This review, the final one in my series of ti kuan yin reviews, comes at an opportune time: Chicago Tea Garden, the suppliers of this final ti kuan yin, officially launched yesterday. Congratulations to Tony and his partner Erin ? all the best of luck to you both!

Now, the tea.

This is a competition-grade ti kuan yin from Anxi County in China. It’s lightly oxidized, presenting beautifully with lush green leaves tightly rolled and intermingled with darker shades.

It’s nose is quite sweet and floral, though it isn’t as heavily aromatic as the Serenity Teahouse ti kuan yin, which is the ti kuan yin I find it most comparable to. Like the Taiwanese oolong, it has a nutty flavour, though this is hardly as pronounced as in the former tea.

What amazes me is that, despite the sweetness of its dry aroma, the tea’s flavour is almost completely savoury, with barely a hint of the sweetness that my nose detected. It reminds me quite a bit of rhubarb; there is a tarty character to its flavour. This became much more prominent in the second infusion, both in the mouth and in the nose.

One things that struck me about this tea is just how energizing and refreshing I found it. None of the other three ti kuan yins really left me with that feeling (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). There is something implacable about this tea that makes me feel ready for the day.

Competition Grade Ti Kuan Yin is available from Chicago Tea Garden for $17.99 for 50 grams.

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2010. | Competition Grade Ti Kuan Yin from Chicago Tea Garden | One comment |
Post categories: Oolong tea, Tea reviews
Post tags: Chicago Tea Garden, ti kuan yin

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:)

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2010. | A Week of Ti Kuan Yin | 5 comments |
Post categories: Oolong tea
Post tags: Chicago Tea Garden, Orange Tea Co, Serenity Teahouse, Tea Trekker, ti kuan yin

My fellow tea blogger, Tony Gebely of World of Tea is starting Chicago Tea Garden, an online tea store that’s just days away from launching. He sent me samples of two of his teas a few weeks ago, one of which is this Golden Bi Luo, a rare black tea from Yunnan Province, China.

Golden Bi Luo is made in the style of Bi Luo Chun, a green tea that is the specialty of tea makers in Jiangsu Province. Like Bi Luo Chun, Golden Bi Luo is rolled into little balls, but it has a lovely golden tint. This tea scores very highly on the attractiveness scale. It’s beautiful to behold.

The tea infuses into a very subtle little black tea, with a mild nuttiness and sweeter notes, like caramel. Something about it reminds me of a first flush Darjeeling, though I can’t quite place what.

Like many fine black teas, this one can easily be re-steeped for multiple infusions. I’ve been experimenting with preparing it in a gaiwan, with two small spoons of leaves; on the first infusion, I give it about a minute, and then allow about a minute and a half on the second and 3-5 minutes on the third. As with any steeping directions, one piece of advice holds true above all others: experiment.

As I said, Chicago Tea Garden hasn’t opened its doors yet, but if you’re based in the area, be sure to get on their mailing list. When it’s available, the Golden Bi Luo will be sold at $12.99 per 50 grams.

Update: Chicago Tea Garden has now launched! You can order Golden Bi Luo here.

Browse more tea from Yunnan Province in the Tea Finely Brewed marketplace.

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2010. | Golden Bi Luo from Chicago Tea Garden | No comment |
Post categories: Black tea, Tea reviews
Post tags: bi luo chun, Chicago Tea Garden, golden bi luo, Yunnan