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I recall going through a one ounce pouch of this tea during the first half of June, but I cannot pinpoint a time frame for my review notes beyond that. The label on the pouch listed this tea as Authentic Muzha Tieguanyin, so I am making the assumption that the listing I am posting this review/tasting note under is for the same tea. Overall, I found this to be a very, very good Muzha Tieguanyin. It faded a bit quickly on me, so I had to knock a few points off the initial numerical score I meant to assign it, but otherwise, I had no real complaints with this tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cinnamon, char, banana, and pine. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of raisin, roasted grain, and brown sugar. The first infusion then brought out scents of vanilla and roasted peanut. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of char, cinnamon, pine, roasted grain (barley?) brown sugar, golden raisin, vanilla, and roasted peanut that were underscored by hints of grass and butter on the swallow. I caught a rather indistinct sweetness too. Subsequent infusions saw the nose turn buttery as well as slightly fruitier and grainier. Notes of toasted coconut, toasted rice, cream, cooked lettuce, cattail shoots, banana leaf, mango, coffee, plum, and minerals appeared in the mouth along with belatedly emerging notes of caramelized banana and grilled pineapple. The final infusions emphasized lingering impressions of toasted rice, minerals, roasted barley, char, and cream balanced by soft notes of vanilla and golden raisin.

I know that Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company has seen a bit of drama over the course of the past year, but I cannot help being consistently wowed by or at the very least appreciative of the products they offer. This was a gorgeous tea, perhaps a touch underpowered in the later infusions, but gorgeous nonetheless. I would recommend it highly to established fans of roasted Taiwanese oolongs as well as those looking for a quality introduction to such teas.