The most famous oolong tea in China is Tie Guan Yin. It is also popular in East and Southeast Asia (I saw a variety of TGY sold in grocery stores in Thailand). It’s so popular because it is a pleasant and comfortable tea to drink. Still, also it has several health benefits including anti-hyperglycemic activity (Cao 2013), inhibition of the absorption of fat (Nakai et al. 2005), and promotion of cardiovascular health (Matsushita et al. 2010) as mentioned in this article. Therefore, TGY has been very popular in over forty countries, especially in East and Southeast Asia.
Originally TGY comes from Anxi county in the Fujian province. However, other regions also grow and process this tea and sometimes they are even packaged and sold as TGY from Anxi. While for an expert, it might be possible to identify the origin of the tea, it is not always possible, especially if the packaging is misleading. Therefore, some researchers try to develop a way to determine the origin of the tea and other tea products by using an electronic tongue. And this study found that the electronic tongue with pattern recognition methods offers a considerable improvement in the characterization of the origin of TGY tea. Actually, this is excellent news as finding a good TGY has been a concern to me.
Luckily, I had a chance to taste TGY from @ChaoChaTea, and it was a great one. Floral, delicate, slightly vegetal but sweet. How a TGY should be.
TGY is one of the most featured teas of this challenge. I think it is totally worth it, especially if it is a genuine TGY.
Tea profile:
Type: Oolong
Origin: Anxi, Fujian Harvest time: 2020
Leaf colour: Tones of green Liquor colour: Yellow
Tea Aroma: Floral
Tea Taste: Smooth and slightly sweet with floral and vegetal undernotes
Steeping: Place about 6 g of this tea in a gaiwan or teapot and add hot water around 100°C. After rinsing the leaves, you can steep for 10 seconds and add 10 second to each consecutive steeping. You can re-steep this tea about six times.
Shelf life: Up to 2 years