A lightly roasted Ben Shan Tie Guan Yin to showcase the effects of gentle roasting on green Oolongs. This tea includes a taster of the unroasted tea to educate your palate on the textural and aromatic changes brought about by roasting.
This Autumn Tie Guan Yin was specifically chosen for roasting in London. The Ben Shan cultivar is a popular variety for Tie Guan Yin, with milky notes amongst all of that Qing Xiang (high aroma) floral bouquet which this tea is famous for. However, we do not usually purchase Ben Shan because it tends to have a lighter texture, short finish and a 'hole' in the middle of its aromatics.
We wanted to see if a light London roasting would build the texture and depth of the tea while still maintaining the overall milky and floral character of the tea. We experimented with different roast parameters until we found a perfect sweet spot - enough roast but not too much - the result is this extremely small batch (4kg) Tie Guan Yin.
We are really happy with Xiping Cereal. It preserves the milky and bright character of the original while adding warmth, thickness, softness and so much more depth - the tea tastes complete. Taste it against the unroasted version and you will have a much clearer understanding of the power of roasting!
