Ti Kuan Yin Oolong Tea from Ocean of Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Oolong

Where to Buy:  Ocean of Tea

Tea Description:

Ti Kuan Yin is the most famous Chinese Oolong tea with a great orchid aroma and finish. This tea is nice, light and has a hint of dried apricot. 

Our tea is hand-harvested from the Wu-Yi tea bush and made by using traditional crafting techniques developed in China’s Fujian province. The leaves are tightly rolled and you can get 3-4 good infusions out of the same leaves. Affordably priced, this is a great tea to drink with company.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I was very excited to receive my package from Ocean of Tea which included this Ti Kuan Yin Oolong Tea.  A new to me tea company!  Yay!  I’m always eager to try teas from a company whose teas I’ve not yet sampled.

This Ti Kuan Yin is very much like what I’d expect from a high quality Oolong of this type.  The leaves are tightly wound and smell lightly vegetal and floral.  The liquid produced is a pale yellow-green.  And it tastes so good!

I brewed this Oolong the way I’d normally approach an Oolong:  using my gaiwan, I steep using short steeps, starting with 45 seconds following a 15 second rinse.  Each subsequent infusion had an additional 15 seconds added on to the steep time.  I combine the results of the first two infusions to create my first cup, and my second cup is infusions 3 and 4 … and so on!

The first cup usually offers the softest flavor, but, given the flavors in this cup, I find myself greatly anticipating the cups that will follow.  There is a lot of flavor to what should be a “delicate” tasting cup of tea.  This is delightfully floral with subtle notes of stone fruit.  The description above suggests hints of apricot, and that’s what I’m tasting.  I’m surprised to taste it this soon into the tea experience, though, usually the fruit notes of a Ti Kuan Yin are slow to emerge.  This one is ready to greet you with all it’s complex flavors!

My second cup of this tea was the most flavorful of the three cups I enjoyed of this tea.  It was creamy and I could taste notes of orchid and vanilla.  It had a really pleasant smoothness to it.  The floral tones were not sharp, they were soft and silky.  The aforementioned apricot notes are sweet and add a really nice dimension to this Ti Kuan Yin.

With my third and final cup of this tea, I noticed the flavors beginning to wane slightly.  The flavors have become unified and smooth.  The vanilla notes are there but they aren’t as creamy and the floral tones are somewhat subdued.  This is a very enjoyable cup and I’m enjoying the seamless flavors.

A really good Ti Kuan Yin and a very happy tea experience with this new-to-me tea company!  I’m glad I got to try this!