How to Choose Tie Guan Yin

[@Loopcircuit]

The guy in the middle is just the chillest tea drinker. Like he just woke up on the beach of a tropical island and took a flight to London to drink some tea

[@MeiLeaf]

+Loopcircuit haha you got it, Frank is the definition of 'chill' and the perfect drinking partner.

[@lipscantgo]

Haha! I like how you guys aren't even referring to #1 as tea, but "stalk".

[@MeiLeaf]

+Gorico :)

[@TheAdixproduction]

+chinalife Tea House Hi Don , i really love your video thank you for getting me into aged teas :) !. I have a question for you. (sorry for my bad english ^^) At a local shop were i live (i can provide a mp link if you need it) , they sell 4 Grades of tie guan yins their Number 2 is really good and it is what i was using daily for the past weeks but now they've told me about a number 1 wich is twice the price but the catch is they sell it as **Wet** tie quan yin????? AND it is full of stalks , ive tasted it and it is a really floral and fresh and remind me of the king of the golden leaf (wich is a 10-20 ish day early pick oolong that i really like ) but even more taste to it and the taste linger longer in my mouth it is really smooth(more thant ttheir top grade usual tie guan yin) and i was really surprised because at first when ive looked at it i didnt want to buy it because of the stalk. he said that because the leaf are not dryed before shipping it allow the tea to preserve more of the smell.he said that it need to be kept in a freezer and this is the reason for it being more expensive. is it a gimmick or something ? it kinda feel wrong to have such good tea whit stalks ive never heard of wet oolong before ,the color of the leaf are vibrant and of good quality but just seem to still have the stalks , ive even consider just cutting the stalks of . is it just a low grade wich they get wet and it still better than good quality dryed ?? it seem king of odd to me. the owner seem really nice tho he will happily stop and brew a sample for 3-4 infusion and drink whit me in the shop before i buy and he even tell me before i buy if my usual favorite had a bad season/pick . but i guess he still maybe trying to fool me i dunno haha. not related : will you be getting jade star again sometime ? i really wanted to taste it ! Thanks for your time and keep up whit the good video ! Michael.

[@MeiLeaf]

+Michael Gingras Sounds like your shop is selling Maocha which is tea which has not been sorted and roasted and is very 'green'. We cannot be sure though! Maocha would be lighter and in a way more floral and bright than finished TGY but because it has not been roasted the flavour is not fixed and therefore will disappear quickly if it is not stored properly. We often taste Maocha when selecting tea because the farmers have not finished making the tea. It can be delicious but is usually a little bitter and has a thin texture. If it is Maocha then it should be cheaper than finished TGY of the same quality. Sometimes buyers will select a very high grade tea and because they know that the market cannot afford the price they will buy the Maocha instead because it will be a lot more affordable. This is called buying 'rough' tea. We do not do this but we are offered rough tea when we are selecting from farmers. In this way they can get very high quality tea at a cheaper price but it is not finished properly and we do not recommend it (we find that it can be quite uncomfortable on the stomach if you drink a lot of Maocha). We cannot think of any other reason for lots of stalks in the most expensive TGY tea. YES! Jade Star will be in stock in about 3 weeks.

[@TheAdixproduction]

+chinalife Tea House Wow Thanks you thats a complete answer i knew you would know more ! Now that i know how it is called i can confirm it ,searching ­"wet tea" wasnt giving me any result haha.It is true than drinkin it all week i did notice it to be harder on my stomach than usual , not so bad but little tightness. ill make sure to order the jade star and to try your Superior iron goddess. thanks again keep the nice video commin.

[@Mephistopheles019]

This video was very helpful. One of the challenges for "good stuff" newbies is understanding how to tell the difference between high end, midgrade, and low end. Thanks!

[@Christian-qu5ye]

I was hoping they would give Don the second tea twice .. and when they did he still nailed it! That goes to show how authentic his taste testing as are.

[@robertdavis1783]

Mad respect to Don for getting all them right, even the switcharoos. Clearly knows his tea.

[@helenxiong9422]

Tieguanyin! One of my favourites. I hadn't realized there were so many grades. Since I live outside of China and rarely visit, all my tieguanyin has been gifts of the green-stemless, non flaking variety. I think I've been ungrateful.

[@MeiLeaf]

You can express your thanks when you get another gift of Tie Guan Yin!

[@soylucio]

im hooked with your channel. has inspired me to invest a lot of money and time in tea culture. do you have a video where you point out the general things you need to see looking for quality loose leaf tea. maybe for the most famous or sold teas? i,ve seen this video and the silver needle one and i need info like that for many more so i dont feel hustled when visiting tea shops. need to boost my teahead confidence. maybe a book or blog you can point me out? P.D. more videos with you 3 guys. good chemistry

[@MeiLeaf]

Hey Lucio, Sure we are planning more of these videos - any particular tea that you are interested in?

[@soylucio]

Mei Leaf, thank you for your response. now i feel like a child in a candy shop. since i didnt thought youll actually response i didnt thought this through. will think about it and return with something else than "tell me everything about all of them"

[@soylucio]

in the meantime im prepearing to make a rather large order from your eshop. want to make sure you ship to jalisco,mexico. if you do how much time takes? is my first international purchase ever, any tips and sugestions.? freight, custom house charges, seizure risk?

[@CopperBottomify]

KZbin autoplayed this video after a whole bunch of TeaDB vlogs, and I'm hooked! Have listened to about 6 on my commute now. Incredibly detailed knowledge, well presented, and interesting to get a Tea Buyer's perspective. Other bloggers talk about Chinese sellers hoodwinking Western vendors. How do you avoid that?

[@MeiLeaf]

Thanks for watching Nick and we are happy to contribute to your commute. Yes it is true that there are lots of issues of fakery and unreliability in tea (this video is an example of a deal that did not work out so great kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpSahqqQm9N8o8U). But this is similar in all business with a natural product that has a large element of subjective quality vs a machined product with exact specifications. The keys are: 1. Develop taste so that you can spot any lies early. 2. Deal direct with farmers or local producers and travel to meet them and grab the batches of tea before the old switcharoo! After sourcing for over a decade you eventually form strong relationships and trust can form but it is important as always to be cautious and try to do as much direct dealing face to face as possible.

[@holuc08]

Another great video. The blind tasting seemed fun. I can't believe how quickly Don was able to identify the teas!

[@MeiLeaf]

+holuc08 He has lots of practice!

[@shaundascott104]

this is my favorite tea this video came just at the right moment

[@captbrando]

I LOVE Tie Guan Yin!! But a dark roast. SO lovely.

[@trusarshah7851]

wow. i came into you store today and bought some superior iron goddess. your wife celine served me. this tea is very very good. i now have 2 favourites: superior iron goddess and silver needle. thanks very much

[@MeiLeaf]

Thanks for saying hi and tasting our wares!

[@trusarshah7851]

please tell me if i can use the match scoop to rotate the tea leaves in a gaiwan? i bought the match bamboo scoop thinking it was for use with tea leaves in a gaiwan, so i can rotate the leaves from the bottom to the top? will the bamboo matcha scoop go bad if i use it in hot water to rotate the tea tea leaves in the gaiwan?

[@MeiLeaf]

+Trusar Shah it should be fine to use the bamboo for a leaf stirrer. We use the Gaiwan lid to stir but do your own thing!

[@jasont6963]

nice video, i just tasted my first tie guan yin and it was a very pleasant tasting. You comparisons were helpful in rating the leaf I have as between high and superior quality. My only previous experience with oolongs was some wuyi rock oolongs (wuyi shan shui xian) and some wuyi rougui. I found the tie guan yin to taste 'fresher' which the grassy notes of green tea, lighter and juicer than the darker ones; less sweet and not as drying. I was further pleased by a transformation after the 2nd or third infusion to more floral notes like orchid or honeysuckle. I look forward to sampling your superior quality some day. I was surprised by the amount of expansion of these leaves, easily 4-5x increase in size. I filled about 1/4 of my gaiwan with dry leaf and the leaves were overflowing after several infusions, probably restricting their ability to unfurl fully.....bad memories of my first time using chunks of puerh cake.

[@houston34]

I have to admit, Celine is pretty

[@emberchord]

they both are lol

[@kongengorm3360]

Watching you guys drink the new school tieguanyins as i sip from a traditionally roasted zhengcong tie guanyin. Keep up the good work.

[@clarkjones7765]

All your videos are winners winners chicken dinner's! Thanks. :)

[@MeiLeaf]

Cheers!

[@Lou.B]

Very helpful lesson! Could I suggest another (if you haven't done it already)? How about a tasting/discussion comparison between Tie Guan Yin, Da Hong Pao, Bai Hao, and Dan Cong? I've always been curious about these four main oolong types. (or would you choose others?) Thanks!

[@TheAyeAye1]

Thank you for the very informative and entertaining video. Oolong has been my tea of choice for most of a year, but I didn't know anything about the grades or what to look for.

[@MeiLeaf]

+TheAyeAye1 Excellent, happy to help you find higher quality tea.

[@cristianubeda6124]

Great video, a lot of information that help us understand the differences of the teas. I only missed a liquor colour comparison. Thanks again.

[@lukisIVIII]

Hi Don, great videos, you got me back into the world of tea :) Thank you for that. I've got one question though, would you say that when choosing a tea, whole, not dusty and with few stalks are indicators that define good quality tea? Or does it differ depending on the type of tea we're talking about? I've bought a white tea in a shady store recently. It didn't give me much information about the cultivar or picking, but it tasted amazing, very complex. And the taste was very intense and satisfying throughout five infusions. Looking at the leaves, I thought it was going to be very low quality, because they were fragmented and some of them had brownish, darker colour, whereas the others were green. One thing I thought was looking good about it was the thin white fur on the leaves. Are there any general guidelines as to whether the tea is good or poor quality? Thank you!

[@ravensspeak]

I did a similar cupping, sharing 8 different grades of teiguanyin through Tea Around Town (facebook) about a year ago. It ranged from what you labeled as a mid'acceptable grade to competition grade, with two aged grades (6 and 15 year), and a darkly roasted variant as well. I didn't lead the group with descriptions or expectations and I let them explore their palate and make their own minds up about each tea before moving on. I found it interesting that you didn't mention the high grade 'expected' orchid note that is desired in China/Taiwan or the difference in oxidation that is commonly played with in addressing an Asian market vs a Western market. I liked that you discussed qualifying marks of handling and indicators of craft. Of course there is the additional issue of multiple extractions and the differences that can be brought to light by different brewing methods/tools.

[@MeiLeaf]

+ravensspeak Sounds like a very interesting survey. Absolutely, there is so much more that we could have discussed in more detail - that's the beauty of tea, the conversation could go on forever!

[@magetaaaaaa]

I haven't had your TGY, but the Alishan cream you guys sell is extremely good.

[@VFanK]

That was fun to watch! and informative. Thanks again.

[@NayNay-zm5ln]

Awesome video !!!! You can’t trick “The Master!!!”😁😁😁

[@die12107]

I think I'm falling in love with your videos. They're funny and its realistic. :)

[@MeiLeaf]

+die12107 Appreciate your praise, thank you!

[@rr-fu6mn]

good game idea for my next birthday lol Frank reminds of David Spade lol

[@duckduckducky]

Really informative. Found out the Tie Guan Yin I baught in china had the stalks completely taken off and a golden colour when seeped however the leaves themselves were dark and not very green. So standard/slightly higher I assume. Nonetheless was enjoyable.

[@chefe2152]

I'm watching this video as my tea arrived it is spring picked amd from what I could tell from your tips for quality evaluation it is high grade,it price is any indication I paid 13$ Canadian for 50 grams ,which is 130$ per kg,I love tje flavor and test!

[@YouOriginal]

Watching this makes my drinking it much more enjoyable that I have a high quality :) got it from amazing green tea. Jiplin grade is that good?

[@MathildeMontel]

really enjoyed this video! would have loved to hear about the legend behind the name of this tea "Iron Goddess of Mercy"

[@MeiLeaf]

There are a couple of legends about this name but the most common is that a local man found a rundown temple in the mountains and worked on restoring it to its former beauty. As a reward Guanyin goddess came to him in his dreams and directed him to a cave where this tea plant gift was growing for him to drink and share with others.

[@lainduong5675]

so much fun. i love these games. Also please could you use the same porcelain colour next time for the teas Don? Just to keep everything standard for comparison as the colour of the (porcelain) background could influence our (relative) perception of the tea colour. thanks

[@MeiLeaf]

OK I have to buy more teaware I guess :)

[@lucreziasalvatore21]

Very fun way to learn! Loved it!

[@urpoche]

Great video. Tie guan Yin is my favourite tea of all. Good quality TGY from Anxi is unbeatable in terms of brightness, floralness and complexity. Though when it comes to standard/normal grades, I prefer the TGY from Taiwan. Less pesticides and more care given even though it is a regular grade.

[@MeiLeaf]

+urpoche Good points!

[@zachgavrily2796]

Great video! I had an incredible Taiwan Super Dongding today. Would that be a similar flavour profile as this tea? Thanks for the videos.

[@MeiLeaf]

+Zach Gavrily Dong Ding is a different cultivar (usually Chin Xin) and is more heavily roasted. Flavour profile is fairly different (less floral and creamy compared with Tie Guan Yin) but closer than a strip oolong tea.

[@jayamilapersson4030]

I like TGY but The grading system is soo difficult My favourite tea shop is online so I cant see the product and besides the packeting is made airtight in china but I trust the shop, recently they got two higher quality TGY one is ranked superior and the other is top grade both are from the inner Anxi( gang de? fujian province) I ended up choosing the top grade but the price was fairy close( superior 70g for about $19-20 and Top grade 50g for almost 23$ USD) and both where picked last year I figured that brewing the top grade one I could probably get one more brewing that still taste good then the superior one (they actually boasted that it could be rebrewed up to seven times Im probably not gonna do that many times but maybe four times instead of My usually three times.( i drink tea all day long I mean Why drink water when there is tea)

[@watchingeye5435]

Well three of them is more a funny show then perfect information- anyhow it shows us their funny side

[@chevrofreak]

The Tie Guan Yin I like the most is from Amazon and costs about $20 for 1oz. It is very roasted, and has a strong caramel smell and roasted taste that I love. The leaves are very brown when they are dry, as well as brewed, and so is the liquor that is produced. I have tried several others trying to find a less expensive option, but most have a very "green" taste to them. The tea I love is advertised as "Tie Guan Yin Highest Grade - Oolong Tea Made In Old Ways Most Have Forgot". Is this an atypical variety of this tea?

[@imb5128]

Wow that’s expensive

[@Magnusverm17]

Nice one ..great video ..thanks

[@simonyik7222]

great video!! ordered some blindly of various grades from the same seller. CANT WAIT

[@MeiLeaf]

Haha enjoy the tasting and thank you for watching.

[@Eiroth]

21:25 That was cruel, but hilarious

[@JamesBond-pb2qy]

Frank you remind me of Tommy Shaw of Styx too

[@waedi73]

Teatime great ! Frank looks a bit like the drummer from ZZTop...?

[@ladyhangaku2072]

I always drink tea gong-fu-cha-style, when I'm watching your videos :3 fits really well And now I know, thanks to you guys, that I also possess a superior Tie Guan Yin. Woho! :3

[@1969mmoldovan]

Good tea is oftentimes about enjoying it in good company, isn't it?

[@Klassenfeind]

10:35 She is so funny :D 15:52 Magic TGY Swap!

[@TraveltheRedRoad]

Ok that's getting bought... Along with a few others 😛! I really enjoy these videos but can I ask what is mei leaf if the company is chinalife uk?

[@MeiLeaf]

+Ian Buchanan Good question! We are going to be rebranding chinalife to MEI LEAF in 2016 with lots of fresh ideas around tea. We figured that we should begin branding these videos as MEI LEAF instead of them becoming obsolete.

[@andrewshippy6623]

@Meileaf I love watching this video about not drinking Tie Guan Yin with stems while drinking Shifu's Pudding 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@kapirk2244]

Frank looks like an actor. I figured he was an actor who was making a guest appearance.

[@davemacaluso3185]

So if u mix #1 and #4 would it be #2 or #3. Try that next time. Cheers

[@scottpeters5307]

Loving your videos! Question: I have some tie guan yin that I bought from a different tea shop (before I discovered Mei Leaf) and when I look at the used tea leaves I see that some of them haven't "unrolled". Looking at them more closely, they remain tightly balled even when I try to open them up. This is after numerous infusions. It almost seems as though some of the leaves had a pest of some sort. Have you encountered this before? Is it a sign of bad tea leaves or is this a normal thing for ball-rolled oolongs?

[@MeiLeaf]

+Scott Peters this is not a normal thing for ball rolled Oolongs which should eventually open up given enough space whole brewing. Strange one and nit something we have noticed before with any Tea.

[@TheSamosalover]

I just purchased some Shifu's Pudding Tie Guan Yin from the Mei Leaf Camden store. Unfortunately it must have been some low quality stuff as it was mostly very large stalks in the tea.

[@MeiLeaf]

No. Shifu's pudding is a special type of traditional TGY which intentionally uses a lot of stalk. We made a video about it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4vGpJd4mq6FsJY

[@cheekynandos3676]

@@MeiLeaf Thanks for the link/ clarification. I really enjoyed the flavour of this tea but wasn't expecting so many stems.

[@JehuIslas]

I want a shirt that says tea heads now

[@MeiLeaf]

+Jehu Islas :) YES! OK we have to try to get one made for us.

[@JehuIslas]

I could Actually try to make one hahaha it would be great to do

[@scottarant5741]

Where can I get that tea set? It's exactly what I want! I'm loving all the teas and just the over complexity that can be in it!

[@MeiLeaf]

+Scott Arant This is a sample of our Gong Fu Guru teaset but unfortunately the bamboo lid bends slightly when exposed to boiling hot water so we have had to hold off selling until we have found a solution. It is beautiful and functional except for this annoying bending due to water being absorbed by bamboo. We will be announcing when the Gong Fu Guru is going to be released and doing a video about it too.

[@TigerBait-wo4wc]

Lmao @5:55 he's just pouring tea all over the ground for 5 seconds

[@stefanovona1506]

Thanks for the video, istructive and intresting as always. I bought a TGY couple of weeks ago and i cant understand a flavour note that come out. Its brand like superior grade, picked in spring 2015 in Anxi. Visually its like the 3rd you show, so a good quality. When brewed its really floreal, the first time i drank it i was amazed by its aroma. Beside this the more i drink it the more i taste a note that i didnt notice first, its like a "fishy" note, really weak but there is. Why there's a note like this? It's normal or isnt a good quality? Its the first TGY i drank so im not an espert at all.

[@MeiLeaf]

Hi Stefano, it is possible for TGY to have a little seaweed flavour but it definitely should not be fishy. Usually this seaweed taste is very light and much stringer in Japanese green tea.

[@stefanovona1506]

Guess you're right, "fishy" is not the right description but more "seaweed" as you say. I still have a lot to learn, thanks for your answer!

[@JamesBond-pb2qy]

Come to L.A. !

[@ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ-ΠΑΥΛΟΣΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΑΚΑΤΟΣ]

is the common ok for day to day use (6 grams per 100 ml with 9 infusions) ?

hi, nice, i want to know how many time i can use the same leaf of tea, and how i preserve to the next use or how long? THX

[@MeiLeaf]

+Andres Anibal Nuñez Cuello the amount of times depends on the tea, we write our recommendations on the packet and online. We made a video about how to keep tea between infusions.

[@MeiLeaf]

+Andres Anibal Nuñez Cuello kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpfSmJKgf56tn9U

[@Ladycooks]

Hello Frank

[@ssdrmstre]

Hi Mei leaf, I drink about 1L of tea a day and I noticed that when I drink a lot of a tieguanyin I have, the back of my throat becomes very dry feeling and i have a little bit of difficulty swallowing after drinking near the 1L mark of tea. What is this indicative of for the quality of the tieguanyin I have? Have you had an experience like this with a tieguanyin?

[@MeiLeaf]

All tea can lead to a dry and tightening sensation in the throat and I think that this is due to the astringent nature of the catechins and minerals. It is nothing to be worried about and some people enjoy this sensation especially with PuErh as it usually means that there will be some good sweetness. It is something that happens with TGY when drinking a lot but try brewing with slightly lower temperature (90 degrees) and you should find that it makes the tea softer.

[@ssdrmstre]

Thanks for the quick reply, Teahead!

[@timeck7033]

Why did you decide to let it steep for only 10 seconds?

[@jennifereden8845]

Would a beginner be good starting with the 3rd grade, the one under superior as they develop their palette for tea? It's quite a bit cheaper and more available than the high grade. The one I have seems to have some of the qualities of 3 with a few of the qualities of 4, but its hard to tell without training. Also thank you for the link from the other video!

[@MeiLeaf]

I always advise trying the best tea that you can afford and trying cheaper teas to understand if the differences are important to you. It is all about tasting as much as you can so that you can build up a taste memory to compare with other tea.

[@mailoisback]

Beautiful... especially the girl :)

[@JamesBond-pb2qy]

Frank reminds me of a young Robert Plant

[@JamesBond-pb2qy]

Are we talking about tea here or Birds ?

[@magetaaaaaa]

Does the criteria here, aside from flavor, apply to other balled oolongs? In my experience, it seems like lesser samples I've gotten, the balls are smaller, and they look rougher. With the high quality samples I've gotten, the balled tea leaves seem to have an almost ivory like polish to them. It's like comparing gravel pebbles, to polished ocean pebbles.

[@MeiLeaf]

+magetaaaaaa The size of the balls are not necessarily an indicator but how tightly they are rolled and how polished they are demonstrate the amount of delicious juices and oils are on the leaf so usually denote quality.

[@JamesBond-pb2qy]

Frank is like . What the hell is he talking about ? LOL

[@teawe1936]

Which camera and microphone are you using? THX!

[@MeiLeaf]

+TeaWe Lumix GH4

[@guessure]

if my local tea shop has it spelled, "Tie Kuan Yin" i'm assuming it's the same thing? or maybe not? i figured i would ask before purchasing

[@MeiLeaf]

Yes same tea!

[@guessure]

thank you!

[@eugeniotimush7100]

Thank you:))

[@liuchaquan]

What's up with the hole in the gaiwan saucer?

[@MeiLeaf]

It really works to keep the Gaiwan very stable.

[@ivankleinpeter1166]

hey Don what temperature do you recommend for Anxi tieguanyin? I've heard about 200 Fahrenheit but that seems so high!

[@MeiLeaf]

Actually this is about right for us. Ball rolled Oolongs are made with larger leaves that need hotter water to extract and open up the leaves.

[@ivankleinpeter1166]

Mei Leaf thanks for the quick reply. I appreciate it, and all the wonderful videos!

[@Inspactah1]

How can the lowest grade exist at all? How can it be called Tie Guan Yin or loose leaf tea? There are no leaves... :D :D

[@VapeTime79]

qualiTEA video

[@alekrolstad9855]

Get your facts straight... You don't choose Tie Guan Yin, Tie Guan Yin chooses you ;) ;) ;)

[@bigchunguselementaryschool8312]

Dafuk.

[@_Forever555]

😂

[@MrRussian187]

40g bag for 15 pounds hahaha

[@charlesperez9976]

Whaaaat?? There is actually a tea so low quality,that it’s mostly sticks??? Wow,shameful! Thanks for sharing this terrible fact,wow…

[@eymerichinquisitore9022]

Mann mit Schnurrbart bevorzugt Wodka