This Tie Guan Yin comes from the region of origin of this great oolong. Today, this is no longer a matter of course, as there are many copies from nearby, and oolongs from Taiwan with the same production method are sometimes called so.
There are several myths surrounding the beginning of the cultivation of this tea. It is named after the Buddha of Mercy. It is usually said that the Buddha appeared to a poor farmer in a dream to point him to a tea tree from the Tie Guan Yin, which the farmer could then use to build a tea farm.
Genuine Tie Guan Yin has a tremendous floral aroma, which also changes with each infusion. This is due to the unique terroir and climate in the hills of the Anxi region. The high altitudes offer the best drainage. The proximity to the sea and the subtropical, humid climate of Southern Fujian allow for the best growing conditions. The key to the tea's unique character, however, is the region's red, fertile soils. In addition to being high in nutrients, they are also slightly acidic, which is very beneficial to the tea plants.The true success story of this tea begins with the introduction of oolong production methods from Wuyi in the Qing Dynasty. The local tea cultivars proved to be ideally suited to this method of production, and a new, great provenance was born. However, it became established that the teas should not be roasted as much as the local oolong teas, and thus entirely new flavors began to be discovered. These mild-roasted and caramel-sweet Tie Guan Yin are now called Chuang Tong (傳統), traditional Tie Guan Yin.
Then, in the late 90s of the last century, a new oolong production method was introduced from Taiwan, which completely eliminates the final roasting. This allows the floral and sweet aromas to develop unhindered, and become more intense. This Tie Guan Yin is then called Qing Xiang (清香), which literally means "Fresh Taste" but is usually translated as light Tie Guan Yin. Our Tie Guan Yin Highest Grade Pure belongs to this category.Harvesting for this tea is done by hand, classically for Oolong the bud and the first three leaves are used. For oolong teas, the tea leaves are allowed to sprout slightly larger than for green tea. After harvesting, the leaves are withered in the sun to remove moisture, and oxidation or fermentation already starts slightly. The leaves are then removed from the sun and further wilted indoors. In the process, they are moved back and forth several times. Through small tears on the tea leaves, especially at the edges, cell juice escapes and oxidizes with the atmospheric oxygen.
In the next stage, fermentation is intensified. The leaves now rest on bamboo plates or large plastic nets in the fermentation chamber, depending on the quantity, and develop a reddish-brown color at the tearing points.
After reaching the desired degree of fermentation, the fermentation is stopped by heat in an oven (green kill). The leaves are then broken up in a rolling machine, the aromatic cell sap spreads over the leaves and hardens. The tea is now given its characteristic hemispherical shape by partly manual and partly mechanical rolling (Ball Cloth Rolling, Baorou 包揉). As a final step, it is only dried in the kiln.
