Tag: Oolong Tea

Level One Oolong

Level One Oolong, Tie Guanyin.

Level One Oolong, Dark Roast, from Yin xiang hua xia tea. Origin: Anxi; Season: Autumn; Harvest elevation: 1200-1500m.

Working my way through green teas, it seems I cannot resist the siren call of Oolong!

There are different types of Oolong, but the most well known is called Tie Guanyin, also sometimes called Iron Goddess of Mercy. According to one of the legends of this type of tea’s origins, a humble tea farmer in Anxi County, Fujian, China, noticed a local temple had fallen into disrepair. He took it upon himself to clean it up, sweep it out, and then offer some incense to the goddess of Mercy, Guanyin. Shortly thereafter, the Goddess appeared to him in a dream. She told him that in the cave behind her temple a treasure awaited that he needed to share with others. When he investigated, he found the shoot of a tea tree. He planted the shoot in his field and nurtured it, the tea it produced was amazing! He gave cuttings of the tree to his neighbors far and wide. When all the tea trees came to fruition, they began selling it under the name “Tie Guanyin” to honor the goddess.

Whenever I’ve seen “Iron Goddess of Mercy” tea on a restaurant menu, I order it, I mean, who could resist such a name?

So I’ve sampled a few over the years.

But, I can’t say I’ve ever had any that even comes close to this one from
Yin xiang hua xia tea.

This is a darkly roasted Tie Guanyin. The base of the flavors and smells are similar to dark roasted grain, a bit like a dark beer or Japanese roasted barley tea. On top of that are layers of sweetness and orchid fragrance which perfume the tea pot and cup. The fragrance/taste of the tea is long lasting and haunting, but the perfume is not overpowering. Super elegant and incredibly well balanced.

Easily among the best Oolongs I have had so far.

#Tea #DrinkTea #Cha #Oolong #Fujian #Fuding #TieGuanyin #IronGoddessOfMercy #GongFuCha #YinXiangHuaXiaTea

  • Level One Tie Guan Yin, Dark Roast
  • Level One Tie Guan Yin, Dark Roast
  • Level One Tie Guan Yin, Dark Roast
  • Level One Tie Guan Yin, Dark Roast
  • Level One Tie Guan Yin, Dark Roast

wu dong bai ye

When I first started writing about tea on instagram, I got a message out of the blue from Chao Zhou Tea Growers, aka @wudongtea, asking if I would like to try some Organic Oolong Tea.

Oolong tea is not particularly common in the US. I had tried a few over the years, but didn’t really know much about it. In fact, I had sort of been avoiding it, as from what I had read, Oolong was basically a whole other world of tea and tea terminology from the basics of White, Green, and Black teas. Many Oolong teas are highly coveted and often quite expensive.

But, how could I refuse some samples? The usual rule with these deals, I come to understand, is, you buy some of their teas, and they send along some small samples of their other teas.

The first batch, I bought 100g of their Honey Orchid Oolong, and they sent along samples of their  Ya Shi Xiang, aka Duck Poop Fragrance varietal tea.

I drank all the Honey Orchid, but really liked their Duck Shit Oolong, so decided to re-up my supply of that with my next order.

The previous bunch of teas and samples they had sent had all been in the “Orchid” family of flavors, so I asked them to send me a couple samples that were different varietals/flavors/fragrances.

This is Spring 2018 Chaozhou Old Bush Wudong Bai Ye Oolong Tea. Bai Ye means “White Leaf”. It is called that because the leaves of the tea varietal used to produce it are lighter in color than most other tea trees.

The flavor of the Bai Ye varietal is most often described as “Peach”, but it is more evocative of Peach Blossom scent than the flavor of ripe peaches.

It has just enough grip in the early steeps to keep it interesting, but it is the length that is crazy. This tea haunted me for days after drinking it.

Delicious!