I am quite familiar with Tie Guan Yin from Taiwan - a dark roasted tea with a heavy flavor. I recently had a Chinese Tie Guan Yin that was very different - lighter in color (almost a green tea) and with a very distinctive taste that I've never experienced before with any kind of tea. The aroma and taste reminded me of an autumn forest - fallen leaves.

My first reaction was - WOW - this is really good - but on subsequent tastings I'm finding the unusual taste to be less appealing.

So I ask - is this kind of taste "normal" for Chinese Tie Guan Yin? My wife says that Chinese teas are often flavored, and maybe the taste of this tea is from something besides the tea itself.

well chinese tea's are usually light in flavour and colour both.... The oolong tea i had once at a friends place had a sligh dark colour and was a lil bitter... I dont know which type it is

Tea can be flavored with all kinds of things - jasmine tea and Earl Grey tea are two of the most famous flavored teas.

Are you worried that this tea has an artificial flavoring?