"Monkey Picked" Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea (Taiwan)

A young monk once asked the wise tea master Lao Cha 

– Sensei, why is Tie Guan Yin such a famous tea? Why does everyone love it? 

– It’s because it takes a real tea master to produce this tea. The leaves have to go through so many steps: tossing, roasting, rolling, etc. But once it’s ready – oh, how good it tastes! Try this one – it’s so light and floral. It tastes like late spring itself. 

According to a legend, this tea was growing on a cliff, too steep for humans to pick its leaves. So the farmers trained monkeys to climb up the cliffs and harvest the tea. 

Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea is produced by implementing the heavy tossing procedure and pan-frying at moderate temperatures. This unique technique makes Oolong tea form its signature green leaves with red edges.

Compared to other Chinese teas, the making process of Tie Guan Yin is the most complicated one, and the heavy tossing (yaoqing) is considered to be the most critical step. It is the key stage to form the Guan Yin Yun (观音韵) and the distinctive floral fragrance of Tie Guan Yin that makes it unique.

The monkey-picked Tie Guan Yin is baked slowly over a soft fire, in three steps, each lasting for no longer than two minutes. It's a deeply oxidized tea with smooth, honey-peach, and baked flavor.