Seven Cups Tie Luo Han (Iron Arhat) Light Roast Rock Oolong 2008

Description (from sevencups.com): Tie Luo Han bushes resemble a willow tree with thick shiny leaves with large veins that create a rich complex tea. Our Tie Luo Han is lightly roasted so you can appreciate the robust flavor and unique floral aroma. The special character of this tea is its complex and interesting aftertaste. If you are looking for an outstanding rich and complex rock oolong, Tie Luo Han is for you! Guo Bo Cang writes in 1886 about how Tie Luo Han bushes first became popular in making green tea during the Song Dynasty and later as the first of the four famous rock oolongs to become popular in the 17th century. The original Tie Luo Han bushes grew near high mountain caves and were given the name Iron Arhat to represent monks who developed their spiritual practices in this region.

Review: This tea is incredible and bizarre. It was totally not what I was expecting. It tastes like sweet, baking dough. Like the outside of an apple pie, without the apples. It smells like apple pie *with* the apples. It's got a very complex and unique flavor and aroma: it's described as floral, but it comes off differently, and has many deeper dimensions. It's very sweet, and light in color, but strong in taste.

I feel kind of the same way I felt about Eight Immortals...this tea is surprisingly strong, and while it may be outside the bounds of what I normally enjoy, I really love the flavor. This is one of the many teas available at Seven Cups that goes to show that you do not need added flavor in your tea to have strong, willful taste. Not all "plain" tea tastes plain -- teas like this one have so much complexity and natural sweetness that you begin to think you're crazy for ever drinking artificially flavored tea. I can't even really pinpoint the many flavors this tea will offer you, but among them is sweet, rising dough, and I love it.

I am not sure what else to say about this tea, except that you just never know what you are in for with tea, and this is a perfect example. If you are looking for a sweet, fruity tea that smells like the inside of the most amazing bakery in the world, you need this tea. It's floral, but strong, and smooth, complex and robust. Really, really wonderful tea.

The Good: incredible flavor and aroma
The Bad: none
More Information/Buy: Seven Cups Tie Luo Han (Iron Arhat) Light Roast Rock Oolong 2008