Iron Goddess of Mercy (Tie Guan Yin) has a very specific flavor in the world of tea, especially when it’s made in the modern style (like the one I sell). It’s a combination of floral, vegetal, and fabric aromas. To be more specific: fresh white orchids, cooked Chinese broccoli, garlic sauteed snow pea leaves, and wet cotton sheets/shirts/laundry in general.
One of the things that often comes to mind when I smell a brewed Tie Guan Yin is a sense of place, something like this: 
I know how I described it above probably doesn’t conjure up the same image. You’ve gotta consider the ratios of those aromas to get a clearer picture. Yes it’s vegetal, and I really do think it’s similar to those vegetables described above — but it’s mostly floral and especially elegant. Yes it’s fabric-like but only in a way which invokes a sort of … well, idyllic setting of clothes on a line, flapping in the wind. There’s a tranquility in that for me.
The picture above is brewed at ratios (left to right), 1g:75ml, 1:50, 1:25. The steeping time was 2 minutes, and the water temperature was at rolling boil.
I have a friend whom I get together with to drink tea once in a while. He is a big fan of Tie Guan Yin and has a batch of more traditional style stuff made back in 1998. Generally I drink Tie Guan Yin very weak compared to him, and the last time we got together he showed me his way of drinking it — it’s very interesting. The ratio for him is beyond 1:10 (although he doesn’t measure anything), at 1:10 is how I brew sencha/gyokuro and phoenix oolongs, but I didn’t try it with this style of tea before.
Somewhat hilariously, my idyllic picture of linen on a clothesline changed to this this: (you should definitely watch this)
https://youtu.be/rhVXfiMG1HE?t=120
There’s a whole other aspect of the tea which shows up when it’s brewed this strong. It’s the same sensation you get from phoenix oolongs, but not quite as direct. This sensation is called ‘gan’, a bitterness which coexists and flows into sweetness. Perhaps I’m too inexperienced to say this, but at least from my observations of the two styles of Tie Guan Yin, radically different as they are: The aged and traditional style has a lot more ‘gan’ than the modern, elegant style; and although there is gan in the modern version, it doesn’t seem that it’s the reason why someone would drink this tea.
Gan is the ‘leather-face’ chasing you through the clotheslines. It’s quite memorable. 
I’m the only one in my house that could drink the 1:10 version, everyone else preferred it brewed at 1:75~1:60. It’s worth noting that with a very long initial steep of 2 minutes, I was still able to re-brew the tea for a total of 13 pots before I started to think it had nothing interesting left to give, and I officially stopped after the 15th pot.
Notes: With the steeping time at 2 minutes and using boiling water to brew the tea I can get a sense of ‘gan’ at 1g:30ml or stronger, at 1:50 astringency is an unwelcome addition to an otherwise ‘flawless’ tea. Weaker than 1:75 leaves a lot of room to be desired flavor wise. 1:60 should hit a good balance between being rich, aromatic, flavorful, while not being astringent, sour, or bitter. That will be something to try tomorrow because after 18 pots I’m officially Tie Guan Yin’d out.
Want to try it? You can buy it here!
https://www.sommerier.com/?product=tie-guan-yin-iron-goddess-of-mercy-50g
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