Iron Buddha Oolong comes to me courtesy of Jing Tea. I’m no expert, but I think this is ben shan, not tie guan yin. The dry leaves have more of a withered look than the tighter, larger ball and tail appearance of some of the other TGYs I’ve sampled this week. In terms of fragrance, color, and shape, it shares commonalities with Holy Mountain’s Ben Shan and Adagio’s Ti Kuan Yin, which MarshalN and Jason of Bearsblog thought was ben shan. As I said, I’m not an expert, and I could be wrong.
As far as flavor goes, it was not unlike the sweetly floral, leafy green taste some tie guan yins display, but encompassed in a less clean, less pure overall package. It brewed up to a yellower liquor than usual, again more like ben shan than tie guan yin. The feel and finish weren’t all that convincing either. The nail in the coffin for me was the rose-like flavor that showed up in later infusions, which is what Adagio’s Ti Kuan Yin did. In my review from then I remarked that I enjoyed that quality, but I guess my tastes have progressed. It could be that this tea is just in need of refreshing, which might make for a good roasting experiment.
It’s always painful to write a negative review of a tea I was given for free, but without honesty a tea blog isn’t really worth much.
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I’m confused about ben shan and am having trouble finding good info on the web about it. It looks and tastes similar to tie guan yin to me. Do you know what the differences are, or have you by any chance seen a good article on the subject? thanks!
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The basic issue is that ben shan is similar enough to tie guan yin that it is often sold as such. Most of what I’ve picked up about it has come from bits and pieces here and there, meaning I know next to nothing and am confident about even less. There is no definitive source that settles the question for all time, as far as I can tell.
I found it helpful to buy an actual ben shan–it offers a basis for semi-meaningful comparison when I’ve got a dubious tea on my hands, though historically I’ve usually been unaware.
The differences between BS and TGY aren’t always huge, especially when mixes are involved. I think today’s could have easily rolled right past if I hadn’t tasted other TGY so recently. It might be a mix. It could even be a good one. Or I might be totally clueless.
Some links that might be helpful:
A Tea Addict’s Journal
Tao of Tea
Chinese Tea Store (this copy is everywhere, but that picture is useful)
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Lewis, thanks a lot for the info! Now I know why I’ve been confused.
I like this quote from MarshalN’s blog: “Benshan, otherwise known as fake tieguanyin…”
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That quote sums things up nicely.
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Benshan is hard to pinpoint when you don’t have a reference… even if you do, it’s still not easy, because sometimes you just wonder if the TGY you’re drinking just happens to be not-very-good…
I was rather taken aback by the price I paid for the Benshan. That’s dirt cheap. Imagine, now, how much profit you make selling it as TGY.
I’d say at least half the green TGY out there on the market are mixed in with benshan, if not more.
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