Jan 14th 2008 11:01 pm My family Tradition-Roasted Tie Guan Yin..
I received a lot of love and hate comments about my roasted style Tie Guan Yin (TGY). I am not surprise at all after reading reviews and it’s my honor to get to know my tea lovers what they like and dislike on certain style of teas. The Chaozhou (Chiu Chow) style TGY is my signature tea and you definitely need to be very open minded if you want to check it out. It’s truly an acquired taste.
Comparing to other non-roasted or lightly roasted TGY in US or even in China, our family still carry the tradition of roasting and blending our TGY. My papa always serve this TGY to his Chaozhou friends. Gong Fu (Kung Fu) Tea was synonyms to TGY to me when I was a kid till I realized it’s a tea ceremony recently after doing more research on my own. It was a popular tea choice in the old days; but it becomes an ancient tea and rarely any people know about it except older generations from ChaoZhou.
Papa and my brother mentioned that this is not a popular tea as it used to be with a long sigh. Despite knowing that this is a fading way of making tea, it is very labor intensive and knowing that they should have spent more time to market the tea store instead, they can’t help to admit that they both love to feel and smell the teas by roasting and blending the teas. I was watching them doing it all the time when I was a kid and they would get really mad and yelled at me if I messed around their teas and tools. The roasting part and hand blending requires extremely high concentration and they usually shut themselves at the backstage of our store to do the work. They would come out with their bodies full of tea dust and sweat, then they would make a pot of hot water immediately to taste their newly made tea. Like any good tea maker, they would discuss and write down details of the tea features and the differences between this one and the previous teas and the changes of the new season teas. Like wine that each barrel taste differently, each batch of our Tie Guan yin also does not taste the same.
I am surprise when Alex, Martin and Maria told me that they love this tea especially Alex can describe how the tea transformed from each brewing and my jaw was dropped completely. I am proud that my family has been crafting tea for so many years and I intent to carry this tradition to my next generation too with my ridiculous stubbornness.
June from www.just4tea.com
Posted by june / My life as an Entrepreneur
Paul on 15 Jan 2008 at 10:30 am #
Thanks for sharing these details! I was fortunate to enjoy some of your TGY over the holidays, and I thought that it was fantastic. I agree that it is not for everyone - the flavors are complex. However, for those that like stronger teas and enjoy subtle surprises, I suggest giving the Just4Tea TGY a try. It is a very high quality tea.
Allison on 15 Jan 2008 at 10:36 pm #
I really like this tea. It’s strong but smooth - in fact it reminds me of a good quality cup of coffee. It has that same complexity and well roundedness and there’s no bitterness. I’ve gotten into the habit of drinking a cup every afternoon since I got the tea a few weeks ago. The thing that most impressed me when I first tried it was how fresh this tea tastes. I didn’t realize what a difference it makes, but now I won’t go back to that stale old supermarket tea.
Lisette on 19 Jan 2008 at 7:22 pm #
Thank you for sharing the TGY. I agree everyone’s taste is different, and it definitely takes time to develop your taste for tea. I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to try out different teas under June’s expert guidance, and I find that the more I learn about tea the more I like it. A cup of TGY after a Chinese lunch makes it complete.
Kenley on 20 Jan 2008 at 4:37 pm #
I bought the Spring Oolong (which, from my understanding, is similar to TGY) and have been enjoying it very much. The tea has a refreshing aroma, and although it’s a green tea, the flavor is rich and sophisticated. I gave couples of my friends the tea as holiday gifts, and they’re all impressed of my choice! The only inconvenience, I dare to say, is one has to replace the tea leave after a couple cups to savor the full taste. I’d conclude, like said in an old saying, “valuable things don’t last long”.
Oolongtea on 09 Apr 2008 at 3:54 am #
This one was good and sweet! One of the better varieties of Tie Guan Yin that I have tried.It could last for 5-7 infusions with fantastic taste still.I love the flowery fruity mouth feels.