Tie Guan Yin

Overview:
Tie Guan Yin is one of the most famous teas in the world and perhaps more recognizable by its English name ‘Iron Goddess of Mercy’. Tie Guan Yin puts China on the map for oolong tea and creates some of the most celebrated (not my opinion) aged teas of Taiwan. In terms of oxidation it is closer to green tea than black and, depending on its style, carries a wonderful bouquet of floral aromas similar to being in a flower shop. Tie Guan Yin is the Chinese tea that an average person will drink several dozen times in their life while dining in Chinese restaurants. If someone is their 20s or 30s, there should at the very least be a basis of familiarity with this tea, but many people have never tried good Tie Guan Yin. This TGY generously shares an aroma that’s reminiscent of Sunny Days in July or August, the general fragrance of pan-fried snow pea leaves, and white orchids or lilies.

In Buddhism the Goddess of Mercy is known as Guan Yin in Chinese, Kannon in Japanese, and Avalokiteśvara or Padmapani to the Indian’s. He or She (depends) comes up in virtually every Asian novel I have read. Kannon is also the Deity of Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto, one of my favorite spots in the world. When it comes to this tea and why it’s called Tie Guan Yin, there’s a bit of a story.

The Legend:
In the Fujian province of Southern China, there once was a man name Wei from the little village of Anxi who worked far from his home. Anxi was a poor village without much work but it was a reasonable place to live. During his commute to work everyday he would pass by an abandoned temple of the goddess Guan Yin. An iron statue of Guan Yin within the temple was overgrown with weeds and vines. He always thought it was a shame to see the temple in that state’ but didn’t have the means to do anything about it. One day something came over him and on his way home he decided to pull down the vines from the statue and swept the temple floor.

Pleased by the progress he made with his clean-up efforts that day, he decided to return for a few hours each following day to burn incense and do small routine cleaning. Little by little the temple was shaping up and when there was nothing more he could do the man gazed at his work with pride. He returned home and slept. Guan Yin visited the man in his dreams and thanked him for taking care of the temple. She informed him of a waterfall a short walk from the temple and told him to look behind it for a token of her appreciation.

The next day the man found the waterfall and hugged the rock face to inch his way behind it. The alcove was not very big and there was nothing that stood out to him immediately. “What was I hoping for?” he thought. Before he left he noticed a tiny sprout coming out of the rocky ledge. There was nothing else to take, perhaps this was the gift Guan Yin had in mind. He returned the following day with a pick and shovel. He broke the young plant free of its home, and planted it in the garden outside his house. For several years nothing really came from it.

Many years later the man noticed it was a tea plant and decided to try his hand at making tea from it. Pleased with his success he shared it with his neighbours who all grew fond of it. Cuttings were taken from this plant and propagated around the area. Soon enough almost every family had a few tea bushes and everyone took on the roles of amateur tea producers. This small town of Anxi flourished and began to create a reputation of making high quality tea.

It was all thanks to this man and his tea bush. He told the villagers the story of how the bush came into his possession. Thankful now to Guan Yin the villagers of Anxi decided to commission a full professional repair of the temple. The polished iron statue of Guan Yin has blessed Anxi with prosperity ever since.

Styles and Grades:
This particular Tie Guan Yin is a Modern AAAA grade.

When it comes to understanding Tie Guan Yin it’s not a simple matter. There are a three culturally significant styles of Tie Guan Yin. All with merits, to each their own.
1) ‘Traditional’ or Nong Xiang style which comes from a time when tea processing skill was not as refined as it is today. It has a deeper oxidation level pushing the tea towards the ‘darker’ side of oolong. The color is generally in the realm of orange.
2) ‘Modern’ or Qing Xiang style which is more aromatic, floral, and delicate. It’s lighter in oxidation keeping it closer to the ‘greener’ side of oolong. The color of the tea is generally in the realm of jade greens and faint yellows.
3) ‘Taiwanese’ style which practically does a deep baking of the tea to obtain roasted notes after a deep oxidation to get richer flavor, and aging the tea afterwards for complexity. Generally the colors are in the deep amber/browns. The aroma has distinct roasted notes and an antique wood aroma.

Grading exists in all styles and generally follows a simple letter system. Besides the letter system I’ve tried several ‘crown grade’ teas thanks to some of my friends who travel to China often and bring me back gifts. Criteria for grading is related to the quality of leaf material used, the fragrance and finishing power of the tea, and full unbroken leaf of a consistent size and oxidation level. I would consider importing tea at a quality of ‘A grade’ or above. At A Grade the price is still quite low and would be a good entry level oolong for a collection. The price virtually doubles every step above A, and goes up to AAAAA before arriving at a price range I haven’t explored at my own expense yet. Frankly, A4 is already pretty up there. Usually I wouldn’t consider it, but I had a couple revelations recently that reminded me just how important this tea is to carry, and my connection with it.

In my opinion, I am not a fan of Traditional/Nong Xiang or Taiwanese Tie Guan Yin. I don’t go out of my way to try Taiwanese TGY so perhaps it’s just a matter of not having tried a good one yet. There are many roasted oolongs from Taiwan to choose from, so calling one ‘Tie Guan Yin’ ultimately makes no difference to me if its going to taste like Houjicha. Regarding the Traditional Style, if I am going to drink a slightly dark oolong I would go for Phoenix oolongs or Beauty oolongs. If I wanted a dark oolong I would go with Da Hong Pao. Traditional TGY doesn’t ‘fit’ into the flavors of tea I’ve come to appreciate in life. Modern Tie Guan Yin from Anxi in Fujian has much more personality to me and it carries with it a signature flavor that I don’t get from virtually anything else.

Closing Statement:
Chinese restaurants in general often offer Tie Guan Yin as their standard free pot of tea. The quality of it is so low that it doesn’t even register with my brain as having fragrance other than the generic ‘Chinese tea’ aroma. It’s a shame that something so revered by tea lovers has been dragged though the mud and frankly shown at its absolute worst to the vast majority of people looking for it. I am proud to be an outlet for you to potentially try a great one for what I believe (while expensive) is a very reasonable cost for quality. As I wrote above, this is a modern AAAA style with a delicate floral aroma profile. There is a serious possibility that if you’re considering getting someone (or yourself) into fine tea, this could be the wonderful ‘gateway tea’ which you need. It’s not for someone who wants a powerful, dark, fruit driven oolong. If you want those things, check out the teas I have called ‘The Mirage of Penglai’ or ‘The Formless One’.