The autumn pick.

Welcome back, mydnight.

Where you been?

Busy with classes, finding myself; you know, the usual. heh. I had to come back to see if anybody had any info on the autumn pick, but I guess nobody does.

I'll let ya'll know Friday or so; I'm going to Fangcun today.

guess nobody does. I'll let ya'll know Friday or so; I'm going to Fangcun today.

Have fun on friday

SEb

Yes, Autumn harvest was good, especially Gande Ti Kuan yin (Gande is a town where is famouse of producing fresh ti kuan yin) and Xiping Ti Kuan yin (Xiping is the original place of ti kuan yin) are very good. You can get some to try.

I heard the xiping wasn't very good this year...where do you get your information?

I'm here to report that the Autumn harvest is better than my expectations. This year they were able to get quite a bit of "hao cha" (good tea); much better than 2004 autumn. Tell you the truth, I haven't had tea that's quite this good since the Autumn 2003 pick. It's difficult to describe other than to say that it's smooth like silk when you drink it, and it coats your mouth and throat with a slightly buttery flavor.

This afternoon I was in tea heaven!

After trying the TieGuanYin from the Gande area, I had to buy 1.5 jin of it. I did try the xiping, but I found it to be much more heavy than the gande. The gande tea had a much better 'hui gan' and 'kou gan'.

Mydnight, here is my experience of Xiping and Gande Ti Kuan Yin difference. Xiping Ti Kuan Yin: The soup is more heavy than the gande, which is the very important characteristics of traditional ti kuan yin. The smel is also very traditional for us to taste. The soup color is heavier than Gande Ti Kuan Yin, which means "Kou Gan" and "hui Gan" is better.

Gande Ti Kuan Yin: The smell is much strong than Xiping Ti Kuan Yin, the leaf is more green(is very fresh), beautiful than some green tea I think.Below is the tea leaf brewing I took with Gande Ti Kuan Yin.

I will show you more picture for the difference.

For me it is still very difficult to tell the difference for the two kinds of teas, the best way to know it is to try the two teas.

Http;//

It was easier for me to tell the difference because my shop boss pal didn't have such a high grade of the xiping. heh. Barring that, the taste of the xiping was a bit stronger, but not as pleasant as the gande. And, you're definitely right about the scent. The Gande was much more "xiang" than the xiping.

But, overall, I thought both of the teas were quite light as compared to the very astringent 2003 spring pick.

I meant 2005 spring pick.