Ti Kuan Yin as first tea?

[Krabbenhueter]

Hello,

Is Ti Kuan Yin a tea for beginner?
Can I say, Ti Kuan Yin is the first tea to explore flavor?
What flavouring I can recognize?

Ti Kuan Yin – green
Ti Kuan Yin – roasted
Ti Kuan Yin – lay in a store

flowery, fruity, malty ( dark tea), sweet, …

How can I learn to identify flavours of tea? (´this Question is for oolong and other)

Thanks - Krabbenhueter

[Tead Off]

TGY is for beginners and connoisseurs alike. It is the first Chinese tea I was introduced to and I still love it. Green style or traditional style. Both can be great. One of the easiest teas to like.

[debunix]

Dark roast Ti Kuan Yin ('traditional') was my first tea, and for a long time, really my only tea. Green 'new style' was my first lighter oolong, and also a marvelous tea. Both are excellent for introducing newcomers to tea, especially the light floral green style, which has such a seductive aroma.

So far, in traditional roast Ti Kuan Yin, I get an earthy, toasted overtone; a sweetness, especially in later infusions or if the tea has sat in my thermos for a while before I drink it, that has hints of fruitiness, like plums or peaches; a spiciness that is just a little peppery, and a little herbaceous--not precisely like basil or rosemary but a bit resinous.

The lighter green version has no earthiness, but the sweetness is stronger, but different--less fruity/plummy and more like a field of summer hay; the spiciness is still there, and about the same; and there is a floral overtone, especially to the early infusions, that inspires new tea drinkers to share some when I offer it.

My tea-flavor vocabulary is still inadequate.

[gingkoseto]

If it's the "first tea ever" or if it's for a person with black tea drinking history, I think a traditional roasted Tie Guan Yin is an excellent start, because it's taste is not too light and it can't be ruined in almost any brewing. Greener Tie Guan Yin can be tricky because it requires certain brewing method.

I think the way to identify flavors of tea is similar to the way to identify flavors of bread or meat, just by experience and tasting. And it's fine if you cannot connect a flavor to certain descriptive words.

[Krabbenhueter]

Hello

and thanks for the answers.

… when I am moving Taijiquan ( there I am a beginner too ), sometimes the time is stretched.
When I am moving Kung Fu Cha, sometime the time is stretched too. And then I can make out difference flavours. But I can not give them names.
maybe fruity, sweety a.s.o.
But is it lemon or grape or lime?
I don’t know it.

But so I am moving Qigong with 10 000 repetitions, I am repeating Kung Fu Cha with the same tea.
Every day the same tea is different. I don’t use a thermometer and a stopwatch. But I want to feel the right temperature and time. It will be better and better.

I know a good teashop with an enthusiast owner. There I can ask questions and observe the teabreaving.

So I am getting deeper view in tea.

Thanks - Krabbenhueter

[Marco]

Every day the same tea is different. I don’t use a thermometer and a stopwatch. But I want to feel the right temperature and time. It will be better and better.

I don' t use a thermometer either. But sometimes I count seconds or even use my watch for precise brewing. For sure I like the idea of feeling it - but this needs time.
It is the same as in your martial art. You should not watch your feet when you are moving - but as a beginner you will for sure. (I remember )
It needs time until you feel your stance and move - try closing your eyes and going through your form - surprisingly difficult.
So sometimes it helps taking a watch and correcting the feeling.

Just a thought.

[legend]

Here is a something I learned here in China about "roasted flavour " varieties of Tie guan yin or Taiwan Gao shan cha Wu longs. These are not in fact true varieties of those teas. What happens each year is that the surplus of Wu long that has not sold of the previous Spring harvest is taken back to the factory and lightly roasted to extend its sellabilty for one more year. Remember this refers to the light roasting commonly offered as a flavour of TGY of TW High mountain Wu long teas. This is a different process from WuYi Mountain Yan Cha (Da Hong Pao, Shui Xian, Ruo Gui, etc.) which have been roasted and fired as part of their original authentic processing, these Wu longs of course appear only in this blackened form. Just a note, its not to say those roasted flavour teas are bad, I also enjoy then but they should be offered at a discount from that years fresh Wu long.

[alan logan]

Since (at least) a few years a significant part of taiwanese and fujian wulongs have gone greener : less oxydized and less roasted as part of the initial process. as drinkers we have clearly seen it. word is this is due to consumers' taste, but in return the markets also influence consumers so... could work both ways.
But the elder way has not disappeared, although it can be harder to find because as the green style has become a norm on the b2b market a merchant may have to place a special order to get other processing, and not all merchants can afford it or see it fit from a business point of view.
"sent back & reroasted" is probably bigger market share nowadays -but i don't have the figures.