Iron Goddess of Mercy, Tie Guan Yin

Iron Goddess of Mercy // Tie Guan Yin // Grade A
Oolong Tea
From Taozhou, Anxi County, Fujian Province, China
50g Tin

or

Low Waste Refill (compostable bag) with discount code: REFILL

This tea is organically grown!

Large lush leaves rolled into ‘iron-like’ balls which upon steeping unfurl to release maximum brewing potential with deep flavours lasting several infusions. The tea soup has great orangey green tone with warming aromatics and bright, smooth, floral orchid flavours. A good depth to the aftertaste giving lasting sweetness and nuttiness swaying towards the realms of green tea.

Grown in the mountainous area of Taozhou, Anxi at an elevation of 550m in a tea garden spanning 15 hectares close to the origin of the Jinzhang River, benefitting from excellent forest coverage and a balanced ecology having followed natural farming, pesticide and agrochemical free practices. Grown using the Tie Guan Yin cultivar and harvested in Autumn’23 with a one bud and two or three leaves picking standard. Autumn is a great time to harvest in Anxi as the weather is ideal averaging 20ºc sunshine and the new growth is the preferred tenderness for making Oolong tea.

The picked leaves are first withered in the evening outside then again inside, the semi fermented leaves are then fixed and rolled in a tightened cloth bag, a process called ‘Baorou’ serving to shape the leaves in their distinct rolled ball form. Following this the leaves are dried and hand sorted, removing the stalks that had been left attached during processing to encourage water reduction throughout.

Brew Guide Per Cup:
Tea 1 teaspoon (3g)
Water 90*c // 300ml
Time 2-3 minutes
Reinfuse leaves x 3 to personal taste
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Brew Guide Gong fu Style For Gaiwan:
Tea - 3-5g
Water - 95*c // 100ml
Brew time - 1st infusion 30sec, 2nd infusion 45 sec, 3rd infusion 60sec, Increasing by 5-10 secs thereafter.
Reinfuse leaves up to 4-5 infusions.

As Iron Goddess of Mercy is one of China’s famous Teas an origin story is associated and goes like this:
There was a rundown temple which held an iron statue of Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Every day a poor farmer named Wei would pass by and notice its condition; thinking "shame, nobody takes care of it". After several months, each day he began to sweep it clean and light incense as an offering to Guanyin. One night, he had a vision of Guanyin, telling him of treasure to be found behind the temple, and that he should take it and share it with the village. Behind the temple, Wei found no treasure but a small tea shoot. He took it into the fields and nurtured it into a large bush, from which a fine tea was produced. Wei and his village began selling the tea under the name Tieguanyin or Iron Goddess of Mercy. They all prospered and the temple was repaired to its former glory. Wei still stopped by the temple to make offerings and now took joy in the daily trip to his tea fields.