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Tie Guan Yin tea packaging with 'Atlas Tea Co. Iron Goddess' label on a dark background
White bowl filled with green Tieguanyin tea leaves on a dark gray background
Tie Guan Yin tea packaging with 'Atlas Tea Co. Iron Goddess' label on a dark background
White bowl filled with green Tieguanyin tea leaves on a dark gray background
Fujian · China

Tie Guan Yin

Iron Goddess of Mercy

Complex floral orchid character.

Regular price $24.00
Sale price $24.00 Regular price $24.00
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About

This ball-rolled oolong is grown from its own cultivar and processed in a distinct style.

Tie Guan Yin, or Iron Goddess of Mercy, is named after Guanyin, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. This premium oolong from Anxi County in Fujian Province, southeastern China, is one of the most famous teas in the world. Grown from its own dedicated cultivar, it is processed by techniques particular to this one tea.

In the modern Anxi style it is lightly oxidised and rolled into tight, jade-green pellets that unfurl slowly in the cup. The dry leaf already carries a scent of orchid; brewed, it opens into a bright, sweet liquor – intensely floral, with a hint of roasted chestnut, a creamy texture and a long, clean finish.

Tie Guan Yin can be re-steeped many times with each infusion shifting a little. It is at its best brewed gong fu style with plenty of leaf in short repeated steeps – though it makes a fragrant, easy cup brewed the Western way too.

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Tie Guan Yin tea packaging with 'Atlas Tea Co. Iron Goddess' label on a dark background

Tie Guan Yin

Tasting

Leaf

Tightly rolled into dense, dark-green pellets with a short stem attached, in the ball-rolled style. Glossy and jade-toned, heavy in the hand. The leaves unfurl slowly into large, whole pieces over successive steeps.

Aroma

Intensely floral orchid and lilac above a sweet, buttery base, with a faint roasted-chestnut note underneath. Fresh and green rather than roasted. Clean and lingering, with no grassiness.

Liquor

Pale gold with a green cast, bright and clear. Light to medium body, smooth and almost creamy, with very low astringency. Orchid and chestnut carry a sweet, buttery depth, finishing long and clean lingering aftertaste called "yun."

Profile
Tea Type Oolong
Processing Ball-Rolled
Caffeine Yes
Perfect For Afternoon
Milk Option Milk is not suitable for this tea.
Preparation

How to brew Tie Guan Yin

Tie Guan Yin is a ball-rolled oolong that is a joy to brew gongfu style, coaxing out its floral flavours as you re-steep it.

Temperature 90°C / 194°F
Measure 5g per 100ml
Steep Time 20s, +10s per steep
Infusions 5-7
Temperature 90°C / 194°F
Measure 3g per 250ml
Steep Time 3 min
Infusions 1-2
Tea package 'Iron Goddess' from Atlas Tea Co. with a glass mug of tea on a dark background.
Valley between large rock formations with greenery
Origin

Fujian

Elevation ▲ 300-1500m
Country China

Fujian sits on China's subtropical southeast coast, where a warm, humid climate and a mountainous, high-rainfall interior suit the tea plant well. Steep, mineral-rich hillsides are why the province grows such a range of styles and tea processing was mastered here long ago.

Fujian is home of white tea, grown mainly in the northern counties of Fuding and Zhenghe, where Silver Needle is made from unopened buds. As well as being home to two distinct schools of oolong: the heavily roasted rock oolongs (yancha) of the Wuyi Mountains in the north, and the greener, more floral Tie Guan Yin of Anxi in the south.

Fujian is also widely regarded as the birthplace of black tea – Lapsang Souchong, first made in the Wuyi area in the 1600s, was the original, and the model for the black teas later grown across India and Sri Lanka.