Today's (or more accurately, the past two days') tea is a typical Taiwanese Tieh Guan Yin tea from the Shing Hwa tea company. The company offers two grades of this tea. The tea pictured is their lower grade tea ($15/100g).
According to a tea friend and colleague of mine, you will find Tieh Guan Yin in both mainland China and Taiwan. The main distinction being that Chinese TGY tends toward the greener side of the oolong scale, whereas Taiwanese TGYs are typically roasted and rolled multiple times to varying degrees of roast, until a very dense rolled tea is produced.
I have only ever had one other example of Taiwanese TGY, which was roasted more heavily than this tea. If you have a look at the picture, you will notice that not all the leaves display the same roast level. I do not know whether this is related to the tea grade, the skill of the roaster, or if it is a common thing to find in roasted TGYs.
The dry leaves have a toasty, fruity aroma, with a smell which I can only describe as slightly 'sour'. Once the leaves hit the warmed pot, they give off a very strong, thick, sweet smell.
One thing that I noticed right away was how consistent the flavor stays throughout multiple brews. It starts to change around the 3rd or 4th steeping, however the aftertaste and aroma remain quite constant.
There is a sour/acidic taste which begins around the 2nd steeping. I would describe the taste as the sort of acidity you would get from fruit, similar to what would be present in a tart grape. This acidity decreases as I progressed into the 4th steeping, and the tea's malty/toasty flavors start to come out more.
There is a very strong sweetness which lingers in the bottom of the cheeks and top of the throat, and the aroma of the tea stays inside the throat and nasal cavities. I can taste the tea every time I exhale through my nose.
This is very good tea. For the price, I couldn't possibly have expected better. I am curious to sample this tea company's higher grade of TGY to compare the difference.
