notes to emerge … these floral tones that seemed somewhat hidden or obscured in the first few infusions.  I love how the floral notes meld with the toasted flavor:  it is savory and yet sweet.  A beautiful contrast.

This tea has taken me on such a fantastic journey – one that is definitely well worth the trip!  In other words:  YOU should try this tea!