Chuan Tong (traditional) style Tie Guan Yin with careful oxidation to bring out satisfying quench and an immensely fruity, terpy and sweet finish.
O how I love this tea and it is CRIMINAL that this traditional style of Tie Guan Yin has gone out of fashion.
Qing Xiang Tie Guan Yin (modern style) is rightly enjoyed all over the globe for its floral and mountain-air high aromatics. We lovingly source our Superior Iron Goddess every Spring and Autumn.
But, the fact that this tea has taken us 9 years to find shows how much harder it is to get hold of pinnacle Chuan Tong Tie Guan Yin (traditional style).
This is partly because this type of Tie Guan Yin takes so much more time, skill and discernment to produce than the modern versions.
There are less and less producers who can craft batches like this Oolong and so the tea makers push the modern versions with great gusto - it still takes skill but not the kind that take decades to master.
It is also the general fashion to focus on teas with initial impact and aroma - easier to sell and very accessible.
Whatever the reasons, this trend has to stop and we need consumers to demand this old-school Tie Guan Yin.
Maiden Dream hits your nose and mouth with a fuzzy noise which, at first, can be described vaguely as 'oxidised tea'.
It is hard to get past the density of it in both aroma, taste and physicality.
But when you sniff further away or allow the liquor to settle on the tongue you are blessed to a firework of the most illuminating notes.
Warm milk, digestive biscuits, coconut cake with frosting and salted buttered toast slathered with apricot jam.
Searing, varnished cherrywood, guava twang and the terpy funk of overipe rock melon.
The physicality of this tea is satisfying - buttery to quench to echoing minerality and cooling, terp-heavy juiciness.
It's like Milk Oolong, Wuyi Yancha, Dancong and fruity, Fujian Blacks all in one cup.
This is what Tea is all about - complicated and evolving, physical and powerful, expressive and discerning.
When this tea finds the old-school tea drinker it will absolutely become the banger on continuous play.
I adore it and it is in my top 5 teas of the year without any doubts.
