A Week of Ti Kuan Yin
Ti Kuan Yin Oolong Tea from Orange Tea Co.
It’s going to be a week of ti kuan yin here on Tea Finely Brewed. Over the past few months I’ve accumulated a nice little collection of ti kuan yin teas from different merchants, so I thought it would be interesting to review them all in the same week.
At a glance, here’s what I’ll be reviewing:
- A Taiwanese ti kuan yin from Serenity Teahouse
- Tea Trekker’s clear and fragrant-style ti kuan yin from Fujian Province, China
- Orange Tea Co.’s ti kuan yin, pictured above
- Chicago Tea Room’s Competition Grade ti kuan yin
If you hate ti kuan yin, check back next week:)
Gingko wrote:
Nice! I will surely check back. And in case you want to extend it to 2 weeks of Tie Guan Yin, I can give you some. Modern green style, traditional green style, traditional charcoal roast, I have them all
latteteadah wrote:
Thank you for introducing this category! Having discovered Ti Kuan Yin myself just this past week, this is a very timely subject. I’m curious to know of the differences between the processing styles. The variety I’m enjoying this week seems to be more of a Taiwanese “green” style, which makes me think that the traditional “black” style may be even more of a treat!
Eric wrote:
Thank you Gingko and Latteteadah for your comments! I’ve enjoyed doing the first two reviews already. Ti Kuan Yin is a fascinating species of tea.
AnnieWho wrote:
I know I have arrived late but great posts! I am trying to find a tasty, everyday oolong which is ‘slow-fermented’ (those were the words of the naturopath). But trawling the web I can’t see the word slow-fermented mentioned in relation to oolongs. Do you think it might mean longer oxidisation process? If so, which of the teas you tried do you think has been oxidised the longest without becoming too tart?
Thank-you!
Eric wrote:
Hi AnnieWho,
To be honest, I haven’t heard of the phrase slow fermented. Though oolong tea is not actually fermented at all — it’s oxidized. This is a pretty common misunderstanding though, so I assume your naturopath just means a regular oolong tea. Personally, I’m doubtful about the extent of difference in health benefits of oolong teas at the various ends of the oxidation scale. There might be some difference, but I’d say it’s pretty minute. In any case, my recommendation would be to try a bunch of different oolong teas and see which ones you like the most. Teas Etc have some great oolong teas, so I’d suggest checking them out.
Cheers,
Eric