TEA TASTING: Master Chen's Traditional Tieguanyin Oolong Tea

Brewing a traditional Tieguanyin by Master Chen, an outstanding Oolong tea – In this tea tasting short, Gabriele tastes and describes the Traditional Tieguanyin (Nong Xiang style) produced by Master Chen, steeping it for over ten minutes (!) in a Yixing teapot. Not all teas can handle such treatment and still taste good, but the results of years of tea experimentation by the Master prove delicious, again and again.

Tieguanyin, usually translated as 'Iron Goddess of Mercy' or 'Iron Goddess of Compassion', is a classic and revered Chinese oolong that is produced in two styles: Qing Xiang, 'clear fragrance', is a newer, greener style, in which the tea leaves do not oxidize long, producing a sour-fruity taste; Nong Xiang, 'traditional fragrance', the older style, as its name implies, is more oxidized and often roasted, producing more yellow and red fruit flavours, as well as roasted or caramelized notes.

Master Chen grew up in Taiwan, where he learned the styles for making the exquisite high mountain oolongs produced there; he then took this knowledge back to China, where the oolong style originated, and applied it to Chinese types of oolong, especially Tieguanyin. You can read more of Master Chen's story, and our encounter with him, on our blog. We offer several of his oolongs on Nannuoshan.org, including the Traditional Tieguanyin in both roasted and unroasted (a.k.a. 'Baked' and 'Not Baked') varieties.