Many tea drinkers who are familiar with Chinese Oolong tea, but for those who are wondering about TieGuanYin, this is an oolong tea which originated back in the 19th century in Anxi in the Fujian province.
The tea is named after the Chinese Goddess of Mercy Guanyin (a Buddhist bodhisattva known for compassion).
And behind this tea is a story that a poor farmer named Wei would pass by a run-down temple which had an iron statue of Guanyin. Wei didn’t have much but he brought a broom and incense from his home and swept the temple clean and lit the incense as an offering to Guanyin and he would do this twice a month.
One day Wei had a dream telling him that there is treasure inside a cave behind the temple and he had to share the treasure with others.
Wei went and there was a cave and in the cave was a tea shoot. He planted it into his field and it became a large bush which its leaves produced the finest tea. He gave cuttings from his bush to neighbors and began selling the name of the tea as “Teiguanyin”. And as Wei and the neighbors prospered, the run down temple was repaired.
The other tale is that a scholar named Wang discovered a tea plant beneath the Guanyin rock in Xiping and he brought the plant home for cultivation and when he visited the Quianlong Emperor, he offered the tea as a gift from his native village. The emperor was impressed by tea and asked about its origin. Wang said it was discovered beneath the Guanyin rock and thus named it Guanyin Tea.
Nevertheless, TieGuanYin Oolong tea is one of the most complex teas and the method to processing Tieguanyin tea is kept a secret. But there are different varieties of TieGuanYin Oolong Tea.
I personally have not purchased Grade AA version of TieGuanYin Oolong Tea but I have tried the grade B of Cha Wu Fragrant TieGuanYin Oolong Tea.
According to Cha Wu that the leaves are 50% fermented, no roasting and thus the taste is more towards the yellowish than brown. It is less roast, nutty and is more flowery and fresh which is similar to Anxi TieGuanYin Tea.
But I do enjoy this tea and its flavor. But I have nothing to compare it to and knowing that top varieties of TieGuanYin are the most expensive Oolong teas in the world (next to the pricier Da Hong Pao Oolong Tea), I can only judge what I have tried.
So, I’ll give the grade B of Cha Wu Fragrant TieGuanYin Oolong Tea a thumbs up, but want to try higher grades, so for now, I’ll give this four stars!
