Today, Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea (铁观音) – "Iron Goddess of Mercy" or "Iron Bodhisattva of Mercy", is listed among the top ten teas of China. It is prevalent in both Taiwan and China, although nowadays, the processing methods vary quite significantly.
For sure, when entering a tea shop in these countries, you are bound to see Tie Guan Yin on the menu. Even in the West, many cafes list Iron Goddess as their oolong tea option. Production styles vary heavily. While in Taiwan Tie Guan Yin is known for its dark, heavily roasted taste, in China, Anxi Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea producers tend to stick to a light, floral roast.
Anxi Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea Production
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Picking. Anxi Tie Guan Yin is picked at later dates than other tea types. Unlike Green or White teas that prize tender buds, Tie Guan Yin requires fully mature leaves. Pluckers wait for the shoot to reach the Kai Mian (开面) or "Open Face" stage, meaning the top bud has fully opened into a mature leaf. These thick leaves contain the necessary aromatic compounds and physical strength to survive the intense rolling process.
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Withering. The leaves are then left to wither to get rid of moisture.
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Shaking. During the Zuo Qing (做青) phase, the leaves alternate between active shaking (摇青 – Yao Qing) and resting (晾青 – Liang Qing). The leaves are briefly shaken, usually for a few minutes, in bamboo drums or trays to bruise the edges, then laid out to rest, allowing moisture and enzymes to react. This cycle is repeated several times. This bruising oxidizes the leaf edges, creating characteristic "red rims" (红边 – Hong Bian) and a deeper taste.
While this is a hallmark of traditional processing, modern producers of the green Qing Xiang (清香) style remove these oxidized edges to keep the tea tasting purely floral and green, meaning modern Anxi tea usually lacks these red edges.
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Firing. The tea is fired in batches. Traditionally, the oolong tea is fired in large metal woks atop of a wood-fire stove. Today, modern Anxi Tie Guan Yin, especially the green, floral Qing Xiang (清香) style, is almost universally fired in large gas or electric rotary drums. This ensures the precise, even temperature control required to halt oxidation (杀青 – Sha Qing) without burning the leaves.
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Rolling. The rolling step in Tie Guan Yin is known as Bao Rou (包揉). The leaves are tightly bound in canvas bags and compressed/rolled repeatedly. This cycle of wrapping, rolling, breaking apart, and heating is repeated dozens of times to slowly form the leaves into their signature dense, heavy, ball-like shape. Nowadays, Anxi Tie Guan Yin tends to undergo a much gentler rolling process than its Taiwanese sibling.
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Roasting. The rolled tea leaves are roasted. The roasting time will vary by tea master, and it helps develop the unique character of any particular Tie Guan Yin.
Tie Guan Yin Tea Legend
Anxi County in southern Fujian is the birthplace of Tie Guan Yin.
Two legends surround the name — Iron Goddess of Mercy. The Goddess of Mercy, or Guanyin, is a well-known bodhisattva of the Buddhist world.
One legend tells of a poor farmer, Wei Yin, who tended a rather run-down Guanyin temple. One day, the bodhisattva came to him in his dream. There, she told him to look into a cave upon waking, and he would find a treasure worth sharing. So he did, and found a tiny tea tree, which he planted and carefully tended. The tea tree grew big and tall and yielded an especially delicious type of tea. He called the tea Tie Guan Yin and shared it with his community, continuing to live a prosperous life and caring every day for the temple and the Goddess who inhabits it. True or not, many still believe that some of the earliest ancient tea trees grow in the Anxi region.
The second legend attributes the discovery to a scholar named Wang Shirang. Wang discovered the unique plant, cultivated it, and presented the tea to the Qianlong Emperor, who named it Tie Guan Yin because the tightly rolled leaves sank like iron (铁 – Tie) and were as beautiful as the Goddess Guanyin (观音 – Guanyin).
Anxi Tie Guan Yin vs. Taiwanese Tie Guan Yin
Historically, Anxi Tie Guan Yin was a moderately oxidized, heavily charcoal-roasted tea known as Nong Xiang (浓香) – "Strong Fragrance". Today, Anxi Tie Guan Yin is usually processed as a lightly oxidized oolong. The tea tastes fresh with a pleasant floral aroma. The bright green, floral, lightly oxidized style prevalent in Anxi today, known as Qing Xiang (清香), is a modern innovation from the 1990s designed to appeal to the tastes of Chinese citizens who regard green tea as a healthier beverage.
Taiwanese Tie Guan Yin, on the other hand, preserved the old Anxi method, while modern Anxi producers have abandoned it in favor of the greener style. Taiwanese TGY is heavily oxidized and more roasted, placing it in the darker oolong category. The tea liquor is of deep golden color and has a sweet, baked flavor.
In Taiwan, the term Tie Guan Yin can be confusing because it refers to both the plant and the processing style. True cultivar tea is Tie Guan Yin (铁观音) / Zheng Cong Tie Guan Yin (正欉铁观音). However, many teas sold as Taiwanese Tie Guan Yin are actually other cultivars, such as Jin Xuan (金萱) or Si Ji Chun (四季春), that have been processed using the traditional heavy-roast, cloth-rolled method.