A Tea Addict's Journal

Three years old tieguanyin

September 13, 2008 · 2 Comments

This is a tea that I bought on the very first trip I made to Maliandao, three years ago

Time flies. I still remember it being rather exciting, seeing so much tea for the first time. Although many of the stores sell pretty much exactly the same things, the first time you visit you don’t know that. Before that, all I’ve seen are stores that exist on their own — that’s how it works in Hong Kong. The concept of a tea mall was rather foreign to me, and it was fascinating to see literally hundreds of stores that sell tea that are together. While Beijing is far from the ideal tea shopping area, it was good enough.

I remember I stopped by this store that sold mostly Fujian oolongs, and there was this rather friendly and very young looking girl who was the salesgirl there. My then girlfriend (now wife) was with me, and we sat down to drink a number of teas. I settled on this particular tieguanyin, along with a few others. I took it back, and it stayed in a jar while getting the occasional visit from me. Then I was off for two years.

It’s nice when I actually label my tea, which I don’t always do. It’s like a little piece of my personal tea history.

So how was the tea?

It was light, airy, a little thin, perhaps, and less bitter than it probably was a few years ago. It’s probably also slightly blander, but I honestly no longer remember what it used to taste like. Pleasant enough, and still worth the money I paid for it (which was not that much). I don’t really buy teas like this anymore, so it’s hard to say if I will buy something like this again, but I’d imagine if I have to give somebody a recommendation, this can still make the list.

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2 responses so far ↓

  • mulcahyfeldman // September 13, 2008 at 9:03 am | Reply

    Tell us how you steeped this please. I’m almost always disappointed now when I brew a tieguanyin, and I used to love them. They seem greener than they used to be; the same for Darjeelings. Or is it just me? Eileen

  • MarshalN // September 16, 2008 at 12:05 am | Reply

    Sorry for taking so long to reply…

    I’d say…. fill the vessel with 1/4 dry leaves, packed, and then use boiling water, flash rinse. I brew the first two or three infusions with very little time — a few seconds, perhaps, and then slowly extending it as the tea dictates….

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