Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Tie Guan Yin tea is a type of Oolong tea, and is – deservedly – one of the most revered and sought after type tea in China. Sometimes also written as Ti Kuan Yin or Iron Goddess Oolong Tea. With a delightfully fresh floral taste. It is well-known both inland and abroad. You will certainly be surprised with the distinct orchid fragrance of this Organic Superfine Tie Guan Yin. Meanwhile the liquid of this Oolong tea is transparent and bright, which truly is a feast to the eyes. In taste, this Organic Tie Guan Yin has sweet flavor, long-last fragrance and comfortable sweet aftertaste.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Organic Superfine Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea from Teavivre (also known as Iron Goddess), is lovely – really lovely indeed. Sweet, crisp in flavor, with delightful floral overtones.
The dry leaves look very much like other Tie Guan Yin teas I’ve encountered – the leaves have been tightly wound into pellets. These pellets seem smaller than a typical Tie Guan Yin, and the color is a very vivid, dark forest green. Beautiful! The aroma is vegetative, reminding me of springtime when the air is filled with the scent of new, green growth and notes of flower.
Ordinarily, I combine the first two infusions for my first cup, but today, I wanted to try the first infusion on its own. So, after a quick fifteen second rinse, I infused the leaves for 45 seconds and enjoyed the tea. My first infusion was quite light in flavor. Sweet, with delicate floral tones and a hint of creaminess to the taste and texture.
The second cup – the combination of the second and third infusions – is much creamier, sweeter and has a heady floral essence that says “orchid!” I can taste a vanilla-esque note to this. There isn’t a strong vegetative taste to this cup, but I do notice some vegetation off in the background. Beautifully sweet, this cup!
The third cup – which is the combination of the fourth and fifth infusions – is a bit lighter in texture than the second, but not quite as crisp as the first. There is a certain brightness to this cup, I can almost taste a hint of citrus to this. Not quite a “fruit-like” flavor, but the acidic nature of the citrus is what I notice, and this offers a nice contrast to the sweet, floral tones. Still quite sweet, the flavors are beginning to meld here, becoming more unified and less distinct.
This is really a lovely Tie Guan Yin … if you’ve only room on your tea shelf for one Tie Guan Yin, this should definitely be one that you consider for that coveted spot! This one is top-notch!
Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin “Iron Goddess” Oolong Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
This Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin has a little of coffee’s flavor, which is suitable for who loves teas with coffee taste. You will sense a familiar fragrance of coffee for first sip, and after swallowing the liquid, a sweet aftertaste will quickly upwelling to your throat. As it is 85% fermented, this Tie Guan Yin will not become bitter even for a long time infusion. Dry tea leaves are brown and curly, has a smell of charcoal fire. The liquid is in golden yellow color, which truly feasts to the eyes.
Organic Roasted Oolong with Coffee Aroma
Organically produced near Zhangzhou(漳州) in Fujian, China.
Harvest Time: September, 2012
Hand made into small, rolled up leaves
Roasted, 85% fermented
Golden Yellow color, bright and clean liquid
Sweet and soft taste with coffee fragrance for first sip, long-last flavor, sweet aftertaste around throat
Low caffeine (less than 10% of a cup of coffee)
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of Organic Superfine Moderately Roasted Tie Guan Yin “Iron Goddess” Oolong Tea is milky and creamy, which is surprising since I was really anticipating a deeper roasted aroma. Regardless, I love a milky tea so if it tasted milky I would be fine with that. I decided to go ahead and let it steep for a couple more minutes since Iron Goddess does not get bitter with longer steeps. This seems to be the way to go because after two more minutes after an initial 2 minutes it became stronger, bolder, with a coffee like aroma and that roasted aroma I was expecting. I will later hate to try it with a shorter steep though as I am sure that milky aroma had something to it!
Finally, the first sip was delicious! I did initially get a little creaminess but the smokiness and roasted flavor took over. The tea is a bit sweeter than I had expected having it compared in the description to a coffee like flavor but I rather like it. It is robust, not as robust as some black teas but robust for an oolong.
While I really can see how this would be a great tea to serve to a coffee drinker I don’t want the tea drinkers out there who do not care for coffee to be afraid to give it a try. The quality of this tea is astounding, as are all of Teavivre’s teas and realistically nothing taste like coffee but coffee itself. This is clearly an excellent Iron Goddess, deep, roasty, and toasty, and the creamy texture of this tea on the mouth is really special.
Also this is a tea that keeps on giving. Even with my long five minute steep the first time around I can continue to keep on steepin! Following steeps have some interesting notes highlighted that bring about the thoughts of a green tea, such as green bean for example, but more like veggies that are fire roasted! So good! I love having this Iron Goddess with some milk chocolate, it really taste like s’mores between the creamy note in the tea and the smokiness with the toasty note, and of course the chocolate!
This tea has some serious NOM factor!
Tie Guan Yin (Iron Buddha) Oolong Tea from Driftwood Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Driftwood Teas
Tea Description:
Tie Guan Yin or Iron buddha is perhaps China’s most famous Oolong. We sourced this handmade version from a small farm in Anxi County, in China’s Fujian Province, and believe this to be one of the finest Tie Guan Yins, or even teas, any of us at driftwood have ever tasted.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Lovely!
This Tie Guan Yin (or Iron Buddha) Oolong Tea from Driftwood Teas is one of the nicest of its type that I’ve yet to encounter! I’m only on my first two infusions at the moment, so time (and additional infusions) will tell whether or not that opinion remains intact … but I’m liking what I’m tasting thus far!
This first cup (the combination of infusions one and two, following a quick 10 second rinse) is light, crisp and refreshing. There are floral tones but they are not heavy or inundating, and I think that is what stands out most about this particular Tie Guan Yin … so often the floral tones are so heavy that they muddy the complexity of the cup … I like that I can taste the floral tones but they aren’t overwhelming my palate.
The flavor starts out light with a refreshing sweetness. Towards the end of the sip, I notice a nice, creamy, buttery tone that hits the palate, and lingers for a short time in the aftertaste. No bitterness and a moderate astringency. A very relaxing cup.
In the infusions that follow, the floral tones emerge … but they are still not what I would classify as heavy or inundating. I like that they are subdued and emerge slowly, so that the other notes of this tea can be enjoyed fully.
A really nice Tie Guan Yin … yep … definitely a must try!
Tie Guan Yin (Iron Buddha) from Driftwood Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Driftwood Tea
Tea Description:
Fujian Province, China – Spring 2012 Harvest
Tie Guan Yin or Iron buddha is perhaps China’s most famous Oolong. We sourced this handmade version from a small farm in Anxi County, in China’s Fujian Province, and believe this to be one of the finest Tie Guan Yins, or even teas, any of us at driftwood.
Tie Guan Yin is another tea that, depending on where you are, is know by many different names including: Iron Buddha; Iron Goddess of Mercy; Ti Kwan Yin and several others. However, what remains constant is the fact that this tea is among China’s finest, and probably its most well known oolong – no matter what it’s called.
Key Flavours: A sweet honey note, lively florals with a smooth buttery finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Driftwood Tea delivers with a delightful aromatic cup of sweet buttery goodness. Steeped this tea is a bright lively golden cup that is very light in color yet full in mouthfeel. There is almost a heaviness in the mouth but the flavor is light and creamy at the same time. Amazing how both can be elements in one wonderful tea. I would never usually describe something buttery or creamy as bright or light. Its such a cheery tea – a real mood lifter.
This tea however is not just a cup of creamy buttery goodness. There is far more depth to this tea, layers of flavor, including floral elements that are not perfume like. There are notes of honeysuckle that remind me of my youth, picking the honeysuckle flowers and sucking out the gooey nectar inside. There is also a note of sweet green veggies.
The lingering after taste is my favorite element in this tea. It is sweet but has savory elements that are outstanding.
It is quite a refreshing cup as well once the after taste does wear off it does not leave you with a drying sensation in the mouth or throat whatsoever.
For me, this is not my absolute favorite oolong, as I like one that is a bit heavier and more roast-y but it is a very good quality oolong that I will enjoy revisiting.
Monkey Picked (Ma Liu Mie) Tie Guan Yin Oolong from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Using Taiwan autumn tea as material, this Monkey Picked Tie Guanyin carefully selected by TeaVivre is baked slowly by soft fire (the baking process falls into three steps and every step lasts two minutes). The degree of fermentation is 100 percent so that the dried tea can keep a long-lasting fragrance. After brewing, the smell of honey peach and the baked flavor can be perfectly appreciated and the beverage tastes gorgeously smooth.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Have I mentioned how much I love Teavivre lately?
The reason is simple: they never cease to amaze me with their spectacular teas. The quality is exceptional and the flavor is stunning. This Tie Guan Yin exemplifies those words very clearly, this is truly an astonishing cup of tea!
The aroma of the dry leaf is quite intriguing, it smells a bit like roasted peaches that have been drenched with honey before being roasted. I can smell a slight char, the sweet fruit which has been intensified by the extreme temperatures of the roast, and the beautiful honey notes that offer hints of flower. Delightful!
The fragrance of the brewed tea is a bit different – I still smell hints of what I experienced with the dry leaf, but, now I smell more notes that are indicative of a Tie Guan Yin: sweet and vegetative … but there are still lingering notes of that charred, roasted aroma.
And, how I am loving the taste of this Oolong! It tastes so sweet. There are notes of toasted nuts in the background, along with a richness that is almost like browned butter. Yes, browned butter that has been drizzled over steamed greens. And deliciously peachy and honey-esque. Layers and layers of intense flavor.
As I continue to sip, and make my way into later infusions, I notice hints of vanilla. The peach notes emerge stronger in the later infusions, as the toasty notes seem to soften.
A delicious tea that tantalizes the taste buds with notes that are both sweet and savory – and a joy to imbibe!