Roasted Iron Goddess Oolong

Grown in Anxi, Fujian Province in China. The birthplace of Iron Goddess Oolong (Tie Guan Yin).

As with all famous Chinese teas there is a story with this one.

In the countryside near Anxi, sat a temple. Long forgotten apart from one poor old man who visited daily. He cleaned the altar of Guanyin, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, and prayed.
In recognition of his kindness, Guanyin appeared in a dream, requesting he visit a nearby cave where she’d left a gift.
Upon waking he went to the cave and found a little seedling. Despite his dubiousness, he planted the seedling in his garden and tended it every day.
He was soon disappointed that only leaves came from the plant.
One day when a friend was visiting, the old man brought up the story of the seedling with him. Who then asked to try the leaves.
They boiled the leaves in water and drank, discovering a heavenly taste and a rich aroma.
Then the idea of roasting the dry leaves to see if this would heighten the taste and qi.
On tasting this experimental batch they discovered that this added a depth to the tea they’d never experienced before.

How can you turn down the opportunity to taste such an exquisite tea? This lends itself to incredible roasted caramelised notes.

Think caramelised popcorn and smooth toffee. The sweet notes linger on your tongue leaving you longing for the next sip of roasted Iron Goddess.

How do I prepare this tea?

For Western style brewing, use 2g of leaf to 300ml of water (china tea cup size).
Bring the water to boil, then pour over the leaves.
Infuse for approx 90 seconds.
Leaves used this way can be reused up to 3 times!

For Gong Fu or Chinese style brewing, use 5g of leaf to 150ml of water (general gaiwan size).
Bring the water to the boil,
Then pour over the leaves, wait 10 seconds and decant your tea.
Leaves use this way can be reused at least 6 times!

These are intended as a guideline only, everyone is different. I encourage you to play with different water temperatures and infusion times.

Store in a cool dry place away from sunlight.