Zen Tea Tie Guan Yin, ofren called Monkey-Picked Oolong

Here I am with yet another Zen Tea purchase.  Tie Guan Yin is a common type of Oolong and what makes this one interesting is that you are supposed to do multiple infusions using this.  There are lots of different types of tea that can be used for multiple infusions but they work best with Oolongs and not the terrible ones. 

Outside:  The tea looks like little rolled leaves.  I brewed the tea at a 80 degrees Celsius (which might be a bit too low for this) and varied the steeping time depending on which infusion I used (you're supposed to add some time each infusion).  The first infusion is light but it gets a little darker each infusion.  The first one smells the most vegital while the second smells more floral and the third is a weaker floral.

Insides:  I'm going to divide this into the infusions.

First infusion:  The tea is very vegetative in taste with a floral note intertwining.  Overall, this is a light tea with a medium body and a slightly sweet taste.  It reminds me a bit of sencha except a bit heavier and with more of a floral scent. 

Second infusion:  This one is a LOT more floral and my favorite infusion.  Less vegetative than the first infusion but this one has a nice floral scent (my first thought was jasmine, but the bag says jasmine and orchid).  It has the same body as the first infusion but the tea is a little bit sweeter.  This is really a nice introduction to multiple infusions.  Also physically, the leaves are opening up so if you put a tiny bit of tea in the infuser, the tea has doubled or tripled in size.

Third infusion:  This is the first noticeable drop in flavor, but still drinkable and actually good.  The tea is light-bodied and there's still the floral scent, but no vegetative taste and yet the same amount of sweetness.  I won't brew any more infusions of this because it lost about a third of the flavor.

Overall:  I really like this.  It's a light floral with a medium body and you definitely get your bang for your buck.  Check it out.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Zen Tea is a Canadian Tea retailer that sells mid to high quality tea.